in an oblique
direction. It will be of course recognised that the exact impact of the
bullet depends not alone on the direction of the projectile, but also
on the nature of the slope offered by the surface of bone struck.

2. _Wedge fractures._--This form (C and D, fig. 50) is equally
characteristic of gunshot injury with pure perforation; it is met with
in two varieties. C illustrates the more strongly marked type; in it the
bullet makes passing lateral impact with the shaft, and from the point
struck radiating fissures extend to the opposite margin, so that a
wedge-shaped piece of bone often secondarily comminuted is separated
from the remainder of the shaft; see plate X. of the radius.

The second variety, D, is an incomplete development of the stellate
fracture in which the fissures pass to one margin of the bone only. The
explanation of this variation is probably to be sought in the direction
of impact on the part of the bullet, since the main fissure is often
accompanied by secondary lines which run a somewhat parallel course to
the main one, and suggest the dispersion of the force in the form of
concentric waves. Such fractures were most strongly marked in the tibia,
the breadth of the surfaces of this bone presenting especially
favourable conditions for their production.

3. _Notched fractures._--These may be a slight degree of the form of
wedge fracture last described; such a one is depicted in plate XXII.
where a portion of the spine of the tibia has been carried away by a
passing bullet. Other notched fractures approximate themselves more
nearly to perforations, the notch being a groove secondary to the
opening up of such a track as is shown in the illustration of a
perforation of the lower third of the shaft of the tibia (fig. 57 on p.
219). Notching or grooving is naturally much more common in the
cancellous portions of bones.

4. _Oblique fractures._--These also occur in two varieties: the first
has been already alluded to; in it the bullet actually cuts an oblique
track in the bone; the main line of fracture is often considerably
comminuted, usually at the proximal end of the track (see plates XV. and
XIX.).

The second variety (E, fig. 50) is less common; in it two of the main
limbs of the simple stellate figure are suppressed, while the remaining
two form a continuous line from one margin of the shaft to the other,
the point of impact lying approximately in the centre of the line of
fracture. Suc