A Holder Needle.

THE finest movements of surgery are made with the fingers and thumb, not with the wrist and hand as a whole. In the usual method of suturing, the needle is grasped by the needle-holder which is held more or less in the palm of the hand. The fine, sharp needles of ophthalmic surgery, such as those made by Grieshaber, inevitably become dulled as they are grasped by the metal blades of the needle-holder in order to pull them out through the tissues, and there are some positions in which it is difficult for the needleholder to approach, to insert, and then to grasp the emerging needle. Because of these considerations, a needle has been evolved which is mounted on a simple ring held between the thumb and forefinger. Most of those so far tried have had one eye, but-some have two eyes like those of the Singer surgical "sewing machine". Description.-The Figure shows two sizes and kinds of "Holder Needle" made by Grieshaber. The shorter, smaller needle has two eyes. The thread is inserted from the concave side of the rear eye, comes out in the' groove on the convex side, then enters the forward eye, and comes out again on the concave side. The shorter end of the thread thus emerges from the forward eye and, when the point of the needle has been pushed speci.lens through the tissue, the thread can be grasped by the forceps while the needle is pulled back leaving the thread in the tissue. The longer needle has one eye, and the thread is inserted from the convex side and emerges on FIGLIRE.TWO specimenls of the holder needle. the concave side. Again the shorter end of the thread emerges when the needle is pushed through the tissue and this shorter end is grasped while the needle is pulled back leaving the thread in the tissue. As a further refinement to make this holder needle neater in use, a bobbin for the thread has been developed which is lodged in the space within the