Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900. George Henry Makins
devoted to irregular wounds, several illustrations of such deformities are given; but when it strikes stone I believe it splits and tears with very much greater freedom than the cupro-nickel mantle of the Lee-Metford. At any rate, I never came across Lee-Metford bullets deformed to the same degree as Mauser bullets, either when removed from the body, or as ricochet projectiles on the field of battle. For this reason, therefore, provided the fighting takes place on stony ground, I believe the Mauser bullet and others ensheathed in steel to be much more dangerous surgically than those encased in cupro-nickel. I fancy this would be equally the case even if the mantles were of exactly the same thickness.
The layer of copper alloy on the steel mantles is also a physical characteristic worthy of mention. This very readily chips off in a manner similar to that we are accustomed to see with nickel-plated instruments. This may be due to the compression into the grooving of the rifle, or as the result of passing impact of the bullet with an obstacle previous to entering the body or contact with a bone within it. Small scales of metal set free in one of these ways are seen in a very large proportion of Mauser wounds, and although they are so small as usually to be of little importance, the presence of such in, for instance, the substance of one of the peripheral nerves which has been perforated cannot be considered a desirable complication.
To recapitulate, it would appear that at mean ranges, both in striking force and as regards the area of the tissues affected, the Lee-Metford is a superior projectile to the Mauser, in spite of the greater initial velocity possessed by the latter. On the other hand the comparative ease with which the Mauser bullet undergoes deformation either without or within the body, so ensuring more extensive injury and laceration, renders it the less desirable bullet to receive a wound from when not in its normal shape and condition.
I can say little about the remaining two rifles. The Krag-Jörgensen was little used, and beyond pointing out its capacity to inflict very neat individual injuries, in which it must surpass even the Mauser, I can only add that I had no opportunity of forming an opinion as to the danger dependent on the great initial velocity imparted to the bullet. The Guedes rifle has been included in the table because it approximates in bore to the other three. Its bullet is of the same calibre as the Austrian Mannlicher, one of the most powerful military rifles in use, and it was used to a considerable extent during the war by the Boers.[8] As to its capabilities, it appeared an inferior weapon, since want of velocity and striking power of the bullets was indicated by the number of these which were retained in the body, and by the fact that I never saw one extracted that had undergone any more serious deformation than some flattening on one side of the tip. On the other hand wounds of the soft parts occasioned by it were only to be distinguished from Mauser wounds by their slightly greater size, and at a short range of fire the weight and volume of the bullet made it a dangerous projectile.
The question of deformed bullets will be again referred to at length in the section on wounds of irregular type, and a number of type specimens are there figured and described (p. 76). In the same chapter will be found illustrations of a number of sporting bullets of small calibre, as well as of large calibres in lead, found in the Boer arsenals and camps. I have placed them in that position as mainly of interest in connection with the occurrence of large and irregular wounds (see figs. 42 and 43, pp. 95 and 98).
The small sporting bullets were mostly of the Mauser (.276), Lee-Metford (.303), or Mannlicher (.315) calibre.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] See tables, pp. 12, 13, 15, Chapter I.
[6] The weights are from cartridges brought home. The charge of powder was small and variable.
[7] H. Nimier and E. Laval, Les Projectiles des Armes de Guerre, p. 20. F. Alcan. 1899.
[8] Mr. Leslie B. Taylor informs me that this rifle is a discarded Portuguese regulation pattern, with which a copper-ensheathed soft-nosed bullet was originally employed. For the purposes of the present campaign a modified cartridge was constructed. Examination of some specimens in my possession showed the charge of powder to be very small. (Table I. p. 48.)
CHAPTER III
GENERAL CHARACTERS OF WOUNDS PRODUCED BY BULLETS OF SMALL CALIBRE
The effects of injuries inflicted by bullets of small calibre may be divided into two classes:
1. Direct or immediate destruction of tissue.
2. Remote changes induced by the transmission of vibratory force from the passing projectile to neighbouring tissues or organs.
Those of the first class will be mainly considered in this chapter; the remote effects will be dealt with under the headings devoted to special regions.
In dealing with the wounds as a whole I shall first describe those of uncomplicated character as type injuries, and deal with those possessing special or irregular characters separately.
Type Wounds
1. Nature of the external apertures.—The apertures of entry and exit in uncomplicated cases are very insignificant, but the size naturally varies slightly with that of the special form of bullet concerned. As will be shown moreover, the difference in size is the only real distinguishing characteristic in many cases between wounds produced by the modern bullet of small calibre and those resulting from the use of the older and larger projectiles of conical form. I have been very much struck on looking over my diagrams of entry, and especially exit, wounds to find that they reproduce in miniature most of those figured in the History of the War of the Rebellion; some of these diagrams are reproduced in this chapter.
Aperture of entry.—The typical wound of entry with a normal undeformed bullet varies in appearance according to whether the projectile has impinged at a right angle or at increasing degrees of obliquity, or again, to whether the skin is supported by soft tissues alone, or on those of a more resistent nature such as bone or cartilage.
A, entry in buttock; circular opening filled with clot and crossed by a tag of tissue. B, exit in epigastrium near mid-line; irregular slit form, with well-marked prominence. Specimens hardened in formalin immediately after death; the resulting contraction has slightly exaggerated the irregularity of outline of the entry wound
Gutter Wound of outer aspect of shoulder, caused by a normal Mauser, which subsequently perforated a man's leg. At the central part the gutter was ¾ in. deep a few days after the injury
When the bullet impinges at a right angle the wound is circular, with more or less depressed margins, and of a diameter, corresponding to the size of the bullet occasioning it, from a quarter to a third of an inch. The description 'punched out' has been sometimes