TREATMENT OF A FALL, SPRAIN, BLOW, OR BURN. 505 



consequences, perhaps laming the party for several months. 

 Those affecting the ankle are the most troublesome and require 

 great attention. 



On one occasion, some time during our college life, we rather 

 officiously proffered to hand a country-lassie from her carriage, 

 which feat, by-the-by, she could have performed with far more 

 ease, grace, and elegance, without our assistance, and perhaps have 

 jumped clean over our head besides, if we had desired her so to 

 do, or, rather, had bantered her upon her want of agility. The 

 ground was slippery, with a high pile of snow on the side-walk 

 directly in front of the vehicle. In her over-anxiety to grasp our 

 extended hand, or rather in our great desire to support her delicate 

 frame, she neglected freeing her garments from the projecting 

 step, and the consequence was a trip up, and down she came on 

 top of us with a perfect rush, knocking us over and burying our 

 head and face almost a foot under the snow. In an instant she 

 sprang to her feet, shouting and laughing at the top of her voice, 

 at the same time plying us with handfuls of snow, as a reward, we 

 presume, for our awkwardness. Without any complaint whatever 

 she walked or rather ran into the house, standing a few rods from 

 the street. In the course of half an hour or so she felt a slight 

 pain in her ankle-joint, and discovered that the parts around were 

 swollen. Little attention, however, was given to the matter that 

 day. 



On the following morning the ankle and foot were enormously 

 swollen and painful ; on the next day the swelling increased, and 

 the inflammation was very great ; and so it continued for days, and 

 weeks, and months, and the upshot of the occurrence was a rigid 

 confinement to the house for about nine months, with the dread at 

 one time of losing the whole foot ; and after the lapse of two years 

 she had not entirely recovered the use of her limb, (so she informed 

 me,) although we can vouch for her being now able to cross over, 

 back to back, lady's chain, right and left, during a whole winter's 

 evening, without ever refusing a single proposition to dance from 

 the country beaux. 



