MEDICAL HINTS. 
211 
Symptoms .—The disease begins with a vivid red blush, usually starting 
from a wound, and which has a great tendency to spread or to move 
from one part of the limb to another. The edge of the blush is sharply 
defined, and slightly raised above the surrounding skin; there is stiffness 
and heat in the part, with fever 103°-104° F., not varying much; rapid 
pulse, headache, loss of appetite, furred tongue and constipation. 
Treatment .-—Isolate the patient and administer a good purgative. Give 
twenty drops of tincture of steel, with five grains of quinine in two 
ounces of water. Light diet. Stimulants will be necessary. Local treat¬ 
ment : flour, starch, or zinc oxide may be used to dust over the part, or 
zinc ointment applied on lint. The healthy skin just beyond the 
advancing edge may be painted with tincture of iodine. 
Cellulitis. —Occasionally the infection of the skin by the germs spreads 
to the tissue beneath, and is then called cellulitis, or phlegmonous 
erysipelas. In this condition there is more swelling than in simple 
erysipelas, and the skin is very boggy or doughy, and retains the im¬ 
print of a finger pressed upon it. The red blush is not so vivid, being 
darker and more purple, and there is no well-defined edge. If left un¬ 
treated, the skin will break down and die, causing extensive destruction 
of the part. 
Treatment. —General treatment the same as for erysipelas. Locally, 
■several incisions, each at least one inch in length, should be made into 
the swollen tissue where it is most boggy, and right through the skin, 
care being taken to avoid the larger blood-vessels; then hot fomentations 
of boric acid (five grains to the ounce) or other antiseptic should be 
applied, every two or three hours, till the swelling has subsided. The 
important point in the treatment of swollen and inflamed parts following 
wounds, when accompanied by continued or rising high temperature, is 
to relieve tension by making free incisions. 
Blood-Poisoning. 
If a poisoned wound is left without thorough local treatment, the poisons 
and germs contained in the tissues are taken up by the blood, and cause 
blood-poisoning. The symptoms of this condition are high temperature, 
delirium, headache, loss of appetite, vomiting, and occasionally bronchitis 
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