MEDICAL NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1267, 4 July 1914, Page 4

MEDICAL NOTES.

TREATING A GUMBOIL. ■ •, . -• t.u. tioatment- is, |l-' t. S 10 r;v;:l i ‘e •■i iii im’i fife oi Ad im, ai. ■ : . »m> lake as well live c • >:•.: ns o; iodine of potassium di* ••;Ived in wale: says a doctor. A purgative is ako helpful. Lr-ter. should gumbo;! appear, a lip. ■(At open and roasted. pk.ceu ..vl'veen the cheek ■ ~od gums, Aims the best ponUAi, an. shut,id he frequently applied. ’7hen the gumboil continually reappears on one spot, or discharges for long, see a doctor. CARE OF THE FEET. A successful method of treatment for ingrowing toenails is to scrape away the thickened pait oi the nail with a small file, keep it well greased so as to soiten it, and insert a pledget of wood beneath the nail, so that it may grow propeily. To treat a corn boil a potato in its skin, and after it is boiled take the skin and put the inside of it to the corn, and leave it on for twelve hours. At the cud ,J that time the corn will be much ij.-i.ter. The above simple and useful recipe has been tried and km. d to be a perfect remedy. For pe:spiring luet, balae lhem frequently "with warm (not hot) water, to which a little ammonia has been auden. Alter drying, the feet should be dusted over with lioracic powder. Bathing in alum water will afford relief to burning and lender feet. There is nothing more strengthening to the feet than salt.

INFLUENZA AND APPENDI- . CITIS. That the poison, or pern;, of influenza sometimes expends its force upon the intestine is a wellknown fact. Intestinal catarrh, with or without bloody discharges, has been observed in epidemics ot influenza, and has been claimed by good observers to be one of the effects of the disease, From this conception or an intestinal catarrh it is hut a step to the conception ot an appendicitis due to the same cause. This idea has been held and advanced by some clinicians, and is in accord with.the idea that appendicitis is in fact always an infections disease rather than the result of a trauma by a foreign body. Other authorities have always regarded Ibis idea as still a theoretical one, and are not aware ot any statistics that go to prove that appendicitis is more prevalent during or just after an epidemic of influenza than at other times. FRACTURE OF THE KNEECAP. Any fall is liable to cause dispia'eraenl of the kneecap, and when this has once happened there is every likelihood that it may occur again. A more serious trouble, however, is fracture, which av: c be caused when the person falls in such a way as to bring the knee iu contact with the j sha . xpe O lie p.-.v. ••.nut or of a step. Sometimes the none may also be actually snapped by the effort of trying to regain the balance alter a slip which was not really a fall. A fractured kneecap may bs readily recognised by j the sufferers being quite unable to I 1 ifl tn.e knee o r to diaw the leg j forward. The patient must be j placed with the leg well raised ami ■supported, to looseu the large muscles of the thigh, then the upper part of the bioken bone is pressed into position, and kept in place by a bandage carried underneath a long splint that is passed below the knee. The bandage is crossed, drawn tight and tied in trout. As the splint ought to be almost as long as the leg, it must be fixed by two other bandages. An ice bag over toe knee is useful to keep down the swelling.

THE SPREAD OE RINGWORM.

A. prominent physician states unit it has long been undisputed * i . .\ VJ r ions k.'i'His under the ■ ; ,;i ; nv«' m are due to the ptesc-nee 01 a vegetable parasite in the epidermis, hair follicles, hair or nails, and some authorities n2 ree with him. Many valuable •Mchions have been made of late «ar.i to ••!!!• knovviedge of liug.vurm fungi. Tee author points ~.ut some of the mediums of transmission. Among these may be mentioned some of the lower animals, as the dog, cat, bird, horse, cow, mouse, sheep and many others. The nearer a fungus is to such an animal origin the more rapid is the growth. It loses its vitality by human transmission. Animals are not entirely responsible for transmission of this disease. There are excellent opportunities for its diffusion in barbers’ shops, bathhouses, asylums, day nurseries and public schools. The disease is not conveyed by the razor, or by the barber’s hands, or by towels ; but most often by the, lathering brush. The child often catches the disease m having his hair cut by the barber. The patient under treatment should be required to sleep alone, and use separate towels, combs and brushes, these articles being frequently sterilised to prevent re-iuiectiou.