21
BURNS AND SCALDS
In burns of the first degree pain is most quickly relieved by an application of bicarbonate of soda, made into a paste with a little water, laid thickly on the skin, and kept in place by a sterile piece of flannel or cotton cloth. Healing may be hastened by an application of picric acid, for first aid use, or of the tincture of the chloride of iron.
The treatment of a burn of the second degree consists in the application of melted paraffin with thin sheets of cotton. Before this is done the blisters must be opened, the fluid being allowed to run away, but without removing the outer layer of skin. The application is to be renewed every day, or every second day as it becomes loosened.
A burn of the third degree, and even one of the second, if extensive, calls for mana
