The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-01-10

tHE SURGICAL ASP ECTS OF THE WAR.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
Drs. Goujon and Felizet who were engaged
u the temporary hospital at Metz, have pre-
red report on the effects of the different
russian arms They are of opinion that
ese are not as nurderous as they are sup
bsed to be, but that the frequency and
bverity of certain wounds result from the
nfavorable positions which the men were
compelled by their leaders to assume The
following details are extracted from q sum-
nary of this report:-
The Prussians, for the most part at least,
be the triangular bayonet, now generally
discarded, the wounds from which are far less
erious than those inflicted by the sword
>ayonet, which our infantry possessed. One
bf US saw on the night of the 3lst of August,
after the fight of Servigny- -Sainte-B -Barbe,
peap of Prussians with wounds in the chest
measuring nearly thirty centimetres in the
ptercostal space. We have seen but two
wounds with the Prussian bayonet, and
hose healed rapidly. The bayonet is not the
arm which the Prussians excel in. They are
Pften too closely packed to have
but much passive resistance. Hence our
bpldiers say that charge of bayonets goes
Through them like butter. Sword wounds
were more frequent on our side, but chiefly
e3nfned to cavalry who had charged the
1russian horse. The worst we saw was that
French cuirassier, whose left wrist had
cen completely disarticulated with as much
bgularity as if it had been done by surgeon.
Ve saw several dragons who had received
many as six sword cuts on the head, the
ands, and the trunk. The left arm is always
he object of the Prussians in cavalry
harge they endeavor to cut the horses
bridle or the hand which holds it. These
Wounds are seldom serious, being superficial
tnd soon healed.
There can be no doubt of the great part
lhe Prussian artillery has played in our disas-
ers. With regard to wounds from firearms,
We have observed on an average 20 wounds
Iom the bursting of shells and 80 from
laden bullets. Out of 100 wounds from
fragments of shells, we have always observed
Dn an average 60 wounds in the back or
where the shoulders join the neck, and 40
Wounds in front or on the sides and limbs.
khe large Prussian projectiles are all explo-
We: they burst on touching the ground. 1t
hay however, be mentioned that their full
ninating apparatus is defective. One of us
It Gravelotte saw the muddy soil covered
with shells which had not burst. The
brm of the fragments of shell is
ery varied; so is their weight. We
have extracted some which weighed
bbly three grammes; but, on the other
and, one of us extracted a piece exceeding
c%S0 grammes in weight. We have sometimes
@und little irregular fragments, which have
ven rise to the idea that explosive bullets
I'D been Used, but no doctor at Metz has
5und any such. Wounds from shells gene
lily heal easily; when the skeleton is affected
be case is more serious, but not more so than
fractures, comminuted or not, complicated
with hesh-wounds. Thus in our hospital,
Aere the sick have been for nearly two
lm{ {pnths deprived of salt, condemned to horse
= IL e
~ andy and quinine, and subject to terrible
? oral depression, we have seen many cures
wounds from the explosion of shells. The
Eequency of these wounds intimidates the
bldier. To what then is this frequency owing
he following facts speak for themselves. At
The battle of Gravelotte whole regiments re-
c4ived orders to throw themselves flat on
heir faces in the burrows abort 1000 meters
Eom the enemy, and remained in this state
rom seven in the morning to two or four
O'clock in the evening; the shells rained upon
fhem, and many of our soldiers parished
&githout firing shot. At Sainte-Barbe seve-
ksAl regiments received the same order and
sustained considerable loss The enemy had
their own way with troops which COM
Ilete ignorance of the operation of shells had
endered stationary on an open place. The
kounds we observed in the back and at the
hnion of the shoulder and neck are precisely
those which man lying fiat on his face would
receive Now, are these wounds less frequent
when charging a battery9 On the 7th Of
October the 7th Voltigeurs, the Ohasseurs oi
the Guard, and regiment of the Line, car
tied the Chateau of Ladouchamps, where two
tPrussian batteries were established. These
tnen marched in quick time over $500 meters
pf ground, under a heavy fire, charged will
he bayonet, carried the position, and TOOL
he guns. Of the wounded in this affair 4
out Of 60 were wounded by balls. Their
Eere but 13 wounds from bursting shells
the former proportion was inverted. Th