The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-07-13
next morning saw Dram Clarke there !;
he said snmnfhin0 about tha fobt

QueStIon-D1d you near Clarke say
that he saw Matt, Burnsdraw his pis-
toll after the first shot was fred?a NO
5nObjected to. Objection overruled.
fIbAnswer-Do not remember hearing
him say so did not pay much atten-
lion; did not think, it Important did
pot hear .Clarkeosay he saw Matt.
BurnsLpull out his pistol after the
first shot was fired; he. told me he
'fsaw the fight, and took theVpistol
from Matt, said he did notraseeb the
pistol till after he heard the shot. 90.
i, Dr. Magepiss testi6ed-Was called
TO see Matt. Burns on the 9Th of July,
at 10 a. NJ; examined7dhis wound /;
found a pistol wound on dorsuin of
fore arm 81 inches from the wrist
ajoint; ball passing inward, and OBJ
.liquelyq forward, and making its
exit on the interior surface; the
distance traversed by the ball was
p inches; seemed, to have passed over
the radium orifce, made by the en-
trance of the ball; nearly healed;
the other was suppurating; my atten-
ton was called to an apparent contur
sion on biceps muscle of the opposite
arm; the blood was diffused under
the skin, and had the ordinary APP
pearance of a confusion had no
tdoHbt the ball entered on the dorsum
of the arm ordinarily, the oriice of
the 'exit heals first; account for it in
this case by its passing through a,
more muscular tissue in It's exit; the
mark on tae other arm was In a line
with the wounds; only saw him once;
a Confusion on the bicepss muscle
would produce numbness anddpain4inI
the fore arm. siH9H
.Cross-examined-The inside wound
was Openpands suppnratihg; it is the
rule in surgeryithat therwound made
by the entrance OF. the bail is the last
to heal, but this may be changed by,
the greater injury done at the, exit by
the greater number OF muscular It's
sues, through which it passes; it
was on the 9th [ saw the wound. sas,aa
Dir DeBruler. testifed-Saw the,
WOULD hnMatt. Btrhs" arm, fon the
fifstor second DAY after the fight the,
Wound seemed toTbe directed from the,
ontHtosthel inside; my attention was
not called to the direction of the,
ball; I was told by Burns that he had
bceHshot by his adversary, and infer
red that was the direction; did not
seegit again tillitMasstoo late to de-
eide; both orifces were pretty round;
on my second visit, Burns called my
attention tosa spot on thegother arm;
my opinion is that it was a confusion
by a ball could place the wound in
the arm in the direction of the contu-
sion; my impression at the time, was,
that it was the, hruise of a ball; the
muscles would be firmer when. the
arm was extended; don't Know that it
wouldaofferAIaere resistance; seemed
to be a glanqipglick;t the visit VAIN
the morning; DR.. Magennis was pres
ent; had [ heard nothing previously,
| could pQtihave delivered an opinion,
from the appearance of the two pune
lures, as to where the ball entered; if
the inside wound was pushed outward,
it would indicate that as the
exit, and the oriice of entrance would
be inverted; this inversion and ever
sion would last longer or shorter ac-
coEdlng to circumstances most of my
gunshot practice has been In the hos
pital as a rule, the orifce Of entrance
heals first.
Cross examined-Made no examin-
alton as to the courseethe ball took;
on first visit took his theory a.. cor
rect and gave directions how to treat
it; went with DIR. Mageniss two or
three days after;l one cwound was
nearly healed up; a ball generally
makes. a smaller hole entering than
at exit.
A slanting back wound has greater
tendency to defect and might make a
larger opening. The tendency OF a
slight velocity is to tear less than a
great velocity. and sometimes a round
ball with slight velocity makes a mere
slit both at entrance and exit, though
"a round ball is more apt to tear than
a-eonicaI bailDgTbe. witness gave a
cast. where the patient had a straight
cut or slit above the eye, supposed to
be by the piece of a she'll Found a
hard substance below the eye, and
upon making an. incession found an
ounce minnie ball. Had said in his
direct examination that as a rule
the entrance wound healed first.
He wanted to correct this. The
rule wasidifferent, but it depended on
SO many CIRCUMSTANCES that a rule
could hardly be- established the part
most severely Injured would heal last;
in general. the exit will heal last;
granulation and suppuration are like
ly to commence first at the exit; cir
cumstances might change this; could
not tell positively which was the en-
trance or exit of a ball unless seen
Immediately and before the wounds
were handled; the character Of the
fractures might be changed in a mo-
ment; when [ last saw the woands. 1t
was impossible to tell which was the
entrance and which was the exit: