Bullets Sterilized.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 38, 18 May 1917, Page 2

Bullets Sterilized.

Surprise is often expressed at the official statement that an enormous percentage--sometimes place-, 1 . as high as ninety—of wounded men go back to the firing-line after hospital treatment ; but there are many reasons for this. One is, of course, that a great number of the men recorded as wounded suffer from very slight mishaps, and another is to be found in the character of -the modern bullet and rifle. The-old leaden bullet was a fearsome thing, expanding on impact and making the most terrible wounds. The modern missile is but half its diameter, hard and penetrating with a clean cut, which in the case of flesh almost closes at once, but what makes the bullet-wound loss dangerous than it was under old conditions is the fact that it has become sterilized in the operation of being discharged. It leaves the rifle muzzle at the rate of some 2,000 ft. a second, and is revolving at the rate of about 2,500, at the same time its temperature is raised to a high point and it is beautifully polished, all microbes and germs having been both killed and polished off !