‘eae 
ef the poifon be fuffered to remain, there can be no 
fecurity. Here a neceflary caution occurs refpea- 
ing the knife, probe, and other inftruments employed 
in empoifoned wounds, concerning which furgeons 
cannot be too circumfpeét. An inoculating lancer, 
ufed by miftake in bleeding, has unhappily, in 
more than one inftance, comrhunicated the infec- 
tion. So in the prefent cafe, the knife imbued 
with the canine poifon may, through inattention, 
not only extend the infection to found parts, and 
thus defeat the purpofe of the operation, but per- 
haps afterwards—dreadful thought! unfortunately 
inoculate other perfons. That this poifon, after 
lying dormant nine months and upwards, may 
renew its activity, has been already noticed: there- 
fare, to eradicate entirely any particles that may have 
eluded the operation, it will be further advifeable 
again to wafh out the wound carefully with foap and 
water, and afterwards apply to its whole furface a 
folution of the cauftic fixed alkali, (the Kali purum 
of the new Difpenfatory.) After this, fhould any 
infection enfue, it can only be attributed to the over- 
tendernefs of the operator, or his inattention to the 
minuter circumftances above-mentioned. Thus, in 
the unfortunate cafe of the Admiral’s fon, already 
noticed, the caultic is faid to have been carefully 
applied to every part of the wound, only a few 
hours after the accident, by that expert furgeon and 
anatomift Mr. Jouw Hunter, and yet the event 
but 
