Dodge City times., 1890-11-28
AMAZING EXPERIENCE.
How tho Wind Of u Cannon Ball G.
Wound and Bruise.

How the Wind OF . Cannon Ball Can
Wound and Bruise.
Sir Robert Rawbinson, X. C. B.. writes
the following striking narratives: ''On
the morning of the 10th of June. 1855, l
was riding in company with some mill
tary officers on their way to the trenches
before Sebastopo!, and entering the ra-
vine known as ''The Valley of the
turning around to go back was swept
down with my horse by forty-two
pound Russian steel shot The shot
passed. in front of me. from left to right,
cutting the reins out of my left hand
and passing through the thin jacket un-
der my arm. had in my right hand
trousers pocket small leather purse
with a steel rim to it, and little silver
in it. This 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 that was
cut in two. 1 tainted and my wound
bled copiously, and was taken to the
nearest temporary hospital Now, as to
the wind of this shot. 1t could have
had nothing to do with my wound. AS
explained, the shot traversed across the
abdomen and met with nothing solid but
the purse and money in my pocket and
the contact was sufficient 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
remember, so slight must have been the
touch of the shot on my clothes that they
were not abraded or marked; the thin
summer coat being perforated, but the
outer edge not broken. How could the
wind perform this freak? Tho full front
force of this shot, of only 1000 feet per
second, would have striking power OF
about 40, 900 pounds, but, cannoning on
me in front, the force of blow might be
only equal to a severe blow by a man
striking below the belt. II this shot
had passed over any more solid portion
of the body. as the head or the back,
sudden death would have been the re-
suit; but as it barely touched the clothes
upon the abdomen the effect was less
ened. At all events l was severely.
wounded by a fOrty-two pound round
S0Ots anu uuOSt CcEtdluly uOt Oy tHo
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. Longmore upon the matter thus:
''The true explanation of the appear
ances presented in those cases which
were formerly called wind contusions'
appears to 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 Of the internal organs
injured between this missile and other
hard subs tances in their neighborhood.
The surface itself is not directly torn or
cut into because the impact Of the pro-
jectile has not been sufficiently direct
to effect An opening; but the parts be-
meath are crushed by the pressure to
which they have been subjected be-
tween the combined influence Of the
weight and momentum of the shot on
one side and some hard resisting sub
stance on the other. There are no cases
have seen or read Of that can not be
satisfactorily explained on the theory
Riven above."-London Timea