As long as we celebrate the Fourth of July in the customary manner, we may expect the usual number of injuries on this day. This is one of the cases in which we can do little in the way of preventive medicine, yet while we may not hope to reduce the number of accidents, by proper care we may be able to minimize the ill effects which so frequently follow them.
The injuries common to Fourth of July accidents may be divided into two classes: (1) Those which produce considerable damage to the person, but are attended with little danger to life; (2) those which are comparatively trivial, so far as the damage done is concerned, but which are attended with great danger to life. In the first class may be placed such injuries as the loss of a portion or all of a hand or arm, due, for instance,