Note 799 — ON INJURIES OF THE HEAD.

Our author, it will be remarked, forbids liquid applications, tents, cataplasms, and bandages, in wounds of the head. He seems to have approved most of things of a drying nature. The other authorities would appear to differ considerably in their views regarding the proper principles upon which wounds on the head are to be treated. Celsus directs us, after laying bare the dura mater by trepanning, to apply strong vinegar to it, and when the membrane is inflamed, he approves of tepid rose-water. (viii., 4.) Paulus Ægineta, after the operation of trepanning, directs a piece of cloth, or small ball of wool dipped in oil, to be applied to the part. I believe they all agreed in rejecting sutures. See Galen, de Med. sec. Genera III.