The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-05-30
RECOVER FROM SERIOUS WOUNDS.
Soldiers Almost Shot to Pieces Re-
gain Their Health and Strength.


From the New York Press.
From Moot river Sir William MacCor-
mac. England's distinguished surgeon,
who took the field with the soldiers in
South Africa, sends to the London Lam
Get an interesting set of notes on the re-
markable bullet wounds he has seen no
Gently. THE greater number of these
wounds" he says, were caused by the
Mauser bullet and nearly all presented
the Characteristic features-a small circu-
lar, slightly depressed area covered by a
black scab. The exit wounds often were
similar, but little larger, sometimes
presenting a scar like an incised wound
and difficult to discover
When l saw them a week or ten days
after the injury they were for the
most part healed. How these bullets fail
to damage vital structures lying immedi-
ately in their path is nothing short of
marvellous. The proportion of fatal chest
wounds TO those that are recovered from
is believed to be small. but what the pro-
portion precisely is cannot yet be learned
1t is abundantly clear that one lung and
often both lungs may be traversed, and
in many directions, without causing grave
symptoms and often without producing
any symptoms of lung trouble at ALL"
A halt was called on operations for per-
forating abdominal wounds because so
many recoveries from such wounds were
no<e1. So, too, the previous indications
for operations in such cases had to be re-
v'sed completely. Recovery from wounds
of the knee joint were so many as to make
a chapter entirely new in the experience
OF lhe surgeons. The same is true of
wounds to other joints. In pelvic injuries
it was hard to understand the limited
amount of damage done. Bullets perfor-
ate arteries and nerves without -severing
them, or. in the case of arteries, without
caEshine the expected amount of bleed
ing.
A private who looked extremely well,
and said he had nothing to complain of,
bad hole seven inches long and three
inches wide in his chest, which involved
the lungs. Part of three of his ribs were
carried away and the lung was exposed.
The soldier lay in a trench on the field
from $50 to o'clock before he could be
attended TO- He was carried to the hos
pital at 1920 o'clock that night
Another private was hit in the middle
of the nose and che bullet passed out the
back of his neck. He had little head
ache and some trouble in swallowing,
but in ten days the wound healed and
the man apparently was perfectly well.
Another soldier. while lying prone upon
the ground. was 'Fraked fore and aft"
to use Sir Williams words The bullet
entered the shoulder and was taken out
of the tower part of the trunk. In
eleven days the wounds healed.
A surgeon while bending over in the
act OF dressing a wounded man at Co
lenso was hit in the abdomen at a range
of 100 yards. He tried to finish the
dressing, but became giddy and was COM
PEELED to lie down. He remained perfect.
ly still on his back for twelve hours
suffering much from his cramped posi-
tion, but none at all from his wound
The surgeon knew almost at once where
the entrance wound was, but did not 10.
calize tho exit wound for two hours A
Boer came along and offered some water
to him. hut he refused 1t, and advised two
men who had been hit in the same man.
ner. and who were lying near him, mo-
20 drink. they did drink. notwiths tand.
| ing his advice and began to suffer a.
| once. one vomiting constantly. Tel
hours before he was hit the surgeon had
| eaten a little porridge for breakfast. anC
he took nothing by the mouth for forty,
eight hours. IN eight days he was con.
valescent