us
insects, and the writer has personally seen a case where a pin-prick was
followed by lockjaw and death. Such facts teach us that we should be
careful in avoiding wounds of all kinds, and, that after they have been
received, they deserve attention, however insignificant they may appear
to be.

Wounds resulting from objects more or less covered with dirt are
particularly dangerous, since under such circumstances the germs of
lockjaw are apt to be introduced into the body, and fatal
consequences not uncommonly ensue. It is astonishing how frequently
the disease just referred to follows where a barefooted child
sticks a dirty splinter or a rusty nail into its foot, and it
cannot be too strongly urged that it is the duty of the parent in
such instances to call in a competent physician at once. The reason
that injuries of this kind are so apt to be followed by lockjaw is
that the germ that produces the disease lives practically
everywhere in the earth--being especially common in the rich soil
of gardens and other highly fertilized earths; and the germs are so
minute that thousands of them might be present on the point of a
pin without being visible to the naked eye. The bacilli of lockjaw
do not grow at all where exposed freely to the oxygen of the air,
and as a consequence of this fact we rarely see the disease that
they produce developing after slight superficial wounds; much more
commonly the malady results from a wound made by some penetrating
object, such as a splinter of wood, a nail, or a pin.

The lesson that these facts teach is that where wounds are small
and deep it is the part of wisdom to cut them open freely in order
that they may be cleansed as far as is possible, and at the same
time allow the air to obtain free access to their deepest portions;
a wound of this kind should not be sewn up, but should be left open
and allowed gradually to heal up.

The reason why lockjaw so frequently follows wounds from the
premature explosion of fireworks is that the paper used in fire
crackers, etc., often contains the germs of the disease and is
driven deeply into the tissues. In view of the very considerable
mortality that yearly occurs among the children of this country it
seems incomprehensible that our legislatures--which commonly
exhibit such an uncontrolla