The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-09-12
GUN-sHer woUSDs.

1t appears that..the pain Immediately pro-
duced by the passage Of bullet is usually
slight. In some cases 1t 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
Battalion Rifle Brigade was behind him.
No idea of having been shot entered the
privates 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 his sword in the buck. 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 form rly to attribute such
contusions to the wind of the shot"
Various theories were framed to account
for this result, by the condensation of the
air surrounding the missile, or the vacuum
which followed in its track, or by the elec.
trcity which it was supposed to generate.
'All these hypothesis are now abandoned
by military surgeons though a strong be-
lief 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 Bayonne 32-pounder shot passed
between the outstretched thighs of an
artillery officer at the time he was sighting
gun, and he sustained no damage except
the loss of the tail of his uniform coat.
One result of the improvement of fire.
arms has been to diminish considerably the
chances of lodgment of bullets in the body.
Out of 727 gun-shot wounds observed in
the hospital at Charlsruhe during the Franco
had lodged in only per cent. Such wounds,
however, are not less dangerous, inasmuch
as portions of the clothing and accoutre-
ments usually remain in the track of the
bullet, as well as splinters of bone, which
act as injuriously as foreign bodies. 1t is
therefore very necessary that careful ex-
animation should be made as soon as
possible, so that such sources of irritation
may be removed. Occasionally the pa.
tiept himself may be able to throw some
light upon the matter, and render further
investigation superfuous. Witness the
story of a surgeon, "who after long ex
ploraton of a gun shot wound and much
torture of his patient happening to remark
bullet, was addressed with much bitterness
| by the wounded man in the following
terms: is that what you have been doing
all this timer Why didn't you ask me
about it? l have got the bullet in my
pocket The mode of dressing gun shot
injuries has undergone many changes. AT
one time it was thought that there WIS g
peculiar poisonous influence exercised by
the missile upon the surrounding TISSUES
and the constitution of the sufferer
Although Ambrose Pare in l545 published
treatise to refute this error, we fine
traces of the belief still existing even il
the present century. Hence arose the
cruel practice of pouring boiling oil into
the wound to burn out the venomou
substance. Tile AMenuuna.