with discharges. Every day wash carefully about
wound, between the splints, with cool carbolic-acid solution (one
teaspoonful to a pint of hot water) before putting on the fresh
cloths._

=BROKEN BONES OR FRACTURES.=[6]--It frequently happens that the first
treatment of fracture devolves upon the inexperienced layman.
Immediate treatment is not essential, in so far as the repair of the
fracture is directly concerned, for a broken bone does not unite for
several weeks, and if a fracture were not seen by the surgeon for a
week after its occurrence, no harm would be done, provided that the
limb were kept quiet in fair position until that time. The object of
immediate care of a broken bone is to prevent pain and avoid damage
which would ensue if the sharp ends of the broken bone were allowed to
injure the soft tissues during movements of the broken limb.

Fractures are partial or complete, the former when the bone is broken
only part way through; simple, when the fracture is a mere break of
the bone, and compound, when the end of one or both fragments push
through the skin, allowing the air with its germs to come in contact
with the wound, thus greatly increasing the danger. To be sure that a
bone is broken we must consider several points. The patient has
usually fallen or has received a severe blow upon the part. This is
not necessarily true, for old people often break the thigh bone at the
hip joint by simply making a false step.

Inability to use the limb and pain first call our attention to a
broken bone. Then when we examine the seat of injury we usually notice
some deformity--the limb or bone is out of line, and there may be an
unusual swelling. But to distinguish this condition from sprain or
bruise, we must find that there is a new joint in the course of the
bone where there ought not to be any; e. g., if the leg were broken
midway between the knee and ankle, we should feel that there was
apparently a new joint at this place, that there was increased
capacity for movement in the middle of the leg, and perhaps the ends
of the fragments of bones could be heard or felt grating together.

These, then, are the absolute tests of a broken bone--unusual mobility
(or capacity for movement) in the course of the bone, and grating of
the broken fragments together. The last will not occur, of course,
unless the fragments happen to lie so that they touch each other and
should not be sought for. In the case of limbs, sudden