ONE THOUSAND SECRETS REVEALED

20 ONE THOUSAND SECRETS REVEALED.
thickly with chalk ointment, and lay over the part, and give the patient
some brandy and water if much exhausted; then send for a medical
man. If not much injured, and very painful, use the same ointment, or
apply carded cotton dipped in lime water and linseed oil. If you please,
you may lay cloths dipped in ether over the parts, or cold lotions. Treat
scalds in same manner, or cover with scraped raw potato; but the chalk
ointment is the best. In the absence of all these, cover the injured part
with treacle, and dust over it plenty of flour.
BODiY IN FLAMES. Lay the person down on the floor of the
room, and throw the table cloth, rug or other large cover over him,
and roll him on the floor.
" DIRT IN THE EYE. Place your forefinger upon the cheek-bone,
having the patient before you; then slightly bend the finger, this will
draw down the lower lid of the eye, and you will probably be able to
remove the dirt; but if this will not enable you to get at it, repeat this
operation while you have a netting needle or bodkin placed over the
eyelid; this will turn it inside out, and enable you to remove the sand
or eyelash, etc., with the corner of a fine silk handkerchief. As soon as
the substance is removed, bathe the eye with cold water, and exclude
the light for a day. If the inflammation is severe, let the patient use a
refrigerant lotion.
LIME IN THE EYE. Syringe it well with warm vinegar and
water in the proportion of one ounce of vinegar to eight ounces of wa
ter; exclude light.
IRON OR STEEL SPICULAE IN THE EYE. These occur
while turning iron or steel in a lathe, and are best remedied by doubling
back the upper or lower eyelid, according to the situation of the sub
stance, and with the flat edge of a silver probe, taking up the metallic
particle, using a lotion made by dissolving six grains of sugar of lead
and the same of white vitriol, in six ounces of water, and bathing the
eye three times a day till the inflammation subsides. Another plan is
Drop a solution of sulphate of copper (from one to three grains of the
salt to one ounce of water) into the eye, or keep the eye open in a
wineglassful of the solution. Bathe with cold lotion, and exclude light
to keep down inflammation.
DISLOCATED THUMB. This is frequently produced by a fall.
Make a clove hitch, by passing two loops of cord over the thumb, plac
ing a piece or rag under the cord to prevent it cutting the thumb; then
pull in the same line as the thumb. Afterwards apply a cold lotion.
CUTS AND WOUNDS. Clean cut wounds, whether deep or
superficial, and likely to heal by the first intention, should always be
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. 21
washed or cleaned, and at once evenly and smoothly closed by bringing
both edges close together, and securing them in that position by adhesive
plaster. Cut thin strips of sticking plaster, and bring the parts together;
or if large and deep, cut two broad pieces, so as to look like the teeth
of a comb, and place one on each side of the wound, which must be
cleaned previously. These pieces must be arranged so that they will
interlace one another; then, by laying hold of the pieces on the right
side with one hand, and those on the other side with the other hand,
and pulling them from one another, the edges of the wound are brought
together without any difficulty.
Ordinary Cuts are dressed by thin strips, applied by pressing down
the plaster on one side of the wound, and keeping it there and pulling
in the opposite direction; then suddenly depressing the hand when the
edges of the wound are brought together.
CONTUSIONS are best healed by laying a piece of folded lint,
well wetted with extract of lead, or boracic acid, on the part, and, if
there is much pain, placing a hot bran poultice over the dressing, repeat
ing both, if necessary, every two hours. When the injuries are very
severe, lay a cloth over the part, and suspend a basin over it filled with
cold lotion. Put a piece of cotton into the basin, so that it shall al
low the lotion to drop on the cloth, and thus keep it always wet.
HEMORRHAGE, when caused by an artery being divided or torn,
may be known by the blood issuing out of the wound in leaps or jerks,
and being of a bright scarlet color. If a vein is injured, the blood is
darker and flows continuously. To arrest the latter, apply pressure by
means of a compress and bandage. To arrest arterial bleeding, get a
piece of wood (part of a broom handle will do), and tie a piece of tape
to one end of it; then tie a piece of tape loosely over the arm, and pass
the other end of the wood under it; twist the stick round and round
until the tape compresses the arm sufficiently to arrest the bleeding, and
then confine the other end by tying the string around the arm. A com
press made by enfolding a penny piece in several folds of lint or linen
should, however, be first placed under the tape and over the artery. If
the bleeding is very obstinate, and it occurs in the 'arm, place a cork un
derneath the string, on the inside of the fleshy part, where the artery
may be felt beating by anyone, if in the leg, place a cork in the direction
of a line drawn from the inner part of the knee towards the outer part
of the groin. It is an excellent thing to accustom yourself to find out
the position of these arteries, or, indeed, any that are superficial, and to
explain to every person in your house where they are, and how to stop
bleeding. If a stick cannot be got, take a handkerchief, make a cord
bandage of it, and tie a knot in the middle; the knot acts as a compress,