Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-17
MORE HUMANITY IN WAR.
Small CaIiber Missiles Less Deadly
Than the Larger.

Than the Larger.
In his annual report Surgeon General
Sternberg makes some general remarks on
the gunshot wounds of 1898 and 1899. or
the 4,919 men injured by gunshot during
the years 1898 and 1884, $50 were killed and
1888 were wounded and received into the
field ard other hospitals. The killed con-
stituted 11.9 per cent Of those struck, the
wounded ss1 per cent. I'm other words. one
man was killed for gerry "A wounded. The
Mauser bullet must therefore be regarded
as less deadly than the larger missile used
during the cfvil was..s Tbs m edieaF.and sur
glcal history of the civil war shows the toll
lowing casualties: United States troops
killed, IS, $50; wounded, 80 .04o. Confeder-
ate troops killed, oi,42o; wounded, ZZ''o'l.
Total killed, III 2S5; wounded, b01,911.
In percentages the casualties were:
Killed, .l7.eT; wounded, 500, or. one man
killed to every ass wounded. The relative
p,oportion of killed was therefore con-
siderably larger during the civil war than
during our recent experiences. 1t Is TO pc
noted also that many of the wounds or
the past two years were made oy nlSSileS
of large caliber. OF those reported in 1879
All were specially stated as having been
caused by the Remington bullet or CAMPER
40 1t Is safe to say that mad the Whole
number of wounds received been 1nHlcted
by the smaller MauSer or krag-J orgenSen
bullet, the percentage Of Immediately fatal
wounds would have been materially les
sened.
The less deadly character of the injuries
inflicted by the modern bullet is mani
tested also when we exclude the killed and
regard only those wounds which came
under the care of the surgeons. of these
during the two years. there were ,333 and
2o9 of the patients, or 6 per cent OF the
whole number, died. The corresponding
percentage from. the records of the civil
war 14.3.
Due credit must be given to the improved
fh~2G off, ha
only limbs, but lives were saved by the sur
glcal practice of the past two years. In
the eighty-two gunshot fractures OF the
femur the upper third was involved in
thirty-two,of which five were fatal, the
middle third in twenty-seven, OF which
three were fatal and the lower third In
twenty-three, of which one was fatal. The
mortality varied from 4.3 per cent of the
cases in which the lower third was frac-
tured to 1876 per cent of the cases in which
the upper third was the site of the INJURY,
whereas the corresponding percentages OF
fatal cases during the civil war We're re-
spectively 42S and 497 The whole of the
lessened mortality in these serious frac-
lures may be credited to the protection
given to the wound by the hrst-aid dress
ing and to the care exercised in the subse-
uuent aseptic treatment Of the fractured
limb
In penetrating wounds of the thorax the
rate Of mortality fell from GIG per cent
during the civil war to 27.S per cent during
the years 1898 and 1890. The civil war re-
ports show S,403 cases in which the results
were determined: $500 deaths occurred
among the number. The reports for the
later years, as already stated, show 1913
cases, of which fifty-five were fatal
There were, during the civil war; 3,473
penetrating wounds of the abdomen in
which the ultimate results were de ermtned;
3,O31 of these, or 81 Z per cent Of the total,
proved fatal During the years 1898 and
1899 JIG cases. eighty-one fatal, were re-
corded, the fatal cases constituting 70 per
cent of the total OF ten cases in which
laparotomy was performed. nine were fatal.
The alteration in the Percentages of NOR
tally in fractures OF the Uranium Is less
the body. OF 4,243t cases of cranial frac
ture during the civil. war, 2,514, or 592 per
cent, were fatal. III 1858 and 1899 sixty
eight cases were Recorded, with thirty
seven deaths, the latter forming 54.4 per
cent of the whole number.