When the unguent has been applied then a piece of adhesive plaster is placed over the hole in the shield to prevent the unguent from rubbing off. The relief afforded by this " treatment " is really very great, though of course when the shields and 468 BE A UTY. plasters are removed, and the shoe has once more irri- tated the toes, the corns will become troublesome again. But regularly treated in this way they frequently disap- pear altogether. There are also corn and bunion plasters which may be obtained at drug stores, fashioned after the manner of the shields described but made of felt, which may be used in the same manner as the shields. Prop- erly applied they remove pressure from corns and render their pangs less frequent and more endurable ; but some judgment in trimming and shaping them for the places they are to occupy will be necessar}^, otherwise they may increase the tortures going on within the shoe. It is said that any hard corn may be cured by the fol- lowing method : With a knife that is not too sharp, pare the corn as thin as possible, beijig careful not to cause it to bleed. Then touch it lightly with a nitrate of silver in stick. This, in two or three days' time, will form a callous crust over the surface, which remove with the knife and again apply the silver nitrate. Follow this pro- cedure for a fortnight, protecting the corn from pressure, and a cure will most likely result. A strong tincture of iodine brushed on corns will some- times cure them, and another remedy is to rub them twice daily with pumice-stone. Acetic acid is another remedy which must be applied very carefully, so that none of the flesh surrounding the corn will be moistened by it. Rub it on the corn with a tooth-pick or a sharpened match. In cutting corns the operator should be careful to fol- low the conformation of each. That is, as a corn is thickest at the center, it should not be pared straight across, but deeper at the center, or in a sort of concave or funnel shape. After simply paring a corn, its irritated SOFT CORNS. 469 or inflamed condition may be sootiied by soaking the foot in warm water in which there is a little tincture of arnica, bi-carbonate of soda, or a few drops of carbolic acid ; or, the pared surface may be anointed v/ith carbolic salve, and the toe wrapped in tissue paper — a method which is often productive of great relief. There are numerous caustic and acid preparations sold for the removal of corns, but they as often irritate the trouble as relieve it, and rarely effect a cure. The latter is difficult to obtain, since corns are excrescences of the fungus tribe, whose roots are rarely reached or destroyed. A plaster said to relieve hard corns that are very pain- ful, is made as follows : Resin plaster, . . . . i ounce. Muriate of ammonia, .... 2 drachms. Powdered opium, i drachm. Melt the resin, and stir in the other ingredients. Spread on a piece of kid or chamois and apply.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

When the unguent has been applied then a piece of adhesive plaster is placed over the hole in the shield to prevent the unguent from rubbing off. The relief afforded by this " treatment " is really very great, though of course when the shields and 468 BE A UTY. plasters are removed, and the shoe has once more irritated the toes, the corns will become troublesome again. But regularly treated in this way they frequently disappear altogether. There are also corn and bunion plasters which may be obtained at drug stores, fashioned after the manner of the shields described but made of felt, which may be used in the same manner as the shields. Properly applied they remove pressure from corns and render their pangs less frequent and more endurable ; but some judgment in trimming and shaping them for the places they are to occupy will be necessar}^, otherwise they may increase the tortures going on within the shoe. It is said that any hard corn may be cured by the following method : With a knife that is not too sharp, pare the corn as thin as possible, beijig careful not to cause it to bleed. Then touch it lightly with a nitrate of silver in stick. This, in two or three days' time, will form a callous crust over the surface, which remove with the knife and again apply the silver nitrate. Follow this procedure for a fortnight, protecting the corn from pressure, and a cure will most likely result. A strong tincture of iodine brushed on corns will sometimes cure them, and another remedy is to rub them twice daily with pumice-stone. Acetic acid is another remedy which must be applied very carefully, so that none of the flesh surrounding the corn will be moistened by it. Rub it on the corn with a tooth-pick or a sharpened match. In cutting corns the operator should be careful to follow the conformation of each. That is, as a corn is thickest at the center, it should not be pared straight across, but deeper at the center, or in a sort of concave or funnel shape. After simply paring a corn, its irritated SOFT CORNS. 469 or inflamed condition may be sootiied by soaking the foot in warm water in which there is a little tincture of arnica, bi-carbonate of soda, or a few drops of carbolic acid ; or, the pared surface may be anointed with carbolic salve, and the toe wrapped in tissue paper — a method which is often productive of great relief. There are numerous caustic and acid preparations sold for the removal of corns, but they as often irritate the trouble as relieve it, and rarely effect a cure. The latter is difficult to obtain, since corns are excrescences of the fungus tribe, whose roots are rarely reached or destroyed. A plaster said to relieve hard corns that are very painful, is made as follows : Resin plaster, . . . . i ounce. Muriate of ammonia, .... 2 drachms. Powdered opium, i drachm. Melt the resin, and stir in the other ingredients. Spread on a piece of kid or chamois and apply.

The Pattern cook-book