STOPPING THE FEET 



Continuous Suture. 



side of the wound and leave it on the other half an inch from 



the edges, so as to allow 

 ^ for a good hold. Con- 



tinuous sutures^ which are 

 stitches resembling ordi- 

 nary sewing, are not re- 

 commended as a general 

 rule, for if one has to be 

 tightened or loosened, the 

 whole may have to be undone; and very much better in 

 every way is the figure-of-eight suture, which is formed of 

 a couple of slightly-bent pins 

 run through the edges of the 

 wounds as directed in the de- 

 scription of the interrupted 

 suture, and then kept in their 

 places by soft threads wound 

 round them in a figure of eight. 

 These are very easy to fix, easy 

 to remove, and most efficacious ; 

 in fact, in the hands of an 

 amateur practitioner they are to 

 be preferred to the interrupted 

 suture, and in the case of some 

 wounds this is the best of all means for drawing the edges 

 together. The sutures should be carefully examined each 

 day, and if pus is found to be forming they should be re- 

 moved ; if, however, they continue healthy, they may be 

 kept in for about a fortnight, or perhaps less if all is going 

 on well, when they can be removed. It is very little use 

 attempting to close a badly-jagged wound by stitches, as 

 they are likely to pull through, and might have to be long 

 ones, and therefore bandaging is the best treatment for them. 

 Silver pins are the safest to use, but under no circumstances 

 should brass ones be placed near a wound. (See Cuts, Knots.) 



Stopping the Feet is a practice of very doubtful value 



^26 



Figure-of-eight Suture. 



