The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1862-05-02
in action, whose skins are unbroken. save by
the wind theory?

Easily, as thus The vital internal organs
aoat, rs 1t were, in q yielding medium. Psss
your hand into the pit Of q mans stomach
slowly, and you may displace the organ
without any pain or injury; but plant
swift blow there with your fist, and you
double the man up with pain; perhaps kill
him outright; but there viii not DO the
slightest outward mark. Hence in boxing,
blow below the belt is indeed foul.
Press hard upon mans left side, and the
elasticity of the ribs, aided by the elastic
cartilages at each end, allows great depres-
sion to be made-conscquently the heart and
lungs to be pushed aside; and yet every thing
comes back to its place without pain or In
jury; but q swift blow over the same part
with club, or q fall from house upon q
hard substance, may fracture the ribs, drive
the sharp broken points through the mem
brane, or even paralyze the heart, and kill
the man outright, without leaving q blemish
on the skin.
Standing once in the bow Of the vessel, as
she bore down upon hostile battery. my eye
caught the first fash Of cannon, and quick
er than one could wink twice, the ball came
crashing through the bulwarks, and smote
down q comrade, before my ear caught the
report, which he, alas was too far gone to
hear. A twelve pound shot struck him full
upon the pelvis, but being partly spent in
splintering the wood, its force was further
broken by the body, and 1t fell to the deck
with him. No blood was drawn, but the in
ternal parts wero so smashed that he was
hardly got down to the cockpit alive.
Soldiers and sailors have other supersti.
tions about spent balls. The old soldier loves
to retail them to the recruit, upon whom he
looks down as sophomores do upon freshmen,
or as our regular officers do upon the volun.
teers, and with as little reason, few Of them
ever having seen much hard fighting, for the
Mexican war was but sort of dress cam
paisn against poor, weak enemy, in the
whole of which there was less blood shed
than in Napoleonic skirmish. The old
soldier, soy, will tell you Of the greenhOrn,
who, seeing spent ball just moving on the
ground, tried to stop it with his foot. but
had 1t cut clean of instanter. The fact is,
cannon ball, partly spent, ricOehet' and
rolls with just tho same force as though 1t
had been rolled by q mans hand, and no
more. The force depends upon its weight
and veloity, Of course.
Mortal wounds, however, without any
bloodshed or breach Of the skin, are not gen.
orally made by spent balls, but by those hav-
ing great velocity; and according to my the
ory, they should be more frequent by smooth
bore than by riaed cannon.
The balls rotate swiftly on the axis as they
fly, and In directions according to the forces
acting upon them Us they leave the gun
Now take 32-pound shot and hold 1t before
mans thigh on the outside, or before his
ribs, in such wise that II you push It for
ward, and he stands arm, the ball will pass.
by reason Of his flesh yielding, one inch
that is, by being pressed inwards once inch.
The ball will thus have moved through
space before occupied by flesh or bone. be-
cause It passed slowly, or the parts yielded,
and no harm is done. But II that same man
is standing firmly, and that same 32-pound
shot, rushing swift as lightning, strikes him
in the same direction, 1t may roll over the
skin without breaking 1t, but may, neverthc-
less, dash II inward with such sudden shock
as to paralyze oil vital action, and even crush
the bone.
Joye's thunderbolt could not strike man
dead more suddenly, or leave less seats.
Sometimes It is found that the internal
parts are ruptured, marked, and even pun.
mellcd to jelly. though there were no out.
ward marks. Generally, however, the dis
coloration shows itself plainly on the surface
in short time after death.
War has real terrors enough; and NOV
ing cannon.ball is fearful missile; but we
should get rid of all superstitions about 1t.
Boston Transcript.