ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 



289 



the substance away. Dash water with the hand into the 

 eye when the lids are gently pulled apart. 



Sometimes the upper lid must be turned back. This 

 is usually done as follows. Seize the lashes between the 

 thumb and forefinger and draw the edge of the lid away 

 from the eyeball. Now, telling the patient to look down, 

 press a slender lead 

 pencil or penholder 

 against the lid, parallel 

 to and above the edge, 

 and then pull the edge 

 up and turn it over the 

 pencil by means of the 

 lashes. 



The eye is now ex- 

 amined readily, and usu- 

 ally the foreign body 

 may be seen and easily removed with the corner of a pocket 

 handkerchief. After the substance has been removed, bathe 

 the eye for some time with hot water to soothe the local 

 irritation. This irritation often gives rise to the feeling that 

 the foreign substance still remains in the eye. 



400. Contusions and Bruises. An injury to the soft tis- 

 sues, caused by a blow, squeeze, or pinch from some instru- 

 ment, or by a fall, is a contusion or bruise. A black eye, black 

 and blue spots, an injury caused by a fall from a bicycle, and 

 a finger hurt by a baseball are familiar examples of injuries 

 which ordinarily require simple treatment. 



Wring out old towels or pieces of flannel in hot water 

 and apply to the parts, changing as they become cool. 

 For cold applications, cloths wet with equal parts of water 

 and vinegar, or witch-hazel may be used. 



FIG. i So. 



Showing how the upper eyelid may be everted 

 with a pencil or penholder. 



