During my surgical experience it has seemed most desirable to develop an arrangement whereby instruments would be more quickly and easily available to the field of operation. The previous attempt nearest to this is the Mayo table which, of course, is a stand with sufficient floor support extending beneath the operating table to hold a rack upon which fits a tray. This tray then, properly and separately draped, extends over the operating table and some inches above the patient.
I have found myself placing instruments, between periods of use, upon the patient's abdomen or chest in an area closer to the operating field than is allowed by the Mayo table. The defects of this procedure are, of course, apparent in that the instruments roll off or become displaced.
The same need and some degree of solution for it have been evident to others. At the Foman Clinic a spiral spring