ON OF THESE MODES OF TREATMENT TO
DIFFERENT CASES 24

I. _Of Punctures, Bites, &c_ 24
II. _Of Bruised Wounds_ 64
III. _Of Ulcers_ 82
IV. _Of some Anomalous cases_ 120

CHAPTER III.

OF SOME CASES IN WHICH THE CAUSTIC IS INAPPLICABLE 130

CHAPTER I.

ON HEALING BY ESCHAR.

Having been led, by several circumstances, to try the effects of the
Lunar Caustic in the treatment of Wounds and Ulcers, and having great
reason, from these trials, to think that this remedy may be used with
much advantage far more extensively than has hitherto been done, I lay
the results of my experience before my medical brethren.

A very natural mode of healing certain wounds and ulcers, is by
scabbing; but this mode of treatment is attended by many
disadvantages, as will be pointed out shortly; yet it may be supposed
to have suggested to me some of those trials of the treatment by
eschar, which I am about to detail.

I. ON THE ADHERENT ESCHAR.

It appears scarcely necessary to describe the immediate and well known
effects of the application of the lunar caustic to the surface of a
wound or ulcer. It may, however, be shortly observed that the contact
of the caustic induces, at first, a white film or eschar which, when
exposed to the air, assumes in a few hours a darker colour, and at a
later period, becomes black; as the eschar undergoes these changes of
colour it gradually becomes harder and resembles a bit of sticking
plaster; in the course of a few days, according to the size and state
of the wound, the eschar becomes corrugated and begins to separate at
its edges, and at length peels off altogether, leaving the surface of
the sore underneath, in a healed state.

In the formation of this eschar several things require particular
attention. The application of the caustic should be made over the
whole surface of the sore; and indeed no part requires so much
attention as the edges; to make a firmer eschar the caustic should
even be applied beyond the edge of the wound, upon the surrounding
skin, for the eschar in drying is apt to contract a little, and in
this manner may leave a space between its edges and that of the
adjacent healthy skin.

At the same time, much attention must be paid to the degree in which
the cau