CARBUNCLE. 171 



of a medi i hat it would be superfluous to enter into ti. -t of treatment. 



In any case in which cancer is suspected, the sooner tin- opinion of the doctor is 

 taken the be; 



CAi: 



A carbuncle is a far more serious matter than a boil. A boil is no joke, but still 



it is i matter compared to a carbuncle. A carbuncle is a large flat 



M TV hard, and very painful tumour, of a purpl. .'.our, and 



led with a sensation of burning heat. It may reach three or four inches in 



icter, or even more. Jt usually gives rise to the formation of a deep slouch, and 



union of the skin which is involved. It is evident that boils and 



earbuncles are closely allied, for they are usually prevalent at the same tim*-. 



. occasionally a carbuncle results from the confluence of two or three boils 



which have arisen near each other. By many doctors a carbuncle is considered to be 



nothing more than a large boil, and there is undoubtedly much to fav . i.-\\. 



iuincle may be distinguished from an ordinary boil by being iy defined 



margin, by being less conical in the centre, and for its size, less prominent on 



the surface. Moreover, it perforates the skin by several apertures, and extends 



deeply than a boil ; the redness of the skin is of a more livid hue. the pain i* 



more severe, and it is accompanied by more constitutional disturbance. 



Carbuncle is often a very serious complaint. At first sight one would hardly 

 feel inclined to credit the fact that every year in England alone between t \\ 

 three hundred people die of carbuncle. 



Carbuncles occur more than twice as often in men as in women. They are met 

 with chiefly in advanced life, in corpulent males, and in people who have lived 

 A carbuncle in a person under twenty is a rarity. The disease attacks all 

 ranks of life, but the upper classes are more liable to it than the ill-fed and over- 

 worked poor. Carbuncles are in the majority of cases of constitutional origin, and 

 frequently the only cause that can be assigned is a condition, on the one hand, of 

 general debility, or, on the other, of plethora. Some people exhibit a remarkable 

 is position to this form of disease. By many it is supposed that carbuncles arise 

 from eating the flesh of animals who have died of pleuro-pneumonia. 



Carbuncles may appear in almost any situation, but they most commonly affect 

 the hinder parts of the body, and more especially the najK' of the neck, the shou! 

 and the buttocks. A carbuncle is usually most dangerous when it appears on the 

 scalp. 



A c.irl.uncl usually begins as a painful inflammatory swelling, hard to the 



. red in colour, obtusely conical in shape, and ill-defined in its boundaries. It 



L'radually increases in extent and hardness, and after a few days the colour becomes 



darker, the more prominent parts being of a livid red. Presently a little blister 



18, and when this bursts, the skin beneath is seen to be perforated by several 



tares, from which a little thin matter oozes. After a time these sej 

 holes merge into one large ragged-looking opening, at the bottom of which will 

 be seen a largo slimy-looking slough. "When this is exposed, the pain usually 

 somewhat abates, thick matter is formed, and the slough is slowly and painfully 



