_The reader should be warned that under no circumstances should the skin be opened, even though it may be quite obvious that there is a bluish mass of blood immediately beneath._ Where this mistake is made, infection of the injured tissues with the germs that produce pus inevitably results, and as a consequence the patient suffers with a discharging wound for a considerable period of time. In rare cases germs get into the injured parts without the skin having been opened, and there results under such circumstances a condition which closely resembles that of an ordinary abscess. The probability that this undesirable complication has arisen is shown by the swelling becoming greater and more painful some days after the injury has occurred, and under such circumstances a good physician should be at once consulted, as it will be necessary to make an incision into the diseased area.
_Soothing Burns._--One of the most common and painful of injuries are burns. Small superficial burns require no particular treatment. Where, however, they are of sufficient severity to merit attention, the simplest and best of all treatments is to immerse the diseased part in cold water, and here it should remain at least some hours, or until competent medical aid can be secured. Medical treatment of injuries of this kind is not particularly satisfactory, though there are some drugs that may be used with more or less benefit. Chief among them is picric acid, which may be applied by means of a cloth wrung out of a one per cent. solution of this substance in water. Another treatment which has some merit, and which has long enjoyed a certain vogue among both medical men and the laity, is a combination of equal parts of lime-water with either olive or linseed oil; this is called carron oil and is applied in the same way as the picric acid solution. All three of the remedies referred to act largely by preventing the access of air to the burned surface, and they, therefore, may be replaced by any bland and non-poisonous substance which accomplishes like results.
_Accidents from Heat and Cold._--The climate of the United States is characterized by extreme variations--there being over almost its entire extent during the winter months a series of "cold waves," during which excessively low temperatures are often experienced,--particularly in the northern and western portions of the country. During the summer, on the other hand, we have almost everywhere periods during which the temperature goes very high--often accompanied by excessive atmospheric moisture. As a consequence of these extremes in temperature it could only be expected that we would often experience bad effects, so that serious illness, and even death, occasionally result.