WOUNDS OF LARGE BLOOD-VESSELS. 159 



If the cut has been made by a sharp instrument but 

 has dirt or grit in it, hold its edges apart and wash by 

 pouring water on it. Then proceed as above. Do not 

 sponge or wipe it. Either cold water or water as hot as 

 the hand can bear may be used. Both check bleeding, 

 the hot water rather better than the cold. Tepid water 

 promotes bleeding. 



A jagged cut, or a wound made by a blunt instrument, 

 does not heal as easily as one made by a sharp knife. 

 If it is large, or is on a part of the body where it is very 

 desirable to avoid a scar, send for a doctor. Meanwhile, 

 if blood oozes out fast, check the bleeding by constant 

 pressure with sponges wrung out of hot water. 



7. Wounds of Large Arteries or Veins need prompt treat- 

 ment, lest the sufferer die from loss of blood. If a big 

 vein has been divided, the blood will flow out pretty 

 steadily and of a dark color. If a large artery has been 

 cut, the blood will be brighter red and probably come out 

 in spurts. Whichever it may be, the proper thing is to 

 send at once for medical aid, and, until it arrives, to stop 

 the bleeding. Do not lose time by trying to decide whether 

 the flow is from a vein or an artery, and whether you 

 should apply pressure nearer or farther from the heart. 

 Many large arteries and veins when cut bleed nearly as 

 fast from one end as the other. Press at once on the 

 wound as hard as you can, with a handkerchief or any- 

 thing of the sort at hand; and, when you have thus part- 

 ly checked the bleeding, try pressure all around the cut, 



the wound? If the cut is jagged or apt to be disfiguring? Until 

 the doctor arrives ? 



7. Why should wounds of large blood-vessels be treated at once? 

 How does the flow from a vein usually differ from the bleeding of a 

 wounded artery ? What had best be done in either case ? How pro- 

 ceed until skilled advice is obtained ? How may the blood-flow from 



