ch injuries--lives and grows best in the absence of the
oxygen of the air, and that a covering of collodion would materially
assist in the development of this dreadful disease.

In those instances where pus forms in wounds, they should be at once
reopened and allowed to drain. It very often follows after
cuts--particularly if they be not properly cleansed--that a scab forms on
the outside, holding beneath a greater or less amount of pus. The
presence of the latter can generally be inferred by a wound presenting a
red and angry appearance around its edges, and from swelling and pain. As
soon as such a condition is observed, the scab should be thoroughly
soaked in water and removed, and it is then necessary that the wound be
kept open and allowed to drain freely until it heals up from the bottom.
A failure to observe precautions of this kind may result in
blood-poisoning, and finally even in death. After a wound begins to
suppurate it does little good to put antiseptics into it, as they cause
considerable irritation, and under no circumstances do they put an end to
the pus formation. Open drainage of the wound, and keeping up the general
health of the patient, are the only means that we possess of successfully
combating conditions of this kind.

Inasmuch as we possess an antitoxin that unquestionably has the power of
preventing lockjaw, if given sufficiently early, it is the part of
wisdom to administer at once a sufficient dose of this substance to any
child who has received a penetrating wound from some dirty object, or
from the explosion of fire-crackers. Statistics show that under such
circumstances lockjaw may be prevented in almost all cases. If we wait
until the disease develops, the antitoxin is of no value.

_Care of Sprains._--The seriousness of sprains is very generally
underestimated, and as a consequence many persons go through life with
ankles that are abnormally weak, and even painful in bad weather, and in
which there is a tendency to swell and become exceedingly troublesome
after a slight wrench. In all true sprains there is more or less actual
tearing of the ligaments that bind the joint together, and, if the injury
be not properly treated and the joint thoroughly supported, complete
recovery in many instances never takes place.

As soon as a sprain occurs the injured joint should be immersed in water
just as warm as can be borne, and hot water should be from time to time
added in order to keep the te