The Portland daily press., 1898-07-02

preceding ranges in the zone of perfora-
ton. 1t is an interesting fact that small
calibre bullets seldom stop in the body.
and at certain ranges the stopping effect
of the bullet is surprisingly small. This
was noted by the French observers in the
Dahomoy war, where the Lebel bullet did
not, by any manner of means, always
stop the rush of the enemy. and often Sc
vere wounds from these small bullets did
not incapacitate for further fighting.
The destructive effect of small bullet
very largely depends upon whether it is
deformable, as an unde ormable bullet
has much less efficiency at short ranges.
Lieut.. Benetssass that it is principally at
close ranges, at from ten to fifteen me-
tiers, that the frightful destructive power
of the bullet is observed, and this de-
structive quality depends upon the part
brain and the stomach, the distance is
less than for parts like the heart or the
blades distended with blood or urine.
Beyond 300 meters it was found that typi-
cal LESSONS were exceptional. In speaking
OF the zone of loss of substance it may
be noted that certain tissues, for instance
the skin and the muscles, do not offer IA
seems that they are perforated by high
velocity bullet as with punch, and
suffer asloss of substance, bearing a rela-
tion to the calibre of the bullet. In its
rapid passage the bullet carries away ev-
erything that has opposed it, not allowing
the elasticity of the tissues time to enter
into action, and it is its resistance to de-
formation and its velocity that give it in
the soft tissues and the epihyses Of the
bone perforating action up to as high
as 1900 meters. For jacketed small cali
Der bullets, three zones can generally be
neutrality-suspicious., perforation and
confusion, when the soft parts and bones
are considered. The first, or explosive
zone, is very limited for soft tissues, but
for the diaphyses and skull it has a some
what greater extent, and the character
istics of wounds received in this zone are
that the oritice of entrance is usually
S all and often torn. The opening of
the exit is wide and jagged, with large
cutaneous and muscular threads, and
there is a conical channel whose walls
are formed by the tissues, torn and
crushed as ii burst from an enormous
pressure acting from within outward.
In this connection it seems that there
could be no difficulty in determining
whether the nlutilation of the bodies of
our marines was caused by bullets or by
Spanish brutality, and one can scarcely
believe that the surgeon quoted in IL New
York journal could have confused wounds
caused rom the inside by explosive pow
or of the bullet with any wounds made
wise. Many explanations have been ad-
Vanced for the frightful character of the
wounds from the modern, small caliber
bullet. The most likely explanation is
that known as the theory Of confusion,
which is briefly AS follows: The greater
the velocity of the bullet, the more it
acts as punch. Elastic and resisting
tissues offer momentary obstacle to the
passage of the bullet. These are then
thrown aside and traversed, but not
without having suffered shock that is
propagated to a certain distance. Each
stoppage of the bullet by either resist
ing or an elastic part, however short or
instantaneous, allews the velocity of rota-
tlon to exercise more completely it's effect
upon the same point and SO to increase
the projection of the tissues and the d.
ameter of the channel. In other words,
the tissues are greatly stretched during
the passage of the bullet, and they burst
after having been stretched to the limit
of their extension. Finally, bullets seem
to act in two ways: ~ by direct attri-
ton, and (2) by indirect attrition, to the