San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-01-16
SAN ANT ONO, TEXAS THURSDAY, JANUARY Is, 1870.
THE WIND OF CANNON BALL.
Does 1t, as Has often Been Stated,
Wound and BruiSe?


Wound and Bruise?
Pail Mall G ,zetre.
Sir Rob't. Rawlip son, X. &. B., sends
us the following striking narrative:
"On the morning of the 10th Of June,
1885, was riding in company with
some military officers on their way
to the trenches before Sebastopol,
and entering the ravine known as
"The Valley of the Shadow OF Death"
when in the act of turning round
to 90 back was swept down with
my horse by forty-two pound
Russian steel shot. The shot pass
ed in front of me from left to
right, cutting the reins out Of my left
hand and passing through the thin
jacket under my right arm. l had In
my right hand trousers pocket q small
leather purse with q steel rim TO IL
and a little silver in it. The purse
bruised the strong cloth of the pocket
and my flannel shirt, as also the crest
of the pelvis. My own impression
was that the shot had struck me full
in the abdomen, and l was cut in
two. / tainted and my wound bled
copiously, and 1 was taken to
the nearest temporary hospital.
Now, as to the winu vi Lnis shot. IL
could have had nothing TO do with my
wound. AS explained, the shot
ira versed across the abdomen and met
with nothing solid but the purse and
money in my pocket, and the contact
was strong enough to break the strong
cloth of the pocket under the purse
not above 1.-THE flannel shirt, and
the flesh and bone of the pelvis. And,
rememb Der, 80 slight must have been
the touch of that shot OH my clothes
that they were not abraded or marked,
the thin simmer coat being perforated
but not broken.
How could the wind preform this
feat? The full 'front.' force OF this shot,
if only ], 200 feet per second, would
have striking force of about 40, QUO
pounds: but carroming on me in front,
the force or;blow might be only to Il
severe blow by man striking below
the belt. If this shot had passed
over any more solid portion of the
body, Is the head or the back sudden
death would have been the result;
but as it barely touched the clothes
upon the abdomen the effect was les
sened. AT all events / was severely
injured by 42-pound round shot, and
most certainly not by the wind OF it;
and by reason of the grand surgery
of the late Sir James Ferguson | am
now alive to tell the tale"
A medical correspondent quotes
Prof Sir T. Lonomore upon the mat
ter thus: The true explanation of
the appearances presented in those
cases which were formerly called
wind Commissions" appears 10 rest IN
the peculiar direction or degree OF
obliquity with which the missile has
happened To impinge against the
yielding and elastic skin, together
with the position o. the internal Or
gans injured between this missile
aud her hard substances in their
neighborhoOd. The surface itself is
not directly torn or cut into, BET ause
the impact OF proJocIlle has not been
sufficiently direct to effect all OPEN
ing; but the parts beneath are crushed
by the pressure 10 which they have
been subjected between the ombined
Influence OF the weight and momen-
tum OF the shot on one side and SOME
hard, resisting substance on the
0 her. There are no cases | have seen
OF read of our correspondent adds,
that cannot be satisfactorily explained
on theory given above.