If a person is suffocated in the smoke of a fire, or an infant is smothered by the bed-clothes, take her out into the fresh air and perform artificial respiration at once. In all these cases, the patients are in the greatest peril of their lives, and if you run after assistance, they will die in your absence. But one might almost say that a person cannot die while proper artificial respiration is being performed upon her. Now let us wander to another emergency—the treatment of acute poisoning. First find out if you can what poison the person has taken. Most poisons cause vomiting, intense pain in the stomach, collapse with pallor and coldness of the fingers and toes, and cold sweats. Purging, cramps in the calves, unconsciousness, and heavy noisy breathing are also common. The cause of the symptoms of poisoning is the presence of the poison in the body. Therefore the first item of treatment is to get as much of the poison as you can out of the body. Therefore make the patient vomit. Give her an emetic for every poison except the strong mineral acids (sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids) and the strong alkalies (caustic soda, caustic potash, and strong solution of ammonia). In poisoning from these you must not give an emetic. The best of all emetics is a large tablespoonful of mustard in a tumblerful of tepid water. Therefore in poisoning from anything except the six drugs mentioned above, give mustard and water before you do anything else. Then loosen the clothes about the person’s neck, and apply warmth to her extremities. The further treatment depends upon the nature of the poison. For the strong acids, sulphuric, nitric, hydrochloric and acetic, give the patient magnesia, if you have it handy. If not, give her dilute solution of soda. For the alkalies, caustic soda, caustic potash, or ammonia, give dilute vinegar. For poisoning with copper or mercury salts, give white of eggs. For oxalic acid or salts of lemon or salts of sorrel, give lime or chalk. For opium, give hot coffee and perform artificial respiration. For prussic acid or cyanide of potassium, apply cold water to the spine, and perform artificial respiration. If you have done these things, the doctor, when he arrives, will probably find the patient at all events alive. The further treatment, of course, belongs to him. But if you have rendered your first aid, it will make a very great difference to the patient. Let us leave this chapter of horrors. But one moment—we want to say something to you about fainting. We suppose it has been the experience of very nearly everybody to see a girl faint in church. It is rather a hot stuffy day in July, and Miss Jones goes to church; but the place is rather more crowded than customary, for the sermon promises to be more interesting than usual.