Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/600

 Using Absorbent Cotton Over Again

France has not enough cotton for her wounds, so a chemist invents a cotton rejuvenator to cleanse the old

��MAKING use of absorbent cotton that has been soiled by a wound, no matter how sterile it may become by any process, seems repulsive. But, to paraphrase General Sherman, war is war, and a French chemist, B. Villey, has un- dertaken, successfully, to supply his coun-

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��try's wants.

Impressed by the huge demands, the demands that could not be met, for ab- sorbent cotton for wound dressing, Vil- ley set about rejuvenating absorbent cotton which had been used and discarded.

It was a colossal task. Killing the germs in used cotton was the smallest part of i t. Absorbent cot- ton must have "life." It must be springy ; it must ab- sorb. He de- veloped one type of machine to do this work, and then another. Popular opinion was against him. It was a long, up-hill struggle. But at last he succeeded. He had won! He had evolved a process for making old cotton as good as new. It was fine, white cotton, as springy as ever. It absorbed.

Did the medical authorities seize upon it with gushes of enthusiasm? Did they hasten to pin upon him the ('roix de Guerre? They did not. His proposal was passed along from department to department, each one withholding the stamp of approval. Finally someone no-

��ticed it. The cost of rejuvenated cotton was compared with the cost of new cotton and found to be about three to one, in favor of rejuvenated cotton. The two were compared physically. Then came the hoped-for gush of enthusiasm. Villey's cotton rejuvenator is simple.

��foiled cottorv

���quite Any hospital can install and op- erate the ma- chine in a modified form. Many hos- pitals done Villey modestl>' vou that

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corxvevor / i^eady for

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Machine for Reclaiming Soiled Absorbent Cotton

Tlie soiled cotton 13 dumped into the hopper and passes down into the vat. Here it is treated with disinfectant chemicals, being at the same time agitated by the revolving blades. After this it is washed and is again treated, this time with soda solu- tion to extract the fat and grease. Finally it is restored to its original whiteness in a bath of hypochloride of lime. The clean cotton is ejected on the endless belt. $1 ,000,000 is saved annually

��demand ex- ceeds his expectations.

Soiled cot- ton is dropped down a chute into a large vat where it undergoes several treat- ments. First, all germs are killed and all poisonous matter re- moved by chemicals and washing. An objectionable element still remains. This is grease, or fat, which has been drawn from the wound, and takes the form of a sheath. It is boiled out in a solution of soda.

The mass is now whirled about by re- volving blades or paddles, not unlike the way dirty clothes are whirled about in a washing-machine. Well washed and

drained, the cotton is restored to its original whiteness in a bath of hypo- chloride of lime. Repeated washings and sterilizings follow and it is at last dried. The process saves $1,000,000 annually.

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