charcoal-that is, charred wood well ground in a mortar, and kept in a box secluded from the air. It may be purchased, ready for use, at a small price from perfumers. By putting a little of this on the wet brush, and rubbing the teeth with it, impurities and discolorations will be removed without injuring the enamel. Rinse well afterwards with clean water. A much stronger dentifrice consists of the powder of burnt tobacco; but it contains silica, or gritty particles of sand, and cannot be recommended for common use. Indeed, all preparations, such as those of chalk, pumice, cuttle-fish bone, &c., act mechanically, and are liable to the same objection. Chemical solutions are free from this objection; but, unless their composition is thoroughly known, it is better to avoid them.

It is said to have been lately ascertained, by microscopic examination, that the tartar or crust upon teeth is produced in the same manner as coral, by certain animalcules. Such incrustations are best removed by a dentist. To prevent their growth, brush the teeth with vinegar acid, diluted with tepid water, and afterwards apply fine charcoal. A lavation of this kind, however, should not be performed oftener than twice a week, the tooth-brush and plain tepid water being used all other times.

AILMENTS AND APPLIANCES.

I

ON the case of all ailments which are likely to prove serious, ask medical assistance, and follow the rules which are prescribed. When you send for a medical attendant, do so in writing, and say what is the nature of the illness for which he is required: this will save time, which may be of some importance. If there be a preference as to what medical man should be employed, select the person who does not look for remuneration through the administration of drugs, but in the payment of fees. All respectable practitioners now employ few medicines; the constant administration of drugs is an exploded folly. When done with the services of your medical attendant, honourably discharge your obligations.

Some persons greatly injure their constitution by the frequent use of quack medicines. Pills, in particular, are purchased and taken in inordinate quantities, under a belief that they will remove real or fancied diseases. You are earnestly cautioned against this error. By being moderate in diet, and otherwise temperate and careful, the stomach and bowels will seldom be out of order; and in general circumstances, medicines of any kind should be very sparingly employed. The only thing you can safely venture on taking without proper advice, is a slight aperient when it is absolutely necessary.

There are several ailments, mostly of a petty kind, which every person should learn to treat as a matter of ordinary education. A man is not expected to send for a doctor for

every cut, bruise, or other petty casualty. A few general instructions may therefore be useful for his guidance.

If a cut in shaving is very slight, the blood will dry on the wound, and nothing need be done. Should the bleeding be troublesome, it may be stopped with a little felt from a beaverhat, or a small piece of plaster. We have known cases in which bleeding from very serious wounds has been stopped by the application of hat-stuff, or fine floss, when all other means failed.

An ordinary cut or chop with a knife, chisel, axe, and the like, even if it severs a finger or a toe, is only dangerous to the irritable or intemperate. Do not be in a hurry; carefully clean the wound from all dirt or other extraneous matter, and dab with a sponge, dipped in cold water, till all bleeding stops. If the wound be extensive, you may leave it open for half an hour, then bring the corresponding edges together as perfectly as possible, and while thus held, some strips of plaster are to be laid across the wound, with small spaces between every two, SO as to allow the escape of an oozing fluid, which often continues for some hours. The edges of the wound should not be dragged tightly together, but merely kept in place by the plaster; and if the wound be in the finger, arm, toe, or leg, it is better that the ends of the plaster should not overlap. If common sticking-plaster be not at hand, court-plaster will do; or thin bands of tow may be wrapped round the part, and smeared with gum-water. Or if nothing else is at hand, a bit of linen rag, by absorbing the blood, constitutes itself a plaster as the moisture dries. In other cases, the parts may be sewn together with a strong needle and silk; as few stitches being employed as will answer the purpose. The stitches may be taken out in about twenty-four hours, by carefully cutting the thread on one side of the knot, and gently pulling the other end.

The dressing is to be left on for several days, unless the

wound grow painful and throb; in which case it is to be taken off by the aid of warm water or a soft poultice. If the discharge is inodorous, straw-coloured, and creamy-looking, you may apply the plaster again; if otherwise, the wound must be poulticed till these wholesome signs appear. A bruised cut must be poulticed with bread and water, to moderate the inflammation, and then with linseed-meal, till new flesh grows instead of that which has been killed by the blow. The latter comes away in appearance like a piece of wetted buff-leather. Scratches are often fatal, in consequence of soap, pearl-ash, or filth of any kind getting into them, and should therefore be kept covered. Pricks with a thorn, &c., are likewise dangerous, occasionally producing locked-jaw. Poulticing, leeching, lotions, &c., must be had recourse to, if serious appearances present themselves.

Should you bruise your finger, hand, foot, or any other part, bathe it with hot water as soon as possible, in order to allay the inflammation. If the bruise be serious, the application of

leeches may be necessary.

The action on the skin of a hot fluid-as boiling water or melted grease-is called a scald; that of a solid body, as redhot iron, a burn. The effects of burns are threefold-either simple redness and pain, blisters, or the total destruction of the parts. For redness, Mr Smee recommends protection from the air by wet lint or linen covered with oiled silk; or, if oiled silk is not at hand, to cover with several layers of linen, slightly wetted with common water, or Goulard water. The part may also be covered with raw cotton, if it can be procured. If blisters arise, leave them alone, if not very tense; and if they be very tense, puncture with a fine needle, and keep on the lint and oiled silk. Absence of pain over the injured part is a bad sign, and shews that it is destroyed. Apply linen and oiled silk as before, or a bread-and-water poultice. "The object in treating scalds and burns,' says Mr South, 'is to keep up for a

time the great heat or high temperature to which the injured part has been raised by the scalding or burning, and to lower this by degrees to the natural heat of the body. The best and readiest dry materials to be applied are flour, or cotton, or cotton-wadding; the wet are-spirits of turpentine, spirits of wine or good brandy, lime-water and oil, lime-water and milk, milk alone, or bread-and-milk poultice; and all these wet applications must be made of sufficient warmth to feel comfortable to the finger, but not hot.' When the blisters become uneasy, after the lapse of perhaps from thirty to fifty hours (for the pain moderates in a few hours after the accident, unless it has been very severe), they must be carefully cut open and dressed.

When the clothes catch fire, the person should be rolled in the carpet or hearth-rug as quickly as possible, in order to stifle the flames. Firmness and presence of mind are essentially requisite in accidents of this nature; and for want of these, numerous lives are sacrificed. The clothes, if any, over the parts injured should be cut away, but only so far as they will come easily. The patient, if severely injured, must be kept moderately warm; and if he continues to shudder or shiver, a little hot wine and water, or spirits and water, should be administered. If excessive sleepiness or stupor, or difficulty of breathing sets in, or great pain ensues about the stomach, danger exists. The surgeon should be consulted in the case even of the slightest scalds or burns, if large in size; for then, especially in children, there is ground for alarm.

Chilblains and frost-bites are the familiar names given to the effects of excessive cold on the surface of the body. In its action on the skin, extreme cold somewhat resembles burning, producing redness, pain, blisters, or destruction of the parts. In restoring a frozen person, or a frost-bitten part, the object is directly the reverse-that is, to keep the cold, which, by its exposure, the body has acquired, and to withdraw it by slow degrees, till the body has recovered its natural heat. If the