n the majority of such cases.

At a range of from twenty to thirty feet, although the scatter is
complete, the pellets are still close together, so that if they
encounter the shaft of a long bone, even the femur, they fracture the
bone across, often along with some longitudinal splintering.

Individual pellets striking the shafts of long bones become flattened or
distorted, and when cancellated bone is struck they become embedded in
it (Fig. 62).

The skin, when it is closely peppered with shot, is liable to lose its
vitality, and with the addition of a little sepsis, readily necroses and
comes away as a slough.

When the shot have diverged so as to strike singly, they seldom do much
harm, but fatal damage may be done to the brain or to the aorta, or the
eye may be seriously injured by a single pellet.

Small shot fired at longer ranges--over about a hundred and fifty
feet--usually go through the skin, but seldom pierce the fascia, and lie
embedded in the subcutaneous tissue, from which they can readily be
extracted.

The wad of the cartridge behaves erratically: so long as it remains flat
it goes off with the rest of the charge, and is often buried in the
wound; but if it curls up or turns on its side, it is usually deflected
and flies clear of the shot. It may make a separate wound.

Wounds from sporting guns are to be _treated_ on the usual lines, the
early efforts being directed to the alleviation of shock and the
prevention of septic infection. There is rarely any urgency in the
removal of pellets from the tissues.

#Wounds by Rifle Bullets.#--The vast majority of wounds inflicted by
rifle bullets are met with in the field during active warfare, and fall
to be treated by military surgeons. They occasionally occur
accidentally, however, during range practice for example, and may then
come under the notice of the civil surgeon.

It is only necessary here to consider the effects of modern small-bore
rifle or machine-gun bullets.

The trajectory is practically flat up to 675 yards. In destructive
effect there is not much difference between the various high velocity
bullets used in different armies; they will kill up to a distance of two
miles. The hard covering is employed to enable the bullet to take the
grooves in the rifle, and to prevent it stripping as it passes through
the barrel. It also increases the penetrating power of the missile, but
diminishes its "stopping" power, unless a vital part or a long