ounding ones suffer somewhat less direct injury. It must be borne in
mind, also, that rapidity of revolution does not fall _pari passu_ with
that of velocity of flight, but that the former undergoes a
comparatively slighter diminution until the bullet is actually spent.
Hence, the influence of revolution is felt, however low the velocity may
be, provided sufficient striking force is retained to enter the body. A
word must be added here as to the surface of a discharged bullet; this,
in taking the rifling of the barrel, becomes permanently grooved. The
depth of the groove differs with the variety of rifle. In the
Lee-Metford the grooves are deep (.009), in the Mauser slightly less so
(.007), but the surface of both bullets is comparatively roughened when
revolving in the body, and this circumstance, since the projectile
exactly fits its track, may influence the degree of the surface
destruction of tissue, and somewhat aid in the clean perforation of
bone, since a little bone dust is always found at the entrance aperture
of a canal in cancellous bone.

During the campaign many varieties of rifle projecting bullets of widely
differing calibre were employed by the Boers, many of whom as sportsmen
preferred the rifle to which they were accustomed to a regulation
weapon, and an illustration of a large variety of bullets from
cartridges which I collected from arsenals and camps is given below (p.
96). The great majority of the men, however, were armed with
small-calibre weapons of some sort, and as the wounds produced by these
are of chief interest at the present day, I shall say little of any
others, beyond an occasional reference to Martini-Henry rifle wounds
which may be considered to represent approximately those made by large
leaden sporting bullets.

[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Type Cartridges in common use during the war.
From left to right: Martini-Henry, Guedes, Lee-Metford, (Spanish)
Mauser, Krag-Joergensen]

The most important, as the most frequently employed, rifles projecting
small-calibre bullets were the Krag-Joergensen, Mauser, Lee-Metford, and
Guedes, given in the order of increase of calibre (from 6.5 to 8
millimetres, or .254-.314 in.) in the bullets. As to the seriousness of
wounds produced by these there is little to choose, differences in
character being only those of degree. Such differences depended on the
area of tissue implicated, corresponding with the calibre of the
particular bullet, the comparativ