[Illustration:  Fig. 161.—­Showing how the Upper Eyelid may be everted with a Pencil or Penholder.]

This is done usually as follows:  Seize the lashes between the thumb and forefinger, and draw the edge of the lid away from the eyeball.  Now, telling the patient to look down, press a slender lead-pencil or penholder against the lid, parallel to and above the edge, and then pull the edge up, and turn it over the pencil by means of the lashes.

The eye is now readily examined, and usually the foreign body is easily seen and removed.  Do not increase the trouble by rubbing the eye after you fail, but get at once skilled help.  After the substance has been removed, bathe the eye for a time with hot water.

If lime gets into the eye, it may do a great amount of mischief, and generally requires medical advice, or permanent injury will result.  Until such advice can be had, bathe the injured parts freely with a weak solution of vinegar and hot water.

374.  Broken Bones.  Loss of power, pain, and swelling are symptoms of a broken bone that may be easily recognized.  Broken limbs should always be handled with great care and tenderness.  If the accident happens in the woods, the limb should be bound with handkerchiefs, suspenders, or strips of clothing, to a piece of board, pasteboard, or bark, padded with moss or grass, which will do well enough for a temporary splint.  Always put a broken arm into a sling after the splints are on.

[Illustration:  Fig. 162.—­Showing how an Umbrella may be used as a Temporary Splint in Fracture of the Leg.]

Never move the injured person until the limb is made safe from further injuries by putting on temporary splints.  If you do not need to move the person, keep the limb in a natural, easy position, until the doctor comes.

Remember that this treatment for broken bones is only to enable the patient to be moved without further injury.  A surgeon is needed at once to set the broken bone.

[Illustration:  Fig. 163.—­Showing how a Pillow may be used as a Temporary Splint in Fracture of the Leg.]

375.  Fainting.  A fainting person should be laid flat at once.  Give plenty of fresh air, and dash cold water, if necessary, on the head and neck.  Loosen all tight clothing.  Smelling-salts may be held to the nose, to excite the nerves of sensation.

376.  Epileptic and Hysterical Fits, Convulsions of Children.  Sufferers from “fits” are more or less common.  In epilepsy, the sufferer falls with a peculiar cry; a loss of consciousness, a moment of rigidity, and violent convulsions follow.  There is foaming at the mouth, the eyes are rolled up, and the tongue or lips are often bitten.  When the fit is over the patient remains in a dazed, stupid state for some time.  It is a mistake to struggle with such patients, or to hold them down and keep them quiet.  It does more harm than good.

See that the person does not injure himself; crowd a pad made from a folded handkerchief or towel between the teeth, to prevent biting of the lips or tongue.  Do not try to make the sufferer swallow any drink.  Unfasten the clothes, especially about the neck and chest.  Persons who are subject to such fits should rarely go out alone, and never into crowded or excited gatherings of any kind.