The evening times., 1898-06-28
THE MODERN auLLEr..
Description of the Wound Il
Makes.


Marine Camp. Guantanamo Bay Cuba,
via Port Antonio, Jsalaica, June D.
Ever since the introduction Of the mod
ern high-power, small-caiiber rifle
among the armies of the world there has
been intense interest IN the medical pro-
fession. as well as among laymen. to
know the effect OF the new arm in the
nature of the wounds 1t would infiict,
and the proportion of mortality to wound
ed.
DIR. Orlando Ducker. Uf.'riie| American
Medical Association. who is here to study
the practical aspects of battlefield sur
gerry, as well as tropical diseases and
their treatment, went over the battle
field of Cusco Mountain with Surgeon
Edgar. of the Marine Corps. and exam
ined the bodies there. sight of the
battlefield gave the impression of a big
ger fight than had been conveyed by the
cold official stateYnent'fof the case at
Camp McCalla last Tuesday,. The addi-
tional bodies found raised the estimate of
Spanish killed from ffty-eight, the first
days count to more than seventy-five.
Many bullet-pierced straw hats Uttered
the ravine where the Spaniards made
their last disastrous retreat. The mar
row glen was literally covered with emp
ty Mauser shells for half a mile, while
cactus plants were Plentifully peppered
with the tell-taIe bullet holes, and trees
were scattered and ''twigs were hanging
in profusion along the close-grown foot
path.
Only eight bodies were found in condi-
tion TO examine. The doctors brought
back two bullet-punctured Spanish skulls.
Speaking of what he had learned. DIR.
Ducker said:
1.-The effectiveness. of rifles. of small
caliber, but of great initial velocity, like
the Krag-Jorgensen, Lee-Metford, or
Mauser, for instance. should be regarded
as settled, If we accept the results OF the
battle of Cusco Mountain on June H.
One of our soldiers received flesh wound
in the left arm at a distance Of 200 yards
The ball struck just below the elbow as the
arm was being extended tsemi-feXed.
The wound at the entrance was no larger
than the bullet, but the exit was a ter
rible laceration, so great in fact, that 1t
was supposed until a minute examina-
ton had been made that an explosive
bullet had been used.
..Of the Spanish soldiers examined one
had sustained a comminuted fracture Of
the fifth and sixth ribs, at the anterior
curvature. The soldier was evidently
STOPPING and running when struck by the
fatal bullet. the ball entering the back,
below the tenth rib, and ranging upward.
striking the inner side of the sixth ana
the outer side of the fifth rib. shattering
them for the space of two inches. The
second was a negro Spanish guerrilla
with the usual thick negro skull. The
wound at entrance was near the middle
of the left parietal bone. tearing away
the outer table for a quarter OF an men
around it, but leaving the inner table in
tact except n clean-cut hole. the size OF
the bullet. The ball passed out through
the right orbit, tearing away half of the
floor and all OF the inner wall There
was complete longitudinal fracture of the
skull, extending from the ciliary ridge of
the right side, 10 the occipitai suture on
the same side passing one inch above the
wound at entrance.
..The third Spaniard was one of the
regulars, judging from his uniform, and
a man about twenty-five years old. He
was evidently STOPPING forward and rae
ing our troops, as the ball entered the
right frontal bone. Two inches anterior 10
the parietal suture and Two and a half
inches above the temporal articulation,
traversing the brain longitudinally. pass
ing out through the right side of the oe-
cipital bone on a line of and midway be-
tween the mastoid process and occipital
protuberance. The wound at exit was
irregular in shape, but one by seven
both the inner and outer table Of the
skull.
The wound at entrance was clean cut
and the size of the butler. so far as the
inner table was involved, but along the
lower margin extended three-quarters of
an inch on either side and one inch below
the entrance the outer table was COM
pleteiy torn away. as though IL had been
excavated by chisel. A complete lon
gitudinal fracture extended from the roof
of the right orbit through the frontal
bone. passing half an inch above the
wound AZ entrance to twe-thrds the dis
tance of the right parietal the other ex-
tending downward and outward TO the
middle and posterior margin of the bone.
In both cases of wounds of the skull the
longitudinal fracture did not commune
cate with the wound at the entrance or
exit. In both cases the fracture was par
allel to the course of the ball and COM
plete. thin-bladed knife was passed
through the fractures. The shooting was
from GOO to 800 yards, and the fractures
along the line of greatest pressure.
Whether a ball passing through the
head from side to side will cause a frac-
ture at a right angle TO the long dame
ter of the head or not, further investiga-
ton will demonstrate. The bursting OF
the skull is no doubt due to the great
velocity of the ball through the brain
substance, giving not sufficient time for
cell compression.
Another fact yet remains to be proven
whether the mortality is greater from
the use of the modern or the old style Ri
fes. In the case of our own troops the
fatality was greater to the proportion of
wounded than formerly. However. that
will require further demonstration. as
the results of the 14th may have been
purely accidental as to fatalities.
There is yet no means of ascertaining
the proportion of wounded to the number
killed of the Spanish troops during the
engagement referred to, but 1t might be
safely assumed that In the case of the
Spanish the mortality was also larger
than normal. The topography of the re-
gion where the fight occurred and the
evidently scanty means of transportation
at hand makes it unlikely that the Span
iards could have removed all their wound
ed had there been great number of
them. AS a matter of fact. however. not
a single wounded Spaniard has been
found.''