The chronicle=news., 1913-02-12
BULLET WOUNDS
SELDOM FATAL
NOW


head or an Important artery IL sure
t. bring death In the wars OF today
Abdominal wounds. involving even
manifold penetrationx OF the In,cs-
tines. show n surprising percentage
of recovery. and little In to he fear
ed from ih6racic wounds that do not
mOiesi big arteries or the heart
What used To hc known as eangcr-
.cIe has virtually disappeared, and
only in rar. Instances does piIs form
at all when II does IL Is primarily
due To neglect or 10 unskiil..i hand
ling by surgeons,
Thcs" conclusions are sei forth IN
an articl" by Professor Frank col
mcrs Of Cobnrg. who took charge of
the hospital In Sofia at the rcaucs,
OF King Ferdinand upon the break.
Ing out OF the war In the Balkans.
Two things have brought about the
Improvement over the days when any
wound OF the limbs meant nmputa-
tion and penetration OF the abdomen
WIS nearly always fatal. One Il. OF
course. tho great advance of asnptic
surgery. The other liz the form. con
siiiutlon and velocity OF the modern
projcc,iir.
Except NJ extremely close rnng.-
within 100 yards. where tho bullet
OF the armies OF today tears n hole
bigger than mans hand ut the
pOin, OF oNit-thc proj.ctiic ordinar-
ily borcs II neat hole through i,s vie
tim. Furthermore. IL IL rendered
ascpiic by III" heat generated by Its
high velocity. and II carries no par
ticics of clothing Into tn" canal Of
the wound. The wound IL therefor"
t..H.. s..I.a . N.H
handaged with stcriIizcd ban,iagcs II
develops no pus. Mr.. coimcrs. who
acr,si In the Japanese hospitals dur
ing tho Russo-Japan"Sc war. warns
against ,amponing wounds to check
Wherever this course
was followed-and u Srcnt many
bulgarian surgeons followed Ii--in-
fcct.on resulted.
II l. interesting to note tina; tho
proper treatment for g,inslot
wounds puncturing tho intesfines an
pears to he no treatment nj all, The |
most favorable rccovcrics. says Dr. |
Colmers. were recorded In the cases
M men who. shot through tho nbdo-
mon. had been mirscd and allowed
to lie on tho field for two or three
DAYS. with nothing 10 cat and with
cut being moved. Hc rccommc ndcd
that arrangements should be made
hereafter to care for these men where
they lie and leave them there until
tho punctMrcd intestin,1 have had u
chance to start healing naturally.
A point OF especial interest for
Germany lies in thc fact that the
war in the balkans il the first time
the projcctIles now used In the Ger
man army rifle have been used In
actual combat. The Turks are en-
ployinE these bullets. They consist
OF u steel jacket loaded with lead.
They vary. however. from thosr used
in most other armies In that. instead
OF having an oval nose. they are de-
cidcdly pointed.
The center OF gravity OF the round
nofcd projcctilc IL nearly In tho mid
die. hut that OF the pointed bullet Is
nearer the base. As n result II has n
tendency. only overcome by tho twist
impaired by the. rifling and by Its
great velocity. to change ends In
flight. the 'kcyholc." ns H. is cx-
pressed. The instant the nose meets
resistance this potcntiality IL con-
vcrtcd into effective action. the bull
lot turns In the wounds channel. and
the result IL both more extensive
Implication OF tissues and the fire.
Iuent lodging of the bullet in the
body. making later operative inter-.
ference unnecessary. Another note
worthy effect Is that the bullet in
thus turning. very regularly is strip
ped. the JACKIE: separating explosive
ly from the core and minute particles
or both jacket and lead invading the
entire region of the wound. This
naturally leads to infection and sep
sis. The pointed bullet appears also
to penetrate arteries more often than
the round noseG projertile. which Of
ten pushes them aside with little
damage. In all these respects there.
fore, 1t may he considered n less hui
mane projcctile than the other.
Shrapncl wounds remain the O,ost
dangerous. although fortunately the
least frequent. The projectiles rare
ly have enough velocity to penetrate
the body. and therefore generally
remain in the wound. Moreover.
they regularly convey pieces of cloth