Incisions, implicating joints, are carefully cleansed by flushing the joint with copious quantities of saline solution, and closing the wound with very few stitches. Such injuries should be examined daily and any sign of sepsis must be considered as an indication for immediate removal of the stitches, followed by active antiseptic wet dressings. Cuts of the plantar surface are not often very extensive. They are most frequently incurred in stepping upon some sharp instrument or walking upon glass, especially while bathing. +Contusions.+ A contusion or bruise is a subcutaneous laceration, the skin above it being uninjured, as in the abdomen; or being damaged without a surface breach, as in a part overlying bone, and blood being effused. If a large vessel is damaged, hemorrhage is extensive. An _ecchymosis_ (black and blue area) is diffuse subcutaneous hemorrhage. A _hematoma_ is a blood tumor or a circumscribed hemorrhage in the tissues. In a diffuse hemorrhage the coagulation of fibrin induces induration, the serum and leukocytes are absorbed, the red blood cells disintegrate, and the coloring matter is widely diffused by the tissue fluids, and hemoglobin is changed into hematoidin which crystallizes. In union with these chemical changes, color changes ensue, the part being at first red and then becoming purple, black, green, lemon and citron. The stain following a contusion is most marked in the most dependent area. A hematoma acts as an irritant, inflammation ensues around it and it is encapsuled by embryonic tissue, which, by organizing into fibrous tissue, forms a blood cyst and gradually absorbs the fluid blood, the cysts contents becoming thicker and thicker. A fibrous scar may remain, and a blood clot, with very much indurated surrounding tissue, giving a hard edge, is noticed after bruises of the periosteum. If serum is not absorbed, hematoidin forms and the fluid becomes clear. A hematoma may suppurate, an abscess forming, but this rarely happens except in drunkards, although it occasionally occurs in persons who do not use alcohol. +Symptoms.+ The symptoms are tenderness, swelling, pain, and numbness. The pain may be severe, but rarely persists beyond the first twenty-four hours. Discoloration appears quickly in superficial contusions, but only after days, in deeper ones. Shock and loss of function are present only after severe contusions. The swelling is first due to blood and is soon added to by inflammatory exudation. +Terminations of Contusions.+ Slight contusions terminate promptly by resolution; the more severe may terminate in gangrene, inflammation, abscess, fibroid thickening, hypertrophy of the tissues involved, (as in the case of bone), chronic inflammations, and even malignant growths, particularly sarcomata.