_The Starch Poultice_ is made as follows: rub a little starch in a basin with cold water till it has the consistence of cream, then mix in _boiling_ water till the starch is a thick jelly, and spread it on the linen while hot. Starch poultices retain their heat a long time, but yield very little moisture to the part. They are chiefly used as emollients to inflamed affections of the skin, &c. _Hot fomentations_ are a means for applying heat when moisture is not desired. A ready mode is to take a piece of blanket or thick flannel, soak it in boiling water and dry it by wringing in a folded towel, and then wrap it over the part to be fomented with a piece of oil silk or a hot dry flannel over it. Laudanum, turpentine, and other applications are sprinkled over the flannel, when soothing or counter-irritating effects are required in addition to the warmth. A bag of bran makes a light warm fomentation if heated in a steam kitchen, or steamer for boiling potatoes. When absolutely _dry heat_ is desired, chamomile flowers, bran, or sand, may be heated in an oven, and poured into hot flannel bags. Dry heat is also very agreeably obtained by filling _india-rubber bags_ and _cushions_ with hot water: they are rather heavy, but retain their heat many hours. _Lister’s Method of Dressing Wounds with Carbolic Acid._—The properties of carbolic acid which concern the surgeon may be briefly recapitulated as follow:— It is highly volatile, and the putrefaction of organic fluids is indefinitely postponed where its vapour is present. Carbolic acid is soluble in different degrees in water, alcohol, ether, glycerine, fixed oils, gutta percha, india-rubber, and shell-lac. Its varying affinity for these substances enables the surgeon to modify the application of carbolic acid in various ways; these modifications are necessary to fully utilise its properties. Water dissolves the crystallised acid but sparingly, 1 part in 20 being a concentrated solution, and allows it to escape readily. The aqueous solution is therefore useful where the effects of the acid are required copiously, but only temporarily. Glycerine and the fixed oils dissolve a far greater amount of the acid, and part with it unwillingly. Their solutions are adapted for the continuous but abundant application of the antiseptic. Shell-lac, and some other substances, hold the carbolic acid still more tenaciously, and are valuable as solid storehouses which yield up the antiseptic in small quantity for a considerable period. Carbolic acid stimulates raw surfaces, and when concentrated even destroys animal tissues. It is a local anæsthetic; with moderate doses, wounds lose their sensibility after the first smarting of the application has passed off. When given in large quantities the acid produces a peculiar kind of delirium, and temporary paralysis of sense and motion: fatal results have followed its internal application.