the haversack, as also a non-commissioned
officer's notebook contained within it, without exploding. The only
injury sustained by the trooper was a contusion on the inner aspect of
the elbow-joint, with slight signs of contusion of the ulnar nerve. The
case is of some importance, as showing that a comparatively resistent
body can be perforated without necessary explosion on the part of the
shell; hence the possibility of a similar perforation of the soft parts
of the body.

[Illustration: FIG. 92.--Unexploded 1-lb. Vickers-Maxim Shell. (Actual
size)]

Fig. 93 is of a number of fragments of Vickers-Maxim shells, and it was
by such that the great majority of the wounds were produced.

Wounds from fragments of these shells were, indeed, not at all rare.
They were met with on any position; but, as far as my experience went,
they were more common on the lower extremities than in other parts of
the body, if the sufferers were in the erect position when wounded. I
saw a good many wounds in the neighbourhood of the knee, some of which
implicated the joint. When the injuries were received by patients in the
lying or crouching positions, any part of the body was equally likely to
be affected, or, again, the presence of large stones or rocks in the
vicinity might determine the scattering of the flying fragments at a
more dangerous height than when the shells burst from contact with the
actual ground.

The relation of one or two examples of wounds from pom-pom fragments may
not be without interest, the more so as they illustrate the favourable
influence of a low degree of velocity on the part of a projectile. I saw
three wounds produced by the percussion fuses of these shells, an
experience which shows that they were not very uncommon.

[Illustration: FIG. 93.--Fragments of Vickers-Maxim 1-lb. Shells. The
centre fragment of the lower row is the point of a steel armour-piercing
shell; although unsuitable for the purpose, they were occasionally
employed in the field by the Boers]

(211) _Perforating shell-wound of abdomen._--Wounded at
Magersfontein by the fuse screw of a small shell
(Vickers-Maxim). Aperture of entry ragged, roughly circular,
and 2 inches in diameter, with much-contused margins situated
in the median line, nearly midway between the ensiform
cartilage and umbilicus. The screw was lodged in the abdominal
wall at the margin of the thorax, just outside the left nipple
lin