April 6.—Have met with a serious accident; I had the “blues” (that is what being discontented is called), and wished I had a book (Longfellow’s Poems); I went to Mrs. Henderson’s to try to procure it; while there one of the largest dogs I have ever seen jumped at me, and caught the elbow of my left arm in his mouth; I made sure from the crunch he made that the bone was broken. I was very much frightened, and believe, if a negro woman and Mrs. R.’s little girl had not been there, I should have been torn to pieces. What I most regret is that I shall not be able to visit the wards for some weeks, as we have so much erysipelas about, and it flies to wounds immediately. I have known nurses to take it from a scratch.
In the evening Mrs. H. (she was out when I received the bite) and a Mrs. Major Higgins called. They sympathized with me a great deal.
