The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-10

the neck, which suffered least. In land
fights, however the greatest number Of
wounds were in the lower eXtremiues,
those of the head ana upper extremities
next then the body. ana here again the
neck wounds Were the fewest. The mum
Der of wounds IN land and naval battles
were about the same.
While not germane, I can but mention
the practice of the japanese of photo
graphing every wounded man, as well as
every case of serious Illness. This was
done to facilitate claims for pensions and
TO prevent frauds in obtaining them.
OF wounds produced BY shrapnel and
shells from machine and rapid-fre guns or
eanons there Is but little change in their
character, but with the Improvement in
accuracy there will be a larger per cent
of such injuries which win he severe, lac
Grated, septic wounds; for it has been de-
monstrated that the heat of firing does
not sterlliZe the projectIle
But TO summarize the effects of the small
bore rife, for II as evident that the future
battles will not be fought at artillery
range, but largely by troops armed with
this gun, and the majority OF the wounds
that will come to the surgeon viii be made
by it.
There will probably be more wounds OF
the larger sblood vessels, and these will re-
quire prompt aid and often amputatIons to
save life. Wounds Of the cancellous bones
las the ilium-wil be punctured with but
little or no explosive or lateral effect, the
wounds of entrance and exit being prac-
tically the same size, that of the ball
Wounds In bones whose external is com
pact, over considerable cancelous struc-
ture-as the head of the tbia-the explo-
sve effect is more marked, especially at
the longer ranges.
In wounds Of the shaft OF the larger
bones the fractures are terrific, particu-
larly at the longer ranges; but in the
smaller homes which are comparatively sol
id the holes look as though they had been
made with punch.
In the brain, lungs, heart spleen, kid
neys, liver, intestlnes and bladder, es-
pecially il the organs are full, the ex-
plosive or lateral effects of the bullet are
simply terrific, tearing everything around
In some Of these experiments u was shown
that the whole viscera was almost disin-
tegrated by a single shot.
All wounds win be more or less septic
for, as before stated IL has been proven
by careful experiments that the heat Of
firing does not sterilize The proJectile. The
degree of infection will depend on the
amount Of handling and condition Of the
missile before firing, as well as Of the
pts OF clothing ana OtHef foreign DOules
carried into the wound. ~
AS the result of these experiments,
which were in every instances conducted
by men Of the highest scientific character,
it has been proven that in future wars the
medical and hospital departments must
be equal 10 at least per cent Of the
whole force OF the army in order TO handle
the wounded promptly, and thereby free
Tie army Of the impeachment OF those who
are disabled, whose presence will detain
and dcmoraiize the troops. In view OF
these facts DR. Demosthen was undoubt-
edly correct when he wrote to the Paris
Academy that humanity viii gain Goth
ing from the modern missile in warfare. /"