he result of low
degrees of velocity, and they took the place of simple transverse
fractures of the 'cut' variety. The apertures of entry and exit in the
bones resembled in character those seen in the soft parts, or in the
bones of the skull in low-velocity injuries (see figs. 71 and 72, p.
261). The entry was more or less cleanly cut, while at the exit a plate
of bone was raised, and either separated or turned back on a hinge by
the bullet (fig. 52), (plate XVII.) Such a projecting hinged fragment
was sometimes a source of some trouble; thus in a case of
postero-anterior perforation of the lower third of the shaft of the
femur, the long exit fragment projected into the substance of the
quadriceps extensor muscle, and interfered with flexion of the
knee-joint. Fig. 57 of a superficial tunnel of the lower third of the
tibia is especially interesting as bringing such injuries of the long
bones into line with fractures of the flat bones of the skull, such as
are illustrated in fig. 68, p. 259.

Plate XXI. affords an excellent example of perforation of the shaft of
the tibia, although complicated by the secondary fissure.

Plates XXIII., VIII., and III., of the fibula, humerus, and clavicle,
exhibit examples of what may be called spurious perforations of the
shafts of bones, since comminution or loss of continuity accompanies all
three.

Subsequently to writing the above paragraphs, I took the opportunity of
re-examining the magnificent series of gunshot fractures collected
during the Franco-German campaign by Sir William MacCormac, and
afterwards presented by him to the museum of St. Thomas's Hospital.

The close approximation in type between the main features in these and
those in the fractures produced by the modern bullet is very striking.
In the case of the shafts of the long bones, the same stellate, oblique,
wedge-shaped, and even perforating injuries are illustrated on a coarser
scale. In a specimen of a patella, a perforation of the lower half,
implicating also the tendon of the quadriceps muscle is, though large,
almost as pure as a Mauser perforation.

The difference in the nature of the lesions of the bones is seen to be,
firstly, one of pure magnitude, corresponding to the size of the large
Snider bullet by which they were produced. Thus the fragments generally
are larger, and occupy a wider area of the shafts, the first character
depending on the lesser degree of velocity of the bullet, the latter on
its