The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1878-10-04
aunshot '-,unds.

| 1t appears that the pain Immediately pro-
duced by the passage of bullet Is usually
slight. In some cases it is not felt at the
| entrance wound, but only at that of exit
ga 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 it's way out behind, between
the upper angle of the scapula and the
spine. An officer of the Second Battalion
Rife Brigade was behind him. No idea Of
having been shot entered the private's mind
He was not even aware of the wound he
had received in front, but his sensations led
him to suppose that the officer behind had
pricked him with the point of bis 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 cam op-ball which
has grazed the body without breaking the
skin. It was the custom formerly to at
tribute such contuslons to the "wind of
the shot," Various theories were framed
to account for this result, by the condensa-
tion of the air surrounding the missile, or
the vacuum which followed in it's track, Or
by the electricity which it was supposed to
generate. "All these hypothesis are now
abandoned by military surgeons, though a
strong belief in them still exists in the
minds of many combatant officers" 1t is
certain that a cannon-ball may go quite
close to the body without causing it any
harm. Thus at Bayonnea 32-pounder shot
passed between the outstretched thighs of
an artillery officer at the time he was sight
ing gun, and he sustained no damage ex-
cept the loss of the tail of his uniform coat.
One result of the improvement of fire arms
has been to diminish considers ably the
chances of lodgment of bullets in the body.
Out of 727 gunshot wounds observed il, the
hospital at Carlsruhe during the Franco
German war, it was calculated that the
bullets had lodged in only 18 per cent.
Such wounds, however, are not less dan
gerous inasmuch as portions of the cloth
ing and aceoutrements usually remain in
the track of the bullet, as we'll as splinters
of bone, which act as injuriously as foreign
bodies. 1t is, therefore, very necessary
that careful exami nation should be made
as soon as possible, so that such sources of
irritation may be removed. Occasionally
the patient himself may be able to throw
some light upon the matter, .and render far
ther investigation superfous. Witness the
story of a surgeon, "who after long ex-
ploration of q gunshot 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 wounded man in the followi ng
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 gunshot
injuries has undergone many changes. At
one time it was thought that there was
peculiar poisonous influence exercised by
the missile upon the surrounding tissues
and the constitution of the suff ferer. AL
though Ambrose Pare in 1916 published
treatise to refute this error, we find traces
Of the belief still existing even in the pres
ent century. Hence arose the cruel practice
Of pouring boiling oil into the wound to
burn out the venomous substance. The |