n the pharynx, but the absence of positive
evidence scarcely allows the case to be certainly classed as
one of cellulitis and septicaemia secondary to wound of the
tongue.

WOUNDS OF THE NECK

Wounds of the neck were not unfrequent and were of the gravest
importance; there can be little doubt that they accounted for a
considerable proportion of the deaths on the field. On the other hand,
the neck as a region offered some of the most striking examples of
hairbreadth escape of important structures. Consideration of a number of
the vascular lesions (see cervical aneurisms, p. 135) also shows
conclusively that in no region did the small size of the bullet more
materially influence the result, since no doubt can exist that all these
wounds would have proved immediately fatal if produced by projectiles of
larger calibre.

In this place only a few general considerations will be entered into, as
most of the important cases are dealt with under the general headings of
vessels, nerves, and spine; but it is convenient to include here the few
remarks that have to be made concerning the cervical viscera.

The wounds of the soft parts might course in any direction, but vertical
tracks from above downwards were rare. In point of fact, these occurred
only in connection with perforations of the head, and as vertical wounds
of the latter were received in the prone position, usually when the head
was raised, the necessary conditions for longitudinal tracks were seldom
offered. One case of a complete vertical track in the muscles of the
back of the neck has been already quoted (No. 69, p. 286).

Tracks coursing upwards from the trunk were somewhat more frequent in
occurrence; thus a considerable number traversing the thorax were seen.
In such instances the aperture of exit was generally situated in the
posterior triangle, and some of the brachial nerves often suffered.

The commonest forms of wound were the transverse or the oblique. A large
number of cases with such tracks will be found among the cases of injury
to the cervical vessels and nerves. In some instances the course was
restricted to the neck alone, in others the trunk or upper extremity was
also implicated.

The favourable influence of the arrangement of the structures of the
neck, which allows of the ordinary displacement excursions necessary for
deglutition, respiration, and their cognate movements, was very strongly
marked. Thus in several cases the