f the nature of furrows, varying in depth from mere grazes to
wounds laying bare the bone. Their peculiarity was centred in the fact
that a definite loss of substance accompanied them, the skin being
actually carried away by the bullet; hence gaping was the rule. Every
gradation in depth was met with, but the only situations in which wounds
of considerable length could occur were the frontal region in tranverse
shots, or, when the bullet passed sagitally, the sides of the head, or
the flat area of the vertex.

The danger of overlooking injuries to the bone was of special importance
in the short subcutaneous tracks occasionally met with at the points at
which the surface of the skull makes sharp bends. In all such wounds it
was a safe rule to assume a fracture of the skull until this was
excluded by direct examination. In some of the gutter wounds and
subcutaneous tracks crossing the forehead and sides of the head, signs
of intracranial disturbance were occasionally observed in the absence of
external fracture, such as transient muscular weakness, unsteadiness in
movements, giddiness, diplopia, or loss of memory and intellectual
clearness. In connection with such symptoms the classical injury of
splintering of the internal table of the skull, the external remaining
intact, had to be borne in mind, but I observed no proven instance of
this accident. I am of opinion, moreover, that its occurrence with small
bullets travelling at a high degree of velocity must be very rare, since
little deflection is probable unless the contact has been sufficiently
decided to fracture the external table; while in the cases of spent
bullets the injury is unlikely, as requiring a considerable degree of
force.

_Injuries to the cranial bones, without evidence of gross lesion to the
brain._--It may be premised that these were of the rarest occurrence,
and they may be most readily described by shortly recounting the
conditions observed in a few cases I noted at the time. The injuries
resulted from blows with spent bullets, from bullets barely striking the
skull directly, or those striking over the region of the frontal
sinuses. Wounds of the mastoid process will not be considered in this
connection as being of a special nature (see p. 299).

I saw only one case of escape of the internal, with depressed fracture
of the external, table of the skull.

(45) In marching on Heilbron a man in the advance guard was
struck by a bullet at r