lint, will, in an hour or little more, remove all pain, swelling, and
tenderness. Simple or clean cuts only require the edges of the wound to
be placed in their exact situation, drawn close together, and secured
there by one or two slips of adhesive plaster. When the wound, however,
is jagged, or the flesh or cuticle lacerated, the parts are to be laid
as smooth and regular as possible, and a piece of lint, wetted in the
_extract of lead_, laid upon the wound, and a piece of greased lint
placed above it to prevent the dressing sticking; the whole covered over
to protect from injury, and the part dressed in the same manner once a
day till the cure is effected.

2618. BRUISES AND THEIR TREATMENT.--The best application for a bruise,
be it large or small, is moist warmth; therefore, a warm bread-and-water
poultice in hot moist flannels should be put on, as they supple the
skin. If the bruise be very severe, and in the neighbourhood of a joint,
it will be well to apply ten or a dozen leeches over the whole bruised
part, and afterwards a poultice. But leeches should not be put on young
children. If the bruised part be the knee or the ankle, walking should
not be attempted till it can be performed without pain. Inattention to
this point often lays the foundation for serious mischief in these
joints, especially in the case of scrofulous persons. In all conditions
of bruises occurring in children, whether swellings or abrasions, no
remedy is so quick or certain of effecting a cure as the pure extract of
lead applied to the part.

Burns and Scalds.

2619. BURNS AND SCALDS being essentially the same in all particulars,
and differing only in the manner of their production, may be spoken of
together. As a general rule, scalds are less severe than burns, because
the heat of water, by which scalds are mostly produced, is not, even
when it is boiling, so intense as that of flame; oil, however, and other
liquids, whose boiling-point is high, produce scalds of a very severe
nature. Burns and scalds have been divided into three classes. The first
class comprises those where the burn is altogether superficial, and
merely reddens the skin; the second, where the injury is greater, and we
get little bladders containing a fluid (called serum) dotted over the
affected part; in the third class we get, in the case of burns, a
charring, and in that of scalds, a softening or pulpiness, perhaps a
complete and immediate separation of the part.