oved they lay in a small cavity containing at any rate a 'purulent
fluid.' In one of these the bullet was a Martini-Henry, and in both the
bullet had been imbedded for some weeks, and had certainly not
occasioned a primary suppuration of the wound.

The favourable influence of the pure and dry nature of the atmosphere in
this campaign must certainly not be underrated, and in support of this
influence I think I may say, from the experience of cases that I saw
coming from Natal where the climate and surroundings were not so
favourable as on the western side, that suppuration was more common and
more severe in the moister atmosphere.

Putting aside all the above remarks, however, I am inclined to think
that a general tendency to primary union and the absence of suppuration
will always be a feature of wounds from bullets of small calibre, and
that this favourable tendency is attributable to certain inherent
characters of the injuries. Of these the nature and small size of the
openings, the dry character of the lining of the track due to
superficial destruction and condensation of the tissue forming its wall,
the small disposition to prolonged primary haemorrhage, and the absence
of any great amount of serous exudation during the early stages of
healing are the most important.

A mechanical factor of great importance also exists in the spontaneous
collapse and automatic apposition of the walls of the track. This
closure is rendered additionally effective in many cases by the
interruption of the continuous line in the wounded tissues consequent on
alteration in the position of the parts traversed when an attitude of
rest is assumed by the injured part. The indisposition to suppuration
and the apparent unsuitability of the tissue lining the track for the
development and spread of infecting organisms are well illustrated by
several observations. Thus, even if the bullet be thoroughly aseptic,
the fragments of destroyed skin driven into the track by the bullet can
scarcely be free from organisms; yet these seldom give rise to trouble.
Again, if for any reason a deep portion of a track becomes infected and
suppurates, there is no tendency for the spread of infection along the
line of wounded tissue, but rather for the development of a local
abscess, pointing in the ordinary direction of least resistance,
irrespective of the course originally taken by the bullet.

[Illustration: PLATE I.

Engraved and Printed by Bale and Dani