The times., 1898-06-29
THE MODERN BULLET.
A Description of the Wound
N

Makes.
Marine Camp, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
via Port Antonio. Jamaica, June 2S.-
Ever since the Introduction of the mod
ern high-power. small-caliber 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 ii would infiict,
and the proportion of mortality to wound
ed.
DIR. Orlando Ducker of the 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. A sight of the
battlefield gave the impression of big
ger fight than had been conveyed by the
cold official statement of the case at
Camp McCalla last Tuesday The addi-
tional bodies found raised the estimate of
Spanish killed from fifty-eight. the first
days count, to more than seyenty-five.
Many bullet pierced straw hats Uttered
the ravine where the Spaniards made
their last disastrous retreat. The mar
row glen was literally coverel with emp
ty Mauser shells for half a mile. while
cactus plants were plentifuly peppered
with the tell-tale 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. DR..
Quicker said:
THE effectiveness of rifles of small
caliber. but of great initial velocity. like
| the -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 a.
| One of our soldiers received flesh wound
| in the left arm at distance of 200 yards.
| The ball struck just below the elbow as the
| arm was being extended (semi-fiexed).
| The wound at the entrance was no larger
| than the bullet, but the exit was 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.
| DelO~ the tenth Tltt anu idilStIis5 hPn tli VI
| striking the inner side of the sixth and
| the outer side of the fifth rib. shattering
| them for the space Of two inches The
i 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 quarter OF an inch
around il. but leaving the inner table in
| tact, except a clean-cut hole the size OF
| the bullet The bail 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. to the occipital suture on
| the same side, passing one inch above the
| wound al entrance
THE third Snaniard was one of the
| regulars, Judging from his uniform, and
| a man about twenty-five years old. He
| was evidently stopping forward and fac
| ing our troops. as the ball entered the
| right frontal bone. two inches anterior to
| the parietal suture and two a1d a half
| inches above the temporal articulation.
| traversing the brain longitudinally, pass
| ing out through the right side of the oc-
| 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
eighths of an inch in size. damaging alike
| both the inner and outer table of the
skull
THE wound at entrance was clean cut
and the size OF the bullet, so far as the
inner table was Involved but along the
| lower margin extended three-qtlarters of
an inch on either side and one inch below
the entrance the outer table was COM
pletely tornsaway, as though it had been
eXcavated by a ehisel. A complete lon
gitudinal fracture extended from the roof
Of hA -irrH4 . /, no II
bone. passing half an inch above the
wound at entrance to two-thirds 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 communi-
cate with the wound at the entrance or
exit. In both cases the fracture was par
| allel 10 the course of the bali and COM
plete. A thin-biaded knife was passed
| through the fractures. The shooting was
from 500 TO 800 yards, and the fractures
along the line of greatest pressure.
Whether a bail passing through the
head from side to side will cause a frac-
ture at a right angle to the long diane
ter of the head or not, further investiga-
| ton viii 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
1es. 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 tse 18th may have been
purely occidental as to fatalities
There Is yet no means of ascertainins
the proportion of wounded to the number
killed of the Spanish troops during the
engagement referred to. but it 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 il unlikely that the Span
iardS could have removed all their wound
ed had there been a great number OF
them. AS matter of fact, however. not
a Single wounded Spaniard has been
found
Spv AT cAnTZ