TREATMENT OP CUTS AND BRUISES 209 



tissues, internal disturbances of function, and many other causes, 

 may bring about so extensive a congestion and accumulation of 

 poisonous matter that the body is unable to remove it. In that 

 event the presence of this matter in the body may produce various 

 forms of disease, such as fevers, growths, etc. 



Treatment of cuts and bruises. — When the capillaries 

 are cut the bleeding is very slow and is usually easily 

 checked by the natural clotting of the expressed blood. 

 The cutting of an artery or vein, however, is a much more 

 serious matter, and owing to the spurting of the blood the 

 cut artery is more difficult to treat than the vein. If 

 the artery or vein is small the mere pressing together of the 

 walls with a bandage may check the flow sufficiently, to 

 permit the formation of a clot. When the artery or vein 

 is large the blood pressure is too great to allow the clot to 

 form and special measures are necessary. The object of 

 all such measures is to secure sufficient pressure upon the 

 blood vessel to force the cut edges together and diminish 

 the blood flow sufficiently to permit the formation of a 

 clot. Owing to the direction of flow in an artery, this 

 pressure must be applied on the side of the cut nearer the 

 heart. In case of a vein the pressure should be applied 

 on the side farther from the heart. In some cases simple 

 bandaging fails to stop the flow and the clot is washed 

 away as fast as it forms. In such cases an application 

 called a tourniquet is resorted to. This consists of a band- 

 age applied on the proper side of the cut and twisted tight 

 with a stick so that the walls of the blood vessels are pressed 

 together at a point above the cut. The blood being shut 

 off from the cut ends, a dangerous loss of blood is thus 

 prevented. In emergencies persons may thus be saved 

 from bleeding to death since all the tools required are a 



EDDY. PHY9. — 14. 



