BLEEDING, WOUNDS, AND DISEASE GERMS 77 



blood, but it is what your body is using to mend the hurt 

 and to destroy the bacteria. We insult these little cells 

 when we call them impurities, while they are keeping off 

 enemies and yet mending the wound too. 



140. The skin in healing. While the white blood cells 

 are growing and healing a cut, the cells upon the surface 

 of the skin around the edge of the sore slowly spread over 

 it. This forms a new skin and ends the healing. This 

 new growth of skin is necessary in every healing process. 

 When the new flesh grows faster than the skin, the skin 

 cannot keep up with it, and so the flesh forms a soft red 

 tuft above the skin. This is called proud flesh, and must 

 be burned or scraped off before the skin can finish healing 

 the cut. 



141. How to care for a cut. Bacteria are everywhere, 

 and readily enter a cut unless they are kept out. The 

 surgeon keeps them out by wrapping wounds in cloths 

 which have been boiled or steamed in order to kill the 

 germs. He also puts on for the same purpose such things 

 as carbolic acid. In this way he can keep the germs from 

 the wounds which he makes, and so the white blood cells 

 will have nothing to do except to mend the wound. Then 

 in a few days even the largest cut grows together and is 

 whole again. 



When you cut yourself, the wound will soon heal if you 

 bind it up with a clean cloth and change this often enough 

 to keep the wound dry. Then no germs will grow in the 

 cut, and nothing will prevent it from healing. It will be 

 still better to put on the dressings something which will 

 kill the disease germs. One part of carbolic acid in fifty 

 of water is good. Friars' balsam is good, too. Do not 

 put on a sticky salve, for it keeps in the disease germs and 

 matter. 



