The Newtown bee., 1878-08-29
aUN-sIIor WOUNDS.


 II appears that the pain immediately pro- inc,d by the prssage Of bullet is usually slight. In some clses it k not felt at tho rtrtpce wound hut only nt that Of exit. "l priynte Of the Seventh Fusiliera was in face of the enemy nt Iakerman. A bullet pierced the lower md outer part of his neck. and tore it's way out behind, be- tween the upper angle of the scapula and lhe spine. An officer of the Second Battalion Rife Brigade was behind him. No i'd of having been shot entered tho miyuue's mind. He was not even aware of the wound he Ind received in front, bu. his sensations led him to suppose that tho officer behind had prekel him with tho 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 tho blow of Il cannon bull, which has grazed tho body without breaking the skin. It was the custom formerly to attribute such contusons to the "wind of tho shot" Various theories were framed to account for this result, by the condensation of tho nir surrounding the missile, or the vacuum  which followed in it's track. or by the elec- tricity which it was supposed to generate. All these hypotheSes are now abandoned by military surgeons, though a strong be-
 lief in them still exists ill the minds of many combNtaut officers" It is certain that q cannon-ball may go quite close to the body without causing it any harm. Thus Nt Bayoune 32-pounder shot passed between the outstretched thighs of all artillery officer at the time he was sighting gun, and he sustained no damage except the loss of the tail of his uniform coat. l One result of the improvement of tire- arms hns been to diminish considerably the 1 chances of lodgment of bullets in the body. i Out of 727 guu-shot wounds observed ill the hospital at Chnrlsruhe during the Franco- German war, it was calculated that the bullets had lodged in only Is per cent Such wounds, however, are not less dangerous inasmuch as portions of the clothing and accoutre- ments usually remain ill the track of the bullet, as well as splinters of bone, which act as injuriously as foreign bodies. It is therefore very necessary that Il careful ex- animation should be made as soon us possible, 50 that such sources of irritation may be removed. Occasionally the pa- tent himself may be able to throw some light upon the matter, and render further investigation suptrhuous. Witness the story of surgeon, "who after long ex- plorntion of gun shot wound and much torture of his patient happening to remark that he must give up further search for the by the wounded man in the following terms: Is that what you have been doing all this time? Why didn't you ask me about it? I have got the bullet in my pocket The mode of dressing gun shot injuries has undergone many chnnges. At one time it was thought that there was 8 peculiar poisonous influence exercised by the missile upon the surrounding tissues and tue constitution of the sufferer. Although Ambrose Pare in 1545 published treatise to refute this error, we find traces of the belief still existing even in the present century. Hence arose the cruel practice of pouring boiling oil into the wound to burn out the venomous substance Ahen9unl