Horsehair suture material

Horsehair suture material

ETHICON

Ethicon has manufactured surgical sutures 

and wound closure devices since 1887.

                   In 1915, George F. Merson opened a facility in Edinburgh for the 

               manufacturing, packaging and sterilizing of catgut, silk and nylon 

               sutures. Johnson & Johnson acquired Mr. Merson’s company in 

               1947, and this was renamed Ethicon Suture Laboratories.  In 1953 

               this became Ethicon Inc.

                  Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicon_Inc.

                    After the Civil War, 1861 - 1865, the medical doctors from North 

                and South came together in an attempt to exchange what they had 

                learned.   This information was to be used in the emergency 

                treatment of civilians.   One glaring difference was the substantially 

                higher number of ancestors who survived major surgery in the South 

                than in the North, where the post treatment infection rate caused high 

                numbers of fatalities.

                     The doctors of the North (often called "sawbones" for all the 

                amputations done) used imported silk thread for stitching wounds. 

                It was strong, light and "slick", making use much easier during stitching.  

                Because of the naval blockades, there was no silk thread in the South, 

                for even the most prominent of patients. Cotton thread was not a 

                success as it broke down before the wound had healed sufficiently. 

                     Horse hair was tried. But because it was too stiff to make sutures 

                in its natural state, it was boiled in water to soften and become more 

                pliable.  The result was that the Northern silk thread had been handled 

                by countless unwashed hands from several continents and introduced 

                all the pathogens it carried right into the wound.

                       The horsehair was sterile when it came from boiling, and handled 

                by significantly fewer numbers of people.  Far fewer pathogens were 

                introduced right into those wounds.  With antibiotics and sterile 

                procedural practices still years away, many folks owe their ancestral

                branches to the boiled horse hair sutures, and to the women and men

                who devised that method of softening the fibers for using in textiles.

                   Reference:  http://civilwarrx.blogspot.com/2014/02/civil-war-sutures.html

ETHICON

Ethicon has manufactured surgical sutures 

and wound closure devices since 1887.

                   In 1915, George F. Merson opened a facility in Edinburgh for the 

               manufacturing, packaging and sterilizing of catgut, silk and nylon 

               sutures. Johnson & Johnson acquired Mr. Merson’s company in 

               1947, and this was renamed Ethicon Suture Laboratories.  In 1953 

               this became Ethicon Inc.

                  Reference:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicon_Inc.

                    After the Civil War, 1861 - 1865, the medical doctors from North 

                and South came together in an attempt to exchange what they had 

                learned.   This information was to be used in the emergency 

                treatment of civilians.   One glaring difference was the substantially 

                higher number of ancestors who survived major surgery in the South 

                than in the North, where the post treatment infection rate caused high 

                numbers of fatalities.

                     The doctors of the North (often called "sawbones" for all the 

                amputations done) used imported silk thread for stitching wounds. 

                It was strong, light and "slick", making use much easier during stitching.  

                Because of the naval blockades, there was no silk thread in the South, 

                for even the most prominent of patients. Cotton thread was not a 

                success as it broke down before the wound had healed sufficiently. 

                     Horse hair was tried. But because it was too stiff to make sutures 

                in its natural state, it was boiled in water to soften and become more 

                pliable.  The result was that the Northern silk thread had been handled 

                by countless unwashed hands from several continents and introduced 

                all the pathogens it carried right into the wound.

                       The horsehair was sterile when it came from boiling, and handled 

                by significantly fewer numbers of people.  Far fewer pathogens were 

                introduced right into those wounds.  With antibiotics and sterile 

                procedural practices still years away, many folks owe their ancestral

                branches to the boiled horse hair sutures, and to the women and men

                who devised that method of softening the fibers for using in textiles.

                   Reference:  http://civilwarrx.blogspot.com/2014/02/civil-war-sutures.html