250 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



held by the patient under the ear so as to catch the water as it flows out. It will 

 answer much more effectually than a large basin, and there will be no necessity to 

 use towels or napkins to prevent the neck and shoulders from getting wet. Many 



people prefer a tin pan with a concavity on 

 one side, so that it may be made to fit in nicely 



Pig. 5. SYRINGE. under the ear. The syringe to be used is of 



the ordinary form, as shown in Fig. 5, and it 



may be made of either brass or gutta-percha. Care must be taken not to introduce 

 the nozzle too far, or there may be danger of injuring the drum of the ear. The 

 syringe may be obtained from any instrument-maker, or your chemist will procure 

 it for you. It is best to use plain water, and it should be just warm enough to be 

 comfortable. 



The water injected should be clean and in a separate basin, and on no account 

 should the dirty water be used over again. In ordinary cases the wax may 

 easily be dislodged, but if it has been there for a long time, perhaps for years, and 

 becomes, as it will do sometimes, of almost stony hardness, its removal is not so 

 easily effected. In this case the patient should lie on the opposite side for a time, 

 and have the ear filled with water so as to let the wax soak and become softened. 

 Sometimes it becomes so hard as to render it necessary to pour in water or oil it 

 matters little which on several successive nights. It is well not to use the syringe 

 for too long at a time ; and at intervals during the proceeding the ear should be 

 examined with the speculum to see if all the wax has been removed. This is very 

 essential, for syringing directly on the drum of the ear when there is nothing to 

 bring away is not unlikely to set up inflammation. Violent syringing is never 

 advisable, and is far more likely to do harm than good. Wax in the ear sometimes 

 gives rise to what is called " ear-cough." Cases are on record where a distressing 

 cough has persisted for years, and defied all treatment until, by some fortunate 

 chance, attention has been directed to the ear, the accumulated wax removed by 

 syringing, and a cure at once effected. 



Eczema of the Ear. Eczema occurring on the outer ear is a very common 

 complaint The symptoms are in the main those of eczema of other parts of the 

 body. There are redness and swelling, with the formation of little vesicles, which, 

 on bursting give rise to an unsightly crust, from which a discharge occurs. The 

 aiiricle may, in severe cases, become a mis-shapen mass, and the disease may extend 

 into the passage of the ear, so as greatly to impair the hearing. Fulness and 

 noise in the ears are then added to the other symptoms, and the patient suffers 

 great distress. When left to itself it is apt to run a very chronic course. It 

 occurs chiefly in those of weakly constitution, and is usually associated with eczema 

 of some other part of the body. 



When there is much inflammation, and when the surface is raw and weeps 

 copiously, a lead lotion not only allays the inflammation, but checks the discharge 

 and quells the itching, burning, and tingling so often accompanying this condition. 

 Two or three drachms of the strong solution of sub-acetate of lead in ten ounces 

 of water is generally sufncient ; but a stronger lotion, consisting of two ounces of 

 the lead solution, two ounces of glycerine, and four ounces of water, sometimes 



