The surgical literature contains reports of the use of numerous topical substances purported to stimulate wound healing. It is my purpose in this article to consider the problem of their evaluation and to present the results obtained in a critical study of certain agents frequently used as wound dressings. HISTORICAL SURVEY The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, the first written record in medical history and perhaps the earliest exegesis of the scientific method in human history, contains a discussion of the principles to be followed in the management of traumatic wounds. During the centuries, knowledge has accrued concerning both the mechanisms of repair and the therapeutics of wounds; yet today these subjects remain in the forefront of surgical thought as problems lacking final solution. The fact that surgeons have yet to attain perfection in the treatment of wounds apparently has constituted a challenge to investigators, judging from the multiplicity of substances