826 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



warm climate, is dangerous. It may lead to lock-jaw and 

 other serious consequences. The first care is to extract 

 any substance that is left in the wound, and if this can be 

 done without exhausting the patient it should never be 

 omitted, although the pain may be severe. If this cannot 

 be acccomplished, wash the wound and apply poultices to 

 encourage the injured part to suppurate or throw out the 

 foreign substance. In other cases the parts of the wound 

 should be brought together as naturally as possible, and 

 either held in place by means of a stitch or two brought 

 through the skin with an ordinary needle and thread, or 

 by strips of adhesive plaster or bandages. Nature is very 

 kind in such cases, and if the patient is kept clean and 

 quiet, and the bowels are kept regular, the cure may prove 

 rapid. Where the wound is on the face, or other part 

 where a mark tends to disfigure, the bandages should be 

 covered with oiled silk, or cotton, or rubber, to exclude 

 the air. At times a poultice of gum-leaves (boiled if 

 possible) is tied around the wound. To relieve pain, an 

 effective plan is to burn sugar in a pan, and hold the 

 wounded part in the smoke that arises. 



The Head Broken Bones. The colonial "buster," 

 or fall from horseback, very often results in a damaged 

 head, or in dislocation of an arm or leg, or both. Falling 

 timber gives very bad wounds, and the sufferer has to be 

 treated with every consideration and care. In such cases 

 no time should be lost in securing the best medical aid 

 available. But at once lay out the patient where he will 

 be easy and quiet ; cut the hair from the wounded part ; 

 wash it clean, and bring the parts together with a plaster 

 or with bandages. Stitches are not desirable in wounds of 

 the head, as anything irritating is liable to bring on 

 erysipelas. When the scalp has been injured by severe 

 bruises, warm-water dressings will in general be found the 

 best application, unless there be considerable heat and 

 inflammation, when, if procurable, a lotion of sugar of 

 lead, in the proportion of 2 drachms of the sugar of lead to 

 a pint of water and 2 ounces of vinegar, is to be applied 

 slightly warmed, on pieces of lint or linen. Owing to the 

 number of pieces of bone composing the skull, a simple 



