March 5, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
377 
During our stay a member of another party 
and his guide spent a night with us on their way 
out to the settlement to secure supplies and the 
services of a physician for a fellow camper who 
had stepped on a copper nail in the bottom of 
his canoe while fly-fishing, and the nail had pene¬ 
trated deeply into his foot. His companions did 
what they could for him, but tumefaction set in 
and his foot and ankle had swollen so rapidly 
and he suffered so intensely that one of the party 
and his guide started at break of day for medi¬ 
cal assistance. I was asked to go to the man’s 
aid, but having neither medicines nor surgical 
instruments with me, I felt that I could render 
him no aid, and therefore declined. At dawn 
the man resumed his journey and his renewed 
make a thick poultice. I then immersed the 
small blade of my pen knife in the boiling water 
for some time until thoroughly sterilized; then, 
as gently as I could, enlarged the puncture in 
the foot, and going to the full depth of the 
wound, produced a copious flow of blood. I 
next placed a clean towel on a paper spread on 
the ground beside the sufferer’s bough bed, and 
having my assistants elevate him to a sitting 
posture, I poured the poultice on the towel, 
p'aced his foot therein and gathered the edges 
of the towel above the ankle where it was loosely 
tied, the poultice having been worked up over 
the foot and around the ankle. A larger wrap¬ 
per was loosely adjusted over all and the patient 
returned to a prone position. For the first time 
skin shrivelled, and the flesh around the wound 
had lost its livid hue. I dreaded to again apply 
the powerful poultice, but having nothing else 
available, I moistened it with fresh water and 
reapplied it. Soon after I noticed a small clay 
bank near an old beaver dam. Here was ma¬ 
terial for a milder and better poultice, and in a 
very short time a new one of generous propor¬ 
tions and very soft was prepared from the clay 
and substituted. It was made sufficiently large 
to completely envelop the foot and leg up to the 
knee. This was kept thoroughly moist and it 
was continued during the day and following 
night. When removed in the morning of the 
second day all active symptoms had subsided 
and the patient, having passed a restful night. 
appeal was so touching that I consented, and he 
then cheerfully took his departure. 
Accompanied by my guide I soon after set out 
for the distant camp. Arriving in the evening 
I found the young man suffering intense agony 
and his companion exhausted by constant atten¬ 
tion, the loss of sleep, and the depression result¬ 
ing from the knowledge of the danger his com¬ 
panion was in and his utter helplessness to ren¬ 
der him any aid. The evidence of high fever 
was written on every lineament of his counte¬ 
nance and recorded in his wildly beating pulse. 
His foot and ankle were enormously swollen and 
around the wound the flesh was livid. 
Turning from the sufferer with a heavy heart 
my eyes beheld the embers of the dying camp¬ 
fire of birch logs, and at once it flashed through 
my mind what I would do. I asked my guide 
to replenish the fire, fill the tin teakettle with 
fresh water from the spring and set it on the 
fire to boil. When this was done I had him take 
the wash basin and, after thoroughly washing 
and rinsing it with hot water, to fill it with the 
hardwood ashes and wet them sufficiently to 
POWHATAN ON POINT, BACKED BY TONOPAUGH. 
From a photograph by Todd Russell. 
since I set about my task I asked myself what 
would be the probable result, but soon a feeling 
of relief and encouragement reassured me when 
I realized that I had done all that was within 
my power to do, and that a fatal termination 
would probably be the result if nothing were 
done before the physician arrived from the set¬ 
tlement two or more days later. 
A half hour had passed away and my patient 
expressed himself as somewhat relieved, and at 
the end of an hour as more relieved. I then 
prevailed upon his companion to retire, and after 
being assured by my patient of still greater re¬ 
lief, I arranged with my guide to watch with 
him during the night, and to call me if he grew 
restless. I slept so soundly that the sun was an 
hour high before I awoke. 
Judge of my astonishment and great delight 
when told that my patient had joined me in re¬ 
freshing slumber soon after midnight. He was 
now comparatively free from pain, his pulse 
much reduced, and his countenance nearly nor¬ 
mal. With some trepidation I removed the poul¬ 
tice and found the swelling much reduced, the 
had regained his equanimity and hopefulness for 
a pleasurable ending of his vacation. 
While breakfast was being prepared my guide 
procured a cupful of balsam of fir. This I gen¬ 
erously spread upon a clean towel, freshly steri¬ 
lized in boiling water, and applied it over the 
wound and foot with instructions to renew it 
morning and night until the physician sent for 
should arrive. 
Breakfast over, we set out on our return and 
arrived in camp in the evening. The young man 
was unable to secure the services of the only 
physician in the place until the second day after 
reaching the settlement. They came into camp 
soon after we arrived and spent the night with 
us. The doctor, having been told what had been 
done and the result, proposed to return home, 
but objections being made to this he continued 
his journey only to return the evening of the 
third day, saying that all danger was past and 
that rapid and complete recovery was assured. 
This was confirmed soon after by the patient 
himself when he and his friends spent a night 
in camp with us. George McAleer. 
