The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1878-07-18

Itappears that the pain Immediately pro-
duced by the passage Of bullet is usual
~ slight. In some cases il is not felt at
the entrance wound, but only at that Of
exit. A private Of the Seventh Fusiliers
was in face Of the enemy at Inkerman. A
bullet pierced the lower and outer part Of
his neck, and tore its way out behind, be-
tween the upper angle Of the scapula and
the spine An officer Of the Second Bat
TALON Rife Bi&nae was behind him. No
idea Of having been shot entered the pri-
Yates mind. He was not even aware Of
the wound he had received In front but his
sensations led him to suppose that the Of
ficer behind had pyicked him with The point
OF his sword In the back He turned round
instantly to learn what this was done for,
and was In time to see the officer In the
act OF falling. The bullet which had just
passed through his own neck had struck
the officer in the head and killed him. |"
Serious and even fatal injuries have not
unfrequently been caused by the blow OF a
cannon ball. which has grazed the body
without breaking the skin. 1t was the
custom formerly to attribute such contu-
sions tO the wind Of the shot" Various
result, by the condensation Of the air sur
rounding the missile. or the vacuum which
followed In its track. or by the electricity
which 1t was supposed to generate. All
these hypothesis are now abandoned by
military surgeons. though n strong belief
In them still exists In the minds 81 many
combatant officers" II Is certain that
cannon ball may goquite close Ia the body
without causing II any harm. Thus at
Bayonne a 32-pounder shot passed be-
tween the Outstretched thighs of an artil-
lery officer ut the time he was sighting a
gun, and he sustained no damage except
the loss Of the tail Of his uniform coat
One result Of the improvement Of firearms
has been To diminish considerably the
chances Of Judgment of bullets in the body.
Out Of 727 gun-shO wounds observed In
the hospital at Carlsruhe during tn. Fran
CO. German war. IL was CALCULATED that the
bullets had lodged in only Is per cent.
Such wounds, however. are not less dan
gerous inasmuch as portions o! the cloth
ing and accOutrements usually remain In
the track Of the bullet, as well as splinters
Of bone, which act rs iDjuriously a. foreign
bodies. 1t Is therefore very necessary
that q careful examination should be made
as soon Is possible. 80 that such sources
sl ll0v w tNhipsSNS- SNNesofcS-
ally the patient himself may be able Ia
throw some light upon the matter. aud
render further investigation superfuous.
Witness the story ii surgeon, who after
long exploration Of q Run-shOt wound and
much torture Of his patient. happening To
remark that he must give up further search
for the bullet, was addressed with much
bitterness BY the wound~sl man in the fol-
lowing terms: Is that what you have been
doing all this time? WHY didn't you ask
me about 1t? have got the bullet In my
pocket The mode Of dressing gun shot
injuries has undergone many Changes. AT
one time II was thought that there WAS
. peculiar poisonous influence exercised by
the missile upon the surrounding Tissues
and the Constitution of the sufferer. Al
though Ambrose Pare In ljs5 published
treatise to refute This error. We find traces
Of the belief still existing even Ia the pres
enf century. Hence AROSE the cruel prae-
tice Il pouring boiling al into the wound
TO tun out the venomous substance
Afksssssa-