Advertised in the early 1930s with a flourish (left) and as “mercifully light in weight,” Lotuscloth was merely “silk, impregnated with pure latex-rubber.” Offered first to hospitals in the form of mattress covers, bed sheets, patient throws, and pillow covers, Lotuscloth was advertised to surgeons and anesthetists for garbing them in lightweight operating gowns and surgical aprons (right). Readily “washed, boiled, and sterilized,” Lotuscloth resisted chemical damage from disinfectants, such as “Lysol, Bi-Chloride solutions, Alcohol,” and, of interest to anesthetists, ether. Because the proprietary textile was both “non-porous, and waterproof,” a surgical gown or apron made of Lotuscloth could also spare anesthetists from self-inflicted skin burns resulting from chloroform spills. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Advertised in the early 1930s with a flourish (left) and as “mercifully light in weight,” Lotuscloth was merely “silk, impregnated with pure latex-rubber.” Offered first to hospitals in the form of mattress covers, bed sheets, patient throws, and pillow covers, Lotuscloth was advertised to surgeons and anesthetists for garbing them in lightweight operating gowns and surgical aprons (right). Readily “washed, boiled, and sterilized,” Lotuscloth resisted chemical damage from disinfectants, such as “Lysol, Bi-Chloride solutions, Alcohol,” and, of interest to anesthetists, ether. Because the proprietary textile was both “non-porous, and waterproof,” a surgical gown or apron made of Lotuscloth could also spare anesthetists from self-inflicted skin burns resulting from chloroform spills. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.
