Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/430

398] but if these, nevertheless, should rise, open them with a lancet, or a fine pair of scissors, without cutting away the scarf-skin, let out the collected humour, and then apply a mixture of oil and lime-water, beat up with a new-laid egg, spread upon soft linen rags, and renewed every hour, or oftener.

One of the most simple remedies in recent burns, and which is in great vogue on the Continent, consists in the expressed juice of the burdock, or clot-burr; the fresh and tender leaves of which possess healing virtues, and are therefore applied not only to burns, but also to wounds, ulcers, &c. There is a kind of green ointment kept in families for occasional use: it is composed of equal parts of the juice obtained from the middle leaves of the burdock, and oil of almonds, or olives, in the purest state. This composition is said to be of singular efficacy, also, in healing ulcers, allaying pain arising from piles, removing tetters, and suppurating pustules of the face, if assisted by internal remedies, adapted to particular cases.  BURNT-GRAIN, a distemper incident to corn, and frequently confounded with the , though in its nature, very different from the latter. According to, the husks, or external coverings of the grains in burnt ears, are, in general, tolerably sound, with this difference only, that when the seeds begin to ripen, they appear drier and more parched than those of the healthy ears. The skin, or bran, which forms the immediate covering of the grain, is not destroyed in this disease, as is the case in the smut: and the infected ears are less firm and consistent in their texture, than the sound ones: the husks of the former also become dry and whitish, in proportion to the increase of the distemper. The grains retain some degree of firmness, and if opened, are found to be full of a brownish substance, emitting a nauseous smell, and being unctuous to the touch.

The most effectual method of preventing a distemper, the cause of which is as little known as that of the smut, is first to wash the seed well in common water, and scum off all the damaged grains that float on the surface, then to steep it in brine, a strong ley of ashes, urine, &c.; lastly, to sprinkle it well with quick-lime, before it is sown.  : See.  BURYING-GROUNDS are places consecrated to the interment of dead bodies; and have, from the earliest institutions of society, been held in great veneration, both by Heathens and Christians. It is, however, to be regretted, that the latter paid less attention to the influence of such places on the health and comforts of the living, than the more sagacious Pagans, who generally appointed distant and elevated situations, for committing the remains of their friends to the maternal earth.

There can be no diversity of opinion as to the pernicious tendency of burying-grounds in the vicinity of dwelling-houses (see the Article ), especially in large and populous cities. Hence Dr., in the true spirit of a philanthropic philosopher, boldly, though pertinently, remarks: No burials should be tolerated in churches or church-yards, where the monuments of departed sinners shoulder God's altar, pollute his holy places with dead men's bones, and, by putrid exhalations, produce  gious