Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-09-29
WOUNDS OF MODERN WARFARE
Latest Guns and Bullets Have Multi
piled Labor Of Surgeons.

! Inc eyes Ol Tie eilu sui
cal world are fixed on the awful prob
lens involved in properly caring for
| the immense number of wounded that
will shortly have to be removed from
the battlefields Of Europe. We have
perfected the means Of killing and
wounding men until scarcely more
could possibly be expected. Machine
guns of all kinds can NOV soldiers
down by the hundreds and thousands,
but each Of these when not killed has
to be cared for individually and we
cannot cure them by machinery, nor
in large numbers, but each individual
case will require expert care and the
special consideration Of trained minds
and hands.
The new arms and new bullets have
added to the destructiveness Of war,
but have multiplied surgeons prob
lens and have made military surgery
special study for which, fortunately
for humanity, there is not much expe-
rience provided, although unfortunate
ly for those who have to be treated
right now the surgeons will have to do
their best pressure.
Prof. Octave Laurent, who spent IL
months campaigning with the Bulga-
rian armies during the recent war in
the Balkans, has just published the
story of his surgical experiences and
from this some idea Of the grewsome
work before the military surgeons OF
Europe can be obtained, although
probably even this fails to give any
adequate notion Of the surgical expe-
rience that will be forced upon the
army surgeons. Prof. Laurent declares
that ordinary civil surgery furnishes
no real training for modern military
surgery and that the surgeon must
literally train himself as best he can
The wounds inflicted by modern bull
let's are quite different from those that
have been so carefully studied and sc
much written about in the past and
only his knowledge of the general
principles of surgery and his own com
mon sense and power to meet emer-
gencies of all kinds will be helpful tc
the surgeons In the unusual conditions
that present themselves.
| AS Prof. Laurent himself is a well
known professor of surgery and the
author of a text book on the subject
which has gone through three editions
and which has been translated into
several modern languages, his opinions
on this subject are well worthy OF
consideration. His experiences have
been presented to French medical So
cieties and his observations have beer
the subject of serious discussion thai
has always recognized the value OF
his work, He IL the surgeon to the
hospital Of st. John at Brussels ano
his Balkan experience will now be OF
the greatest value for his countrymer
in the war which has been so suddenly
thrust on them, although, when his
book on the campaign in Bulgaria was
issued few weeks ago, there seemed
to be no sign at all that Belgian sur
geons would so soon have to know ev-
erything available with regard t9 the
wounds Of modern warfare.
There is no doubt that there Will he
a vast number of wounded to care for
The experience in the Balkans was
that there was about four wounded fol-
every soldier killed. The wounds are
usually inflicted by the ordinary in
fantry arm, while most of the dead are
killed by the artillery. About three Out
of four soldiers wounded by the infan-
try survive Nearly three out OF foul
of those wounded by the artillery have
fatal wounds inflicted.
More than one-half Of the fatal in
juries in the Balkan campaign came
from the artillery. Out of 100 killed
and wounded II would be killed by
shrapnel, 10 to 20 wounded by shrap-
mel, eight killed by the infantry and
some 60 to 65 wounded. According te
the old proverb, it still takes, in spite
of the modern training of soldiers-at
least so far as the experience in the
Balkans went-a mans weight in lead
to kill him. Many millions Of balls
were fired for the thousands wounded
and killed.
Modern high velocity projectiles
make very different wounds from the
old musket balls and even very diff
ferent sugical lessons from those that
were seen during the Franco=Prussiar
war or even the Russian-Turkish wal
in 1876. The modern bullet with very
high initial velocity, produces certain
serious consequences never seen be-
fore. It's power for harm Is simply
enormous. The average ball from one
of the new modern rifles will at 60(
meters distance, that is, nearly two
| fifths of a mile, pass through three
men. 1t will penetrate a single man al
a distance of ], 100 meters, that is near
ly a mile. At more than a mile it will
pass through the skull, making clear
wounds of entrance and exit in both
bony plates. 1t can produce serious
even fatal wound of the abdominal re-
gion at a distance of $500 meters
that is, considerably more than two
miles. Fortunately, owing to the cir
cumstances of modern war, it is usual
ly at these rather long distances that
the wounds are produced When, the
combatants are at shorter range the
effects are often awful to contemplate
The awful penetrating power OF the
modern bullet will be very well realiz-
ed from some of the incidents describ
ed by Prot. Laurent in his account Of
the surgery 0f the bulgarian cam
paigns. In cases where soldiers, In
order to protect themselves from the
enemy's vOlleys, were directed to lie
down, some of them were wounded in
the shoulders and the wounds of exit
for the bullets was often below the
knees in the legs. In spite of the long
course of such a wound important or
gans and the internal viscera were
|