Wounds in war : the mechanism of their production and their treatment . bullet deformed, onstriking, much oftener and in a greater degree than dothose of modern days, covered as the latter are with anenvelope of hard metal; and deformation has much todo with increasing the extent of. a bullet wound, especi-ally on the exit side. On the other hand, cases in whichexplosive effect is seen are certain to be more numerouswith the small-bore rifle than with the Snider, Martini-Henry, Gras, &c, because the projectiles of the formerretain their higher velocities over more extended rangesthan do those
Wounds in war : the mechanism of their production and their treatment . bullet deformed, onstriking, much oftener and in a greater degree than dothose of modern days, covered as the latter are with anenvelope of hard metal; and deformation has much todo with increasing the extent of. a bullet wound, especi-ally on the exit side. On the other hand, cases in whichexplosive effect is seen are certain to be more numerouswith the small-bore rifle than with the Snider, Martini-Henry, Gras, &c, because the projectiles of the formerretain their higher velocities over more extended rangesthan do those of the latter, and explosive effects only resultfrom bullets still travelling at high rates of velocity. Twoconditions are necessary for the production of explosiveeffect—great velocity in the bullet, and considerable resist-ance in the parts traversed by it; as these conditions, or eitherof them, decrease, so the extent of the injury lessens. TheMartini-Henry and the Gras rifles cause explosive injuriesup to 150 or 200 yards, while the Lee-Metford, Lebel, and. Fig. 13.—Bullet at high velocity, passing through a mixture of carbonic acid gasand ether vapour, a very dense mixture.—Boys. EXPLANATIONS OF EXPLOSIVE EFFECTS 61 other rifles of about the same calibre produce them upto 300 or 350 yards. The Theoretical and the True Explanations of Explo-sive Effect.—Several theories have been put forward toexplain the so-called explosive effect of solid rifle-bullets onanimal tissues. Of these the five principal are as follows :— 1. The theory of hydraulic pressure. 2. „ ,, compressed air, or the projectile air. 3. „ ,, rotation of the bullet. 4. ,, ,, deformation „ 5. „ „ heating None of these theoretical explanations have now anyadherents of importance except the first two, the -hydraulictheory and that of the projectile air, and even theseare now almost abandoned as insufficient. The mechanicsof the production of gunshot injuries in general are nowa-days fairly we
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