BOII, ba eyes A Celtic people, who early mi grated eastward from Gaul into northern Italy, Bohemia, and the region of the Eastern Alps. In Italy they stubbornly resisted the Romans, some times victors, often vanquished. They united with both Hannibal and a lesser Hamilear against the common enemy, but in B.C. 191 they were definitely defeated by Scipio Nasica, and about half their lands seized. About a century and a half later the Germanic peoples pressed into the northern abodes of the Boil, who were unable to resist them. A fragment of the tribe joined the lielvetians in their migration into Gaul, and were met by Cfesar, who settled them in the land of the .Edui. The country of the Boil, to the north of the Danube, after it had been overrun by the Alareomanni, was still called Bojo Inemum, the land of the Boii, the modern Bo hemia. Another survival of the name is Bavaria.
BOIL (allied to Lat. bulla, a bubble), or FURCNCLE (Lat. furuneulus). An acute cir cumscribed suppurative inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. It begins as a small hard point of a dusky-red color, which is hot. painful. and throbbing. This point extends, and during several days these symptoms increase in severity until finally the boil ceases to enlarge. It is then of a conical form, with a broad, firm base, and presents on the apex a whitish blister, which contains a little pus. This opens. and
after a few days more there is discharged a core or slough of cellular tissue, and the small cavity left heals rapidly, leaving a white de pressed scar. Boils are most common in the spring, and in young and plethoric persons, and their appearance is quite consistent with robust health. Alen somewhat overtrained for athletic contests, and others who hare suddenly (-hanged their diet and daily habits, are subject to them. In some, boils continue to succeed each other for a length of time. In the treat ment of boils, the intestinal canal should be cleared out by laxative medicines, and the diges tive power improved by tonics and antacids. The skin should be kept healthy by frequent washing, while the inflamed spots should be poulti•e() with a solution of flaxseed mixed with an antiseptic, to avoid infection of neighboring parts. A weak antiseptic lotion (biehloride of mercury, 1 to 5000, or carbolic acid, I to 200) is a sufficient application after the core has been thrown off. Deep incision after pus appears is the best and most satisfactory treatment. The cause of boils is infection with a pus-germ, gen erally the Staphylococcus bacillus, which enters a hair-follicle or a sweat-gland.