extend also on the side next to the heart; it must be not merely firmly, but tightly bound by a handkerchief or suitable bandage. If the artery be large and deepseated, very forcible pressure becomes necessary; and in order to communicate this specially to the artery itself, a small, thick, and unyielding kind of pad is necessary. This should be made not by folding a handkerchief, but by rolling it up as tightly as possible, with or without some firm substance enclosed in it. A pebble or a bit of stone, wrapped up in a piece of paper, may be placed over the artery; a pocket handkerchief tied round the limb, and twisted tightly with a stick passed through the handkerchief on the side of the limb opposite to the wound, will increase the pressure and stop the bleeding. Great care must be taken to keep the wounded person laid down until this has been done, and he should then be carried home on a stretcher, a hurdle, or a door, and on no account be allowed to walk or stand, if the wound should be in the leg or the body.

These directions apply to veins and arteries situated in the limbs. Upon the head, simple pressure with the thumb or finger will suffice to stop bleeding from either kind of vessel, because the bones of the skull afford a perfect means of counter-pressure. A little cotton wool, cob-web, nap of a hat, will all help to stop bleeding from a small surface wound. A cut of the large vessels of the neck requires very special management; but, as a general rule, direct pressure with a pad, kept in its place by the thumb, is the best means to adopt until proper assistance by a medical man can be procured.-Marshall's Physiology.

To stop bleeding from the nose, the quickest remedy is to hold the head over a basin, and get some one to pour cold water on the back of the neck, or even down

the spine. If this should fail, lay the person flat on the back, plug the nostrils with cotton wool, roll up a strip of paper into the size of a small piece of slate pencil, and put it under his tongue. Let him lie there perfectly still until the doctor comes.

POISONOUS GAS IN WELLS.

A SAD accident lately happened, which shews how much ignorance prevails with regard to the danger of going down into wells, and also respecting the means by which that danger may be discovered and prevented. It seems that a poor man, who was engaged in sinking a well, went to his work in the morning as usual, was lowered down by his wife and another labourer; but, on reaching a certain depth, became unconscious, and fell into the water below. A neighbour, who keeps a nursery-garden, hearing the screams of the wife, ran to render assistance, instantly descended, with the vain hope of being able to rescue the labourer, but, in reality,' of course, only to share the same fate. A brother of the latter then descended; but fortunately had first a rope strongly fastened to his body. He also became unconscious, but was hauled up by the rope, and recovered. The previous victims were raised after a time; but in both of them life was extinct.

Now, it cannot be too widely known that such calamities as these, which cannot be called accidents, are caused by the presence in the well of carbonic acid gas, which has found its way there from some rift in the strata of rock that has been cut through, and which sinks by reason of its weight. This carbonic acid gas is what is called by the miner "choke-damp." No one should ever descend into a well without first lowering down into it a lighted candle. On reaching the carbonic acid gas the candle goes out; and when this happens, human life will also be extinguished, if a living person be lowered into it. No one ought, therefore, to go down until this gas has been pumped out, which is easily done by pushing down a bundle of straw or a sack of hay or shavings, and hauling it up again, several times, until the air is changed, and the candle will burn when lowered to the bottom.-From the Lancet.

It is pitiable, in these days of general knowledge, to

read of the lives of brave men being uselessly sacrificed for want of information that should be within the reach of every National School-boy. A correspondent of the Times, in commenting on the above accident, says :-"It has often occurred to me, that if the Government training for National Schoolmasters were made to comprehend instruction in simple emergency remedies, such as the treatment of suspended animation, temporary stoppage of bleeding, and such other relief as is frequently called for by the accidents that befall labouring men, many lives might be saved, which now are lost; for the witnesses of an accident would know that there was some one whose duties always keep him on the spot to whom they could apply for help; while, by imparting this simple knowledge to his scholars, a number of men would be educated into fitness for any emergency, and by these means good use could be made of the time generally lost before the arrival of a medical man, who may be miles off at the time of the accident, so that the latter would not so often find, on seeing the sufferers, that his assistance had come too late."

REWARDS FOR SAVING LIFE.

Ar a meeting of the Royal Humane Society, on the 19thr inst., the following cases of personal bravery in saving life were brought before the notice of the committee and rewarded-The silver medallion was unanimously voted to Sub-Lieutenant G: H. Yonge, of Her Majesty's ship Bellerophon, for saving, on the 7th of February last, Alfred E. Martin, ship steward's boy, of Her Majesty's ship Northumberland, who was capsized from a launch into 20 fathoms water at Lisbon. The second launch of Her Majesty's ship Northumberland, while under sail, was carried by the tide foul of the Bellerophon's starboard swinging boom, and instantly capsized. The ship

steward's assistant, who had been in the boat, shouted loudly for help as the five-knot tide swept him past. His cries were heard by Mr. Gustavus H. Yonge, who was lying down in the gun-room of the Bellerophon, suffering from rheumatism. Although dressed in a heavy suit of flushing at the time, which necessarily much impeded his swimming, Mr. Yonge, without a moment's besitation, or staying to divest himself of any of his clothes, sprang from the gun-room port into the water to the assistance of the drowning man. After great difficulty, he, with the aid of a life-buoy which was thrown overboard, at length succeeded in reaching Martin, and supported him round the waist until they were both picked up and taken on board. Both were much exhausted, having been in the water several minutes. On the recommendation of the Earl of Kimberley, the Society's silver medallion was also given to Charles A. Smith, nine years of age, for saving his brother, a baby, who had accidentally fallen into the River Yarra, at Melbourne, Victoria, on the 13th of December last. It appears that the attention of the mother of the child was suddenly excited by cries of alarm from the opposite side of the river, raised by a gentleman who saw it fall into the water, and upon running down the garden to the margin of the stream she discovered that her youngest child, some 18 months old, had fallen into the water, and was drifting rapidly away with the strong current. Her son Charles, who was just learning to swim, had, fortunately, also heard the alarm. Without an instant's hesitation, he sprang in to the aid of his brother. Reaching him, he managed to keep himself and his burden afloat until a semi-submerged snag caught them and providentially arrested their progress. Here he held on, and an inward turn of the current having by this time swept them somewhat nearer the bank, the mother was enabled, by wading in herself waist deep, to catch her son by the hand, and draw him and the baby to the bank.

DIRECTIONS FOR RESTORING THE

APPARENTLY DROWNED.

THE leading principles of the following Directions for the Restoration of the Apparently Dead from Drowning are founded on those of the late Dr. Marshall Hall, combined with those of Dr. H. R. Silvester, and are the result of extensive inquiries which were made by the Life-Boat Institution in 1863-64 amongst Medical Men, Medical Bodies, and Coroners throughout the United Kingdom. These Directions have been extensively circulated by the Institution throughout the United Kingdom and in the Colonies. They are also in use in Her Majesty's Fleet, in the Coast Guard Service, and at all the Stations of the British Army at home and abroad.

I.

Send immediately for medical assistance, blankets, and dry clothing, but proceed to treat the Patient instantly on the spot, in the open air, with the face downwards, whether on shore or afloat; exposing the face, neck, and chest to the wind, except in severe weather, and removing all tight clothing from the neck and chest, especially the braces.

The points to be aimed at are-first and immediately, the Restoration of Breathing; and secondly, after breathing is restored, the Promotion of Warmth and Circulation.

The efforts to restore Breathing must be commenced immediately and energetically, and persevered in for one or two hours, or until a medical man has pronounced that life is extinct. Efforts to promote Warmth and Circulation, beyond removing the wet clothes and drying the skin, must not be made until the first appearance of natural breathing; for if circulation of the blood be induced before breathing has recommenced, the restoration to life will be endangered.

II. TO RESTORE BREATHING.

To Clear the Throat.-Place the patient on the floor or ground with the face downwards, and one of the arms