Asphyxia and Obstruction of Air Passages

Symptoms: Blue discoloration of face, tongue, and lips; gasping; inability to speak; unconsciousness. Treatment: First try the Heimlich maneuver, grasping the victim from behind with hands linked in front and compressing the abdomen just below the ribs. Encourage victim to cough up foreign objects in throat; as a last resort, rap victim between shoulder blades to dislodge object. For asphyxia caused by gas or fumes, remove victim to a clear atmosphere; use artificial respiration.

Bites and Stings

Symptoms: Wound (animal or human bite) or swelling and pain (insect sting). Treatment: For animal and human bites, cleanse wound with soap and water and apply iodine containing antiseptic; submit animal for rabies test. For poisonous snakebite, cooling the site of the wound with ice will slow down absorption of poisons; antivenin treatment is required only for a small number of reptile bites. Prevent exertion and taking of stimulants by victim. For insect stings apply cortisone ointments, soothing lotions, or cool compress. Persons who are allergic to insect stings should carry adrenaline with them at all times. Papain, the main ingredient in "meat tenderizer," is effective in coral sting injuries.

Burns

Symptoms: Redness (first-degree burns), blistering (second-degree burns), charring of skin (third-degree burns). Treatment: Cold water may be applied to first- and second-degree burns. All burns should be covered with sterile non-adherent dressings. Chemical burns should be washed with large quantity of water; vinegar may be added to the water for alkali burns, and sodium bicarbonate may be added to the water in case of acid burns.

Drowning and Near-Drowning

Treatment: Immediate artificial respiration, and CPR. There is controversy over whether or not the Heimlich maneuver should be used in conjunction with CPR in order to dislodge water in the lungs and stomach.

Fainting

Symptoms: Unconsciousness, paleness, rapid pulse, coldness of the skin, sweating. Treatment: Leave victim lying down, loosen clothing, roll victim to the side and wipe out mouth in the event of vomiting.

Foreign Body in the Eye

Symptoms: Pain, redness, burning, tears. Treatment: Pull down lower lid and remove unembedded object with clean tissue if it lies on the inner surface of lower lid. If object has not been located, pull upper lid forward and down over lower lid. Object can be removed from surface of upper eyelid by turning lid back over a swabstick or similar object and lifting off the foreign body with a clean tissue. Finally, flush the eye with water. If object is suspected to be embedded, apply a dry, protective dressing over eye, and call physician or take patient to hospital emergency room. Keep victim from rubbing the eye. For chemical burns, flood eyes with water.

Fractures and Joint Injuries

Symptoms: Pain or tenderness, deformity of bones, swelling, discoloration. Treatment: Prevent movement of injured parts until splint is applied; treat for shock; if ambulance service is not available, splint entire limb before moving. For sprains, elevate affected part and apply cold compresses. Elastic bandages may be used for immobilization.

Frostbite

Symptoms: Numbness, pale, glossy skin, possible blistering. Treatment: Warm by placing victim indoors, remove covering, bathe frozen part in warm water; do not massage. For cold exposure, give artificial respiration. Placing blankets over a person who has a reduced body core temperature will do no good; heat must be applied to the victim to bring the temperature up to normal. If conscious, give warm liquids by mouth.

Heat Exhaustion

Symptoms: Pale, clammy skin, profuse perspiration, weakness, headache, possibly cramps. Treatment: Rest, cool atmosphere, cool water by mouth if conscious. In case of heat cramp, exert firm pressure on cramped muscle (usually abdomen or legs) to help relieve spasms.

Heatstroke

Symptoms: High temperature (as high as 108-112°F;/42-44°C;), hot dry skin, rapid pulse, possibly unconsciousness. Treatment: Immediately undress victim and sponge with or immerse in cool water or wrap in water-soaked sheets. Use fan or air conditioner.

Poisoning

Symptoms and signs: Information from victim or observer, stains about mouth, presence of poison container, breath odor, pupils contracted to pinpoint size from morphine or narcotics. Treatment: Dilute ingested poison by administering water or milk, administer specific antidote if described on label of commercial product. Do not induce vomiting if poison is strong acid, strong alkali, or petroleum product, or if victim is unconscious or convulsive. Syrup of Ipecac available without prescription at pharmacies may be administered to induce vomiting in other cases. A universal antidote contains Ipecac and activated charcoal; the latter absorbs the poison and the former causes it to be expelled.

Severe Bleeding

Symptoms: External wound. Treatment: Apply pressure over wound with wad of sterile gauze or other clean material. If bleeding continues and no fracture is present, elevate wound. If bleeding still continues, apply pressure to blood vessels leading to area—in arm, press just below armpit; in leg, press against groin where thigh and trunk join. Use a tourniquet (tight band that cuts off circulation) only when it has been decided that the sacrifice of a limb is necessary to save life.

Shock

Symptoms: Pale (or bluish) skin (in victim with dark skin examine inside of mouth and nailbeds for bluish coloration), cool skin, weakness, weak pulse; unresponsiveness and dilated pupils in later stages. Treatment: Keep victim lying down and covered enough to prevent loss of body heat. The body position should be adjusted according to the victim's injuries. Victims in shock may improve if the feet are raised 8 to 12 in. (20-30 cm). For electric shock, cut off current or separate victim from contact with electricity by using dry wood, rope, cloth, or rubber; administer CPR.

Wound

Treatment: Stop bleeding, cleanse wound with soap and water and cover with sterile or clean bandage.

Convening and Meetings

The council was convened by Pope Pius IX, who announced his intention in 1864. Because of the Italian political situation (the Papal States were the only bar to a united Italy), the advisability of having a council at all was questioned by the Catholic powers, who traditionally opposed strong action on the part of the church. In 1868 it was widely rumored in Europe that the enunciation of papal infallibility as a dogma was the purpose of the council and that it would confirm the papal denunciations of modernistic rationalism and liberalism. As a result there was a widespread attack on the prospective council in non-Catholic circles of France, Great Britain, and Germany. Within the church several prominent persons denounced the enunciation of infallibility as a dogma. Chief of these were Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger in Germany, Lord Acton in England, and the comte de Montalembert in France.

The council was convened Dec. 8, 1869, in St. Peter's, and it was attended by some 600 of the higher clergy (patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, abbots, generals of orders, and theologians) from all over the world. The Eastern Churches in schism were invited, and the Protestants were officially informed. Late in 1870 the council was brought to a halt by the entrance of Italian soliders into Rome, and a month later the pope prorogued the council indefinitely; it was never reconvened.

Constitutions of Faith and Infallibility

Two constitutions were promulgated by the Vatican Council and confirmed by the pope. The first was on the faith, consisting of four chapters holding chiefly that God is personal, that man knows God by reason and revelation, that faith is a supernatural virtue, and that faith and reason are complementary, never contradictory. The second constitution concerned the papacy; after defining the primacy of papal jurisdiction it goes on to enounce definitively the dogma of infallibility. This, the one official statement of the doctrine, reads in its significant part as follows: "The Roman pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when he, in the exercise of his office of his supreme apostolic authority, decides that a doctrine concerning faith or morals is to be held by the entire Church, he possesses, in consequence of the divine aid promised him in St. Peter, that infallibility which the Divine Savior wished to have His Church furnished for the definition of doctrines concerning faith or morals; and that definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not in consequence of the Church's consent, irreformable." Past definitions are included in the statement.

In the council there was a long dispute over the enunciation. In the first vote it stood 451 in favor, 88 opposed, and 62 conditionally in favor; at the last vote 433 were in favor of the promulgation, two opposing, 55 abstaining. All the fathers of the council accepted the dogma as true. After the council a great deal of discussion of infallibility took place among non-Catholics; violent attacks were made on the pope, the church, and the council. Within the church the papal infallibility had been generally believed for many centuries. A few groups departed from the church. The most important was the Old Catholics in Germany, under Döllinger; in France a small group headed by Père Hyacinthe (Charles Loyson) also seceded. The political results were numerous: Otto von Bismarck gave the definition as the reason for the Kulturkampf, and Austria used it as an excuse to abrogate its concordat with the Holy See. The French government denounced it in a memorandum, which was acceded to by Britain, Spain, and Portugal. The anger of the states reflected the chief political effect of the enunciation of papal infallibility: since the doctrine made Gallicanism and similar claims obsolete, governments could no longer use them to interfere in church affairs.

The Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) declared Korea independent and provided for the cession of Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Liaodong peninsula by China to Japan. China also had to pay a large indemnity. Within a week of the treaty signing, however, the diplomatic intervention of Russia, France, and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong peninsula to China. Under a subsidiary commercial treaty (1896), China yielded to Japanese nationals the right to open factories and engage in manufacturing in the trade ports. This right was automatically extended to the Western maritime powers under the most-favored-nation clause.

Principle of physics according to which the energy of interacting bodies or particles in a closed system remains constant, though it may take different forms (e.g., kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy, energy in an electric current, or energy stored in an electric field, in a magnetic field, or in chemical bonds [see bonding]). With the advent of relativity physics in 1905, mass was recognized as equivalent to energy. When accounting for a system of high-speed particles whose mass increases as a consequence of their speed, the laws of conservation of energy and conservation of mass become one conservation law. Seealso Hermann von Helmholtz.

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Wife of the president of the U.S. Although the first lady's role has never been codified or officially defined, she figures prominently in the country's political and social life. Representative of her husband on official and ceremonial occasions both at home and abroad, the first lady is closely watched for some hint of her husband's thinking and for a clue to his future actions. The wife of the president played a public role from the founding of the U.S., but the h1 first lady did not come into general use until much later, near the end of the 19th century. By the end of the 20th century, the h1 had been absorbed into other languages and was often used, without translation, for the wife of a country's leader—even in countries where the leader's consort received far less attention and exerted much less influence than did her counterpart in the U.S. Although unpaid and unelected, she is able to influence behaviour and opinion, and some first ladies have used their influence to affect legislation on important matters such as temperance reform, housing improvement, and women's rights.

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In philosophy, the uncreated or self-created cause to which every series of causes must ultimately be traced. Used by ancient Greek thinkers, the concept was adopted by the Christian tradition and became the basis of one version of the cosmological argument for the existence of God. According to this argument, every observed event is the result of a series of causes that must end in a first cause, which is God. The argument was given its classic formulation by St. Thomas Aquinas. It was rejected by many later thinkers, including David Hume and Immanuel Kant.

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(1869–70) 20th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It was convoked by Pope Pius IX (1846–78) to address the rising influence of rationalism, materialism, and liberalism. The council, which was never formally dissolved, promulgated two doctrinal constitutions: Dei filius, which deals with faith, reason, and their interrelations; and Pastor aeternus, which treats the authority of the pope. After long debate, the council approved the doctrine of papal infallibility. The council recessed in the summer of 1870 but was unable to reconvene because Italian troops had occupied Rome. Pius suspended the council indefinitely on Oct. 20, 1870.

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