Hæmorrhage is generally divided into three stages, viz.:--primary, intermediate and secondary. In the mouth we often find the primary running into the intermediate. The treatment of primary hæmorrhage, or that occurring at the time of the operation, is not of serious import. If it is at all sharp a useful plan is to give the patient some tincture of hamamelis in the water used for rinsing the mouth. At the same time about fifteen grains of gallic acid[9] should be given, and the patient should be ordered to take a similar quantity every two or three hours until the hæmorrhage ceases. The socket should also be loosely plugged with cotton-wool dipped in some styptic, such as gallic acid. Intermediate and secondary hæmorrhage is of a more serious nature, and generally sets in at night. When a case of intermediate hæmorrhage is first seen, these two important points should be ascertained before treating it:--first, whether the bleeding is coming from the gums or the socket of the tooth; secondly, whether the blood shows a tendency to coagulation. The latter point will act as a guide in the choice of drugs for internal administration. In hæmorrhage from the gum search should be made for any small vessels that may be the cause of it, and if found they should be twisted or compressed. If the vessel is only partially divided it should be completely severed, as this will probably allow contraction to take place. If the bleeding is capillary in character, a pad of gutta-percha lined with lint dipped in some styptic and applied with firm pressure is usually sufficient to stop it.[10] When the bleeding proceeds from the socket the following mode of procedure is adopted: some small cone-shaped pieces of non-absorbent cotton-wool are prepared (each about ⅓ to ½ inch long and ¼ inch broad at the base), also a pad of lint and a four-tailed bandage; a syringe, a pair of conveying forceps, some cold water and the chosen styptic are likewise placed ready for use. The socket is first freed from clot, then syringed, then dried out with a pledget of cotton-wool, and directly afterwards one of the cone-shaped pieces of cotton-wool dipped in the styptic (the most useful being tannin) is placed in the socket and forced to the apex, with a fair amount of pressure; the hæmorrhage is arrested far more by pressure than by the styptic. More pledgets of wool are inserted until the socket is quite full; a plug of lint is then placed over all and kept in position by antagonism with the upper teeth, a four-tailed bandage being used for this purpose. An excellent method of keeping the plug in the socket if the approximal teeth are standing is to wedge a piece of wood between them. Excellent as this plan is, however, if the hæmorrhage is at all sharp it is better to use the four-tailed bandage to make more certain of retaining the plug in position. The number of pledgets of wool inserted in the socket should be counted.