;is fur as iiossible, stick to it. leaving; tUe ja\v-l)r("itlcws for tbo anatomy 

 classes and for those anxious to impress otLiers witli tlie vast anmunt of 

 Icnowledge they possess. 



The keynote of success in ilealin;.' with every descriiition of wound is 

 ( leanliuess, and without tliis mir efforts are <iften iniavailing. No wound is 

 so unimportant as to he looked upon as of no eonsecpience ; and the slishtest 

 scratch sometimes may lead to serious complications, ending perhaps in death 

 itself. Simple precautions taken in time ofteu prevent such things happening. 

 The tirst thing to do in the case of a clean-cut wound on some muscular part 

 of the body is to stop the bleeding, it excessive, but unless it is very great, and 

 an iinp<irtant blood-vessel is severed, this need not liother us. In all cases, 

 whether dirt can be seen adhering to the wound or not. it is advisable to wash 

 it with an antiseptic. There are nmny such at present, such as carbolic acid 



II part of acid to .",0 of water), lysol, permanganate of potash, phenvle, et< . 

 All are good. This ofteu prevents trouble afterwards, by helping to ward df 

 infection of the exposed lacerated tissues caused by micro-orgaiusms in the 

 atmosphere, and which are ever ready to increase and multijily at oar exiiense. 

 .\ wound is the open door by which they enter our system, in uany instances. 

 All trouble with wounds is now well known to be due to these .small organisms, 

 .and when means are taken whereby they are prevented from gaining access 

 to the tissues much better results are experienced, Auti.septics have the 

 power of arresting the growth or of entirely destroying these organisms. In 

 da.vs gone b.v, when antiseptics were not used and their action not known, 

 the mortality from wounds and injuries, especially those affecting internal 

 parts of the body such as the chest or abdomen, was sometimes dreadftil. and 

 fully 4(1 per cent, never recovered. In those times to amputate a leg or an 

 arm, not to mention anything worse, was alxmt as nuich as the ]iatient"s life 

 w;is worth: and abdonunal surgery was so dreaded on ac-count of bad results 

 that scores of people preferred to run all other risks rather than resort to it. 

 Nowada.ys these things are done every day and it is not often we Iiear of ileath 

 resulting from the operation itself. Antiseptic surgery Inis <'hangeil every- 

 thii\g and operations of a nature which would have been l.-iughed at as 

 impossilile by surgeons of 50 years back are performed now with success. 

 Skill, no doubt, counts; but .50 .vears a.go there were srrgecais in France aud 

 England skilful enough for anything, .vet they were (bionied to failure witliout 

 the assistance of autisejitics. 



Punctured wouiuls are ilaiigerous. such as a stab fi-om a pitchforU. because 

 till y are difficult to cle.an out properly and are liable to close uii on the outside 



III lore I he internal parts heal; and ofteu on this account disclnir,ges from the 

 wound are imprisoned which sooner or later cause trouble. A word of 

 warning is. therefore, necessary in such cases, so that precautions are taken 

 to see the iu,iury is thorou.ghly irrigated witli some ,intiseptic before permitting 

 the out.side to heal up. 



In bringing the edges of wounds togetlier. it is always as well to be careful 

 to cut away as little of the skin as possible, as it does not reproduce itself, and 

 ugly blemisheis are left where skin is removed. 



The applications applied to wounds by ignor.ant jiersons are sometimes 

 of an extraordinary desi-ription and do more harm than good, (.'ow dung, 

 wliii-h is now mentioned in the pharmacoiKPia, tinds great f:ivour with some 



