The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-09-15

OF vain searching: not infreauently We
save the soldiers life"
hen he went on to tell OF a case
where a man was wounded I'm the right
shoulder by a Mauser bullet. which
ploughed its way on around the chest
walls under the deep muscles and
lodged in the left arm, shattering the
humerus: Here was an odd condition,
a wound in the right shoulder but no
bullet; the bone of the left arm broken,
but no wound. How long do you sup
pose ii would have taken to find that
bullet by probing? 1t did not take us
one minute TO find IL with the Y rays.
Here it is in this picture. you see il
there quite plainly"
He handed over a skiagraph that
showed thef fractured humerus and the
EMBEDDED bullet as IL the arm were
transparent. 1t was simply a matter Of
a few cuts and the bullet was out.
Did the bullet do no harm in going
through the body?'
Apparently not; the man made little
complaint and is doing nicely. We have
had more remarkable cases than that
OF Mauser bullets passing through the
body and doing no harm. one man was
shot through from side to side, with
both lungs traversed, but he had no
symptoms, not even any bleeding.
There was just a small red spot where
the bullet went in and a small red spot
- HAhf OuA u AtH AtS Hdu Hbl
been 6racked by another shot he would
not have tSen i'm the hospital. We had
two cases on the ship shot through the
intestines, but showing no symptoms;
one Ease 6f "A man SHOT through the
liver and kidneys. with no symptoms,
and one very remarkable case where
a bullet entered the let chest. passed
through The body and out of the bdo
men, went through the air for "A foot or
so and landed i'm the right thigh, about
half way to the knee"
Another case, which caused some dis
cussion among the surgeons, was that
OF "A man shot through the breast on
the left side, the bullet entering about
a quarter of an inch below the nipple. |
and passing out at tie back. shattering |
the shoulder blade. The point of exit
showed that the bullet took an upward
course, which made it certain that il
passed very close 20 the point of the
heart; indeed. it il an open question
whether ii did not actually pass
through the heart. The doctors are
agreed that it passed through the peri
cardium or covering of the heart. and
Major George III. Torney, the surgeon
in command of the relief, is inclined
to believe that the heart itself was pen
etrated.
1t is in~cunceivable." he said. that
a man may live as this one did, ever il
a tU!!e' mas gone through his heart.
We must uppos that the bullet struck
the heart Just as ii was drawn hard
together i'm its closest contraction. 1t
Is very likely that if the same bullet
had come when the heart was on the
other beat. and therefore distended and
softer, ii would have been so torn that
death would have ensued."
DR.. Gray explained that most of the
operations were performed at night. as
the days were so crowded full receiving
the wounded. Even so, we were not
rushed he said. 'On the average we
had three or four operations each night,
sometimes as many as six. You see.
the emergency work was done on the
field before we received the wounded.
We had plenty of time to work care
fully"
Did you use ether?"
NO; chlOrOform. 1t is better on ship
board. as it is not so i~ntiammable, and
takes up less space. We had no deaths
from the anaesthetic."
Did you nave to operate in bad
weather."
mo. we were fortunate i'm having a
smooth sea; it would be impossible to
operate in a storm; the patients would
have to wait
How many nurses had you on
About 30-10 men and 20 women. We :
shall have a larger proportion of women ,
nurses on the mex cruise" 1t seemed
10 be the general opinion among the
doctors hat the wOunded can get no
care like that which women give. But :
the doctors are equally positive in de- .
claflng women out of place on the field :
Of battle. They can't stand the hor- ,
rors of it," said Major Torney; they !
are So sensitive"
one of the surprises Of this wal to
the surgeons has been the failure of the :
Mauser bullet to do such work of bone ,
and general destruction as
had been ~propheSied for il. The result :
IF many experiments made before tho :
war had been to satisfy experts that :
his small bullet with it's velocity would a.
10 more damage TO the human body :
than had ever been hone by any other :
bullet. Mauser bullets had been fired :
nto bags of sand and cans of water ,
and cadavers with such a splashing and :
1loughing and splintering as to cause .
hem to be looked upon as most formid-
lble engines OF carnage. And yet in
warfare, when practically tested i
the bodies Of our men, these bull
have by no means shown the vici- :
BUSINESS expected of them. I
You know they told us" said DR.. :,
fray, that the Mauser bullets would i
a small hole where they entered :,
he body. but would come out through .
hole big enough to put your fist in.
Men. nothing Of the sort has happened
n cases under our observation. on the
the hole of exit has often been
luite as small as the hole of entry. Take /
hat case | mentioned of the man
hot through from side TO side:
here was no difference in the size of g
he two holes, and both were very {
mail.
Then they told us, and seemed to
it by experiment, that the impact I
# a Mauser bullet against larger bones
lr against the skull would cause a
splinterinG of the bone or
'rauium. l remember a case where a
loctor. for sake of experiment., fired
bullets into a human leg only
few minutes after It's amputation, E,
md the bullets did certainly shattpr =