MODERN BULLET WOUNDS.

New Zealand Mail, 8 February 1900, Page 46

MODERN BULLET WOUNDS.

A VISIT TO A SOUTH AFRICAN HOSPITAL. (“Daily Mail” Correspondent.) CAPETOWN, November 29. Naturally everybody in England takes the warmest interest in the well-being, as well as the well-doing, of our soldiers' at the front." - - We send them all out with our heartiest good-byes, and the best of wishes, and those who are fortunate enough to escape the shell or bullet of the enemy, will be probably welcomed back, paraded through the streets of London, with bands playing anu banners flying. But how about those poor fellows who may be stricken down by the foe, and have to find their way back to their relations and friends only through the hospitals or sick wards of our military medical department? They may not be able possimy to participate in the joyous home coming that awaits their more fortunate fighting chums* and-have to drag their disabled limbs, and weakened bodies, to their own firesides on discharge from some hospital or ship, only to miss the praise that is so lavishly BESTOWED ON THEIR FELLOW COMRADES. Let us follow wounded Tommy a. little and learn a few things that are not generally found in the letters of correspondents brimming over with general martial movements and deeds of personal valour. To do this we. must keep in touch with him from the moment he loses his identity as a fighting unit in the front, follow him down by stretcher to the. rear, thence, per vessel to the stationary hospital at Wynberg, and from there till he. is safely landed on British shore. We must, in fact, lift•* that'. veil of uncertainty wliich seems, for a time at any rate, drawn over the unit's career. If one is not in the medical service it is difficult, to ascertain all that is going on'in the sick wards, but by the courtesy of the medical branch, and by other means, we do occasionally become possessed. :of information-, that' would be acceptable to the public; and by : its publicity :do no harm whatever, to the services concerned. : For' example, what would delight the English public more than to know something about the- general hospital to which their wounded sons and Brothers maybe brought. So we pay a visit and find No. 1 General Hospital to consist of a number of BRICK AND WOODEN BUILT ' ._ TENEMENTS -‘ occupying the- ground formerly used by the Colonial Service as their oia stationary hospital and barrack site. It is located near Wynberg, about nine miles from Capetown, fed by good, wholesome water from Table Mountain, and surfacedrained by natural declivity runnig north-north-west by south-south-east. The officers’ sick quarters—a lofty, well-built, wooden structure—occupies ' the main f rout age, this edifice being flunked on either side by dwellings of a less pretentious character. Within lofty, wellventilated, and most comfortablyeqiupped apartments the wounded officers appear quite jolly during their enforced brief detention. Most of them, are convalescent and iko or three quite fit to rejoin their regiments at the front. On the left- Sank of these quarters-are various wooden huts arranged in three nearly parallel rows, the westernmost being medical, the east ones su-’gical wards, for Tommy’s use. . Ip. the latter are many wounded men. most of them convalescent, but all seem happy and contented, not a lew bearing the . impress of excellent health. After seeing their wounds, nearly all caused by * gunshqt-, tie onlooker is struck T>y the dean, -well-defined.,, small, circular' eU- - -’bullet .make®; ’ It produces-a 1 . eanaT nob .milch, if ahyt thing, larger than a good-sized -goose- ; 9 Ul “> all d cuts its way through flesh and' AS NEATLY AS AN ARCHIMEDEAN DRILL : would, leaving no ragged edges.' It • prouuces little local disturbance or bad atter-effects Hence shock to the system and subsequent septicaemia are, owinoto the lessened destruction of soft parts’ and sp.intering of bone, minimised considerably. By careful antiseptic treat>- : thirty 6 -d W ays ndS L6al “ aboHt tW6nty : , The course which some of these Mauser. ™ !± take Wl l tlloufc important vessels or.producmg aangerous effects is 1 simply marvellous. To cut through soft Parts, aud follow the track made by ; aese missi es without doing irreparable injury would tax the dexterity of the ; most skilful and delicate anatomist that 1 ever handled a scalpel. • + One of the wounded at Wynbera is a tyjncal example. The. Mauser bullet enthe lower part of his abdomen, evidently taking its course in a backward and upward and oblique direction must have cut its way just below, and i between the bifurcation of the large descending aorta (the great artery), then , perforating the soft parts, pierced the . hone and made its exit through the skin m the centre of the right buttock. -No important vessels seem to have beer woxmded, and the man is now convaK PriS?^ er Extraordinary case is that of private , who was shot > COMPLETELY THROUGH THE . ' . HEAD, - ' ■ ■ r- - the Mauser bullet entering the'cranium on one side and emerging on 7 the),obhm- o ’

Not only is he living, but his wounds have healed without a check—a slightly* restricted, jaw movement, due to rnuseu-. • lar paralysis, alone retarding his discharge. In this instance the bullet en- 4 : tered just in front of the left ear, es--» ' wiping the temporal artery, took a for- 4. ward and somewhat downward course along the floor of. the skull, pierced the right maxillary (eneek) bone, and einerged below the eye on that side. • There 4 results some facial disfigurement, but he sees, eats, and sleeps well. One may consider him a lucky fellow in having -i. exchanged the experience of cranial perforation by an old Brown Bess for that of a modem Mauser bullet . y The grit left in some of these fellows ;-«•- was amply demonstrated by the follow- f ing incident, which occurred during the inspection on' Tuesday last. Another private had been shot through. Ahis right foot and left arm; all the four :: J wounds of entrance and exit, clean cut ; . ; by the same kind of bullet, were healed. He was standing to “attention” at the „,4 foot of his bed when the doctor approach- , v ,1 ed him and, carefully surveying, inquir- , ed of him how he was. - 4* “ Quite well. Nothing wrong with me ...: now, sir,” he replied. Then remarked Ills doctor, in his most kindly and con- \ siderate manner: “Good! And now. my lad. I shall V send you clown to the convalescent camp at Green Point, where you will get more • freedom and fresher air. ” “Oh, no. sir, don’t do that, please. I don’t care for them convalescing homes. I wants to get-back to the front, TO JOIN MY CHUMS, and give them ’ere Boors fits for sarving G me in this ’ere. way.” Another wonderful recovery from gunshot wound which has been reported ai- -U ready to the “Lancet,” is that of a private "of the Ist- Battalion Manchester Regimeiit. He was shot at from a distance ‘ of some 200 yards. The bullet entered: on his right side just below the short ‘ ribs, passed through the intestines, and j came out at Ills back. Some vomiting y of blood occurred at the time, but- since 5 then no very urgent symptoms have su- 4 pervened, and he is already fairly on the ... road to complete recovery, Mirr Garriock, i j the lady superintendent, and her able 4” staff of nurses, are- doing grand work in attending to the careful feeding and -j nursing of this case, and others of a simi- ( lar character. * Only one case- o? amputation has '-a r; yet been performed. Private No. 5488, j 2nd Gordon Highland-Regiment, had his T arm badly shattered by a sporting rifle, necessitating amputation at the shoulder joint. The stump has healed over, and he is now, I learn, out of hospital and -. walking about the streets of Capetown. Astonishing to Sir Wm. MncCorn;ac was the nature of a case that also occurred in the surgical wards. “A private had been shot through the leg. The Mauser bullet entered his_riglit leg about one-third down from the knee-cap, bored a singularly well-defined round hole through the tibia (leg) bone, and emerged at the hack (thickest part) of the thigh. The doctor is able to define its direction by inserting and removing a drainage tube. A shattering of this bone has occurred, and little, inflammation and suppuration followed on so dahgerous a It gunshot puncture.