rounded form, and of the size of a kidney-bean, slightly movable, and
not tender. By degrees such lumps become adherent to the skin, the
surface of which above them grows red, they project slightly above it,
and at last open by a small circular aperture, discharge a little
matter, and then subside. They collapse and disappear; a slight
depression and a degree of lividity of the skin mark for a considerable
time the situation they had occupied. I refer to them, because while
they are a sign of a scrofulous constitution, which may require special
care in diet and preparations of iron and cod-liver oil, they are best
left absolutely alone--neither poulticed nor lanced. The same principle
of non-intervention applies equally to the swellings which sometimes
form on two or three of the fingers in infancy, not involving the joints
but producing great thickening and a hard swelling around the bone.
These swellings disappear by degrees as the constitutional vigour
improves, and this is especially promoted by a long stay at the seaside;
but they tend, if the health fails, to affect the bones themselves, and
thus to occasion deformities of the hand.

Glandular swelling, discharges from the ear, offensive secretion from
the nose, and in female children, even of very tender age, a discharge
of whites, are all common signs of a scrofulous constitution, and all
tedious and troublesome. They all, however, are very much under the
influence of judicious medical treatment. It must at the same time be
borne in mind that none of these ailments admit of what may be called
active treatment. There are no royal means of dispersing scrofulous
glands, or of curing discharges from the ear, or of doing away with the
offensive smell which in some cases proceeds from the nostrils. Fresh
air, suitable diet, preparations of iron, residence at the seaside, and
sea-bathing, measures directed to improve the general health, are of
chief value, and without them local treatment is of small avail.

A few words, however, may with propriety be added with reference to the
local treatment of the minor ailments to which I have just referred.

No local application is of use in the _scrofulous swellings of the
fingers_. Tincture of iodine, indeed, may be painted over them when
quite small, while at the same time the joints are kept quiet by a small
gutta-percha splint. When they become considerable, iodine is useless;
and even if matter forms in the swelling it is