een washed quite clean. The conjunctiva should be brushed with a
solution of nitrate of silver of two per cent strength (two parts to one
hundred of distilled water) and then neutralized with a salt solution, not
strong enough to burn.

When the cornea is diseased one per cent solution of atropine may be
necessary once or twice a day.

Caution.--In the cities this disease is disastrous in its results to the
sight of babies. This is due to the want of necessary care. Persons who
must be with the patient should be very careful not to get any of the
discharge upon their clothes or person, as it is very contagious.

ULCER OF THE CORNEA.--Causes.--Poor general health is an underlying cause
or the cornea itself may be poorly nourished. Ulcers are common among the
poor classes. They often begin through a rubbing of the cornea by a
foreign body. They also come from diseases of the conjunctiva. Weakly
babies are easily affected.

Symptoms.--The light hurts the patient; there is a feeling of something in
the eye. When the ulcer is over the pupil the sight is impaired. The
eyeball shows a ring of pink congestion about the cornea, with congestion
of the conjunctiva. The form of the ulcer may be irregular, circular, etc.

Course.--The simple ulcers heal in a week or two. Infected ulcers may
spread, or they may sink deeply into the substance of the cornea and eat
through. The danger to the sight depends upon the kind and severity of the
ulcer. There is apt to be more or less film over the eye for some time and
if the ulcer eats through it may destroy the sight.

Treatment. Preventive.--When the cornea has been injured and there has
been some rubbing off of its tissue (abrasion) mild antiseptic solution in
the form of eye drops should be used. Boric acid, as much as will dissolve
in warm, distilled water and some dropped in the eye three or four times a
day. If there is a foreign body in the cornea, clean instruments should be
used to remove it. The cocaine used to render the eye painless must be
pure.

[352 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

General Treatment.--If the patient is "run down" the general system should
be built up.

Local Treatment.--One to two per cent solution of Atropine should be put
into the eye three to six times a day to keep the pupil dilated and
prevent it from adhering to the cornea. Hot fomentations repeated
according to the severity of the case and the amount of "easing" they
give. A three per cent solution