On the Treatment of Burns and Scalds. 13 
the exclusion of air, the more successful is the process; and 
moreover, excepting on such parts as may be already denuded of 
the cuticle, 1 omit the dressing of cerate ; finding by this mode 
the inflammation is best prevented, or arrested in. its progress, 
and thereby future vesicatious obviated. 
I consider all unctuous applications as extremely injurious to 
recent scalds or burns, and particularly so in warm weather, 
unless constantly covered with a cold lotion, according to the 
manner above mentioned*. , 
Amongst various other cases of a similar nature, which have 
occurred to me, treated in the same manner with equal success, 
I shall briefly mention one which has recently presented itself. 
_A gentlewoman of a corpulent habit, and strongly inflammatory 
diathesis, burned both her hands very much in endeavouring to 
extinguish a fire which happened to the curtains of the bed she 
was lying on, and from which she escaped with difficulty before 
the whole was in a blaze. On my arrival I found her immersing 
her hands in cold water. This I immediately changed for strong 
saturnine liquor, to which I added a very smail portion of cam- 
phorated spirit. Her hands were kept immersed in a liquor of 
this kind, changing it, as often as it was becoming warm, for fresh. 
This process was continued from about eleven in the morning 
until about nine at night, by which time the intolerable heat 
and pain in the parts were very much diminished, though not 
entirely subdued. Each hand was then placed separately in a 
linen bag, containing each a cold cataplasm composed of Lread 
crumbled fine, and the same kind of liquor in which they had 
before been immersed, made very moist, and plentiful in quan- 
tity, so as to cover them thickly, immersing them occasioaally 
in a bason of the same liquor, to keep them moist and cool. 
This plan of poulticing, and moistening occasionally, renewing 
the cataplasm every night and morning, was continued for four 
days ; by which time they weré in a manner well, a few small 
places excepted, in which the effect of the fire had not been pre- 
vented from penetrating through the cuéis; and this, | appre- 
hend, might have arisen from want of due attention, during my 
absence, in not changing the liquor sufficiently often ; supposing 
the fire not to have produced this effect before the application 
of the preventive means commenced. They were then, for the 
first time, dressed with the drying saturnine cerate, immersing 
them occasionally, when they were becoming painfully warm, in 
the cool liquor. By this treatment the effects of the fire were 
so entirely arrested and obviated, that all was well within the 
* The same observation applies likewise to the treatment of all kinds of 
sores accompanied by intense inflammation, 
week 
