Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-19
FACTS ABOUT BULLETS
NATURE OF WOUNDS AND HOLES
OF PRoJECTILEs.
Vital Questions Often Raised During
Murder Trials Bring Forth Some
Interesting Statements.
From the Baltimore American.

The important part played in many MUIR
| der trials by fiattened and misshapen bit
| Of lead or steel, once in the form of bull
| let, often leads to the development Of some
| curious facts. Just such fact as this was
| adduced at the recent murder trial OF
| Charles P. link, before Judge Dobler and a
| jury in the criminal court. part 2, when
| the man was found guilty Of murder In the
| second degree through the killing Of his
| child-wife, Emma May link, at her home
| on Hopkins avenue April p, 1902.
| DR.. Nathaniel G. Kerle, city post-mortem
examiner for Baltimore for more than
| twenty years, who mas performed autopsies
upon more than 1900 bodies, many Of them
| murder cases, made a short statement upon
| the stand in testifying as to the nature Of
| the wound that caused the death Of the
| young wife that might have raised a vital
| question In many trials States Attorney
| Robert McLane asked the surgeon whether
| the death injury was caused by such a
| pistol as recovered by the police. a 32-cali-
| Der affair and, although the witness held
| In his hand the bullet recovered from the
head of the victim, he only said: 1T might
| have
In explanation Of this vague answer DR..
| Keirle said the bullet had apparently been
| considerably reduced in size in passing
through the woman'S skull and through the
| brain. In other words a bullet Of a 49,
caliber pattern might possibly assume the
| apparent proportions of 32-caliber ball in
| the very act of inflicting the death injury.
| to the opposite skull wall cracking the
| bone, and was further distorted and mashed
| out of original shape by this forceful con-
| tact.
Some Hard Problems.
| Where the bullet is lost by complete pene-
| tration of the head or body and where
| there are elements Of doubt as to whether
| rife. pistol or other weapon of a certain
size was used, some interesting questions
arise. If the body is decomposed 1t is ex-
| trenely difficult to base any conclusions on
the size Of the bullet by the appearance of
the wound itself. This Is rendered doubly
difficult because the edges Of the wound de-
compose more rapidly than the remainder
of the body, and in case of bloating the
wound ls not apt to maintain its original
size This Is more noticeable in summer
than In winter, and especially when the
body is not embalmed.
The Then the metal of the bullet must be
taken into consideration. A steel bullet
or steel-tacketed bullet, as sometimes
flred from rifle, is more apt to pass en-
tirely through the body at a certain range
IMAM Is the lead bullet. The thoroughly lead
bullet, or the soft-nosed bullet a steel pro-
1ectile with lead head, spreads at the tip
or, technically speaking, mushrooms" on
contact with an object. It, therefore makes
q larger wound Of ingress than the steel
Powder Stains as Clues.
Blackened edges Of wounds are more
likely to have been caused by a lead bull
let, although the ball with lead tip could
also produce this result. Regarding powder
stains, smokeless or otherwise nothing Of
great value is to be gained when the shoot
ing occurs at distance greater than
twelve or fifteen feet AZ the trial referred
to DR.. Keirle stated that from powder
marks on the face he judged that the shot
mad been fired at a distance Of not more
than three feet, which conclusion was later
stand by the prisoner himself
The velocity of the bullet may affect the
nature OF wounds both Of entrance and Of
exit. In the Spanish American war there
were numerous cases in which the Mauser
bullets OF the Spanlards went clear through
the bodies Of our soldiers infiicting wound
that was slight and readily healed. The We
loclty had the effect of making the bullets
pierce the flesh without making ragged
wounds at either entrance or exit A wound
OF entrance. even in this connection is in
variably smaller than the bullet, which is
aue TO the involuntary contraction immed-
lately after the ball enters the flesh The
natteDing of a bullet by striking a bone
might tend to increase its diameter If 1t
was originally one-quarter of an inch in
size by two-thirds of an inch and thus
cause jagged exit wound.
In actual experience by the local hospital
surgeons, most of whom have had to deal
with wounds made by lead bullets, mostly
from revolver shots, 1t has been demon
strated that the entry point is usually as
small as the bullet, and often smaller. The
edges of the skin are folded In after the
bullet and the flesh about the wound is not
torn
Variation in Wounds.
The great trouble in murder trials is that
experience has shown that the variation in
40 4nRi cd lxyl
iber. and even from the same weapon, vary
so greatly under circumstances almost iden-
teal that the appearance Of the wound Of
fers a very poor basis on which to either
convict or acquit an accused person. The
fusing of the bullet during its passage
through the barrel Of the weapon must be
considered, as must It's change OF size and
form in passing through the air consequent
on this fusing, its further deformity on
striking the muscles or bones Of the body
and its loss Of weight and change of shape
in its final stages Of fight.
A leaden bullet will lose appreciabIy in
weight by being fired, and the form of the
barrel may tend to reduce its size. In a
rife some Of the lead is taken off by the
grooves. The friction also heats and tends
to partially melt the outside of the ball
and because Of this 1t changes its shape in
the air.
Some Curious Facts.
One peculiar fact about a bullet is that It
will very often make a wound of entry
smaller than the projectile itself, even in
SO brittle a substance as glass This point
was Of vital Importance in a noted New
York case, where woman was killed by a
bullet fired through a pane of glass. Her
husband was arrested and part of his de-
tense was that a ball from his rifle could
not have killed her. because the hole in the
glass was smaller than the caliber Of his
bullet. A series of experiments was made
in which bullets from a rifle of that size
were fired through a pane of glass; max
ing hole SO small that bullet Of natural
size could not pass through 1t.
Another strange fact about bullet is
that it will often pass through intervening
clothing. making hole that can hardly
be noticed. and yet carry its point a
circular piece of cloth. The carrying Of
bits of clothing, hair or dirt into wounds
in such manner greatly enhances the dan
gers Of peritonits. Were 1t not for this lat
ter contact the bullet would not be nearly
so dangerous, as it's rapid flight and heating
makes 1t practically sterile.