pe of structures
lying to one or other side of the track of the bullet. I believe that
there can be no doubt as to the accuracy of the remarks already made as
to the escape of such structures as the nerves by means of displacement,
and that the occurrence of such escapes is manifestly dependent on the
degree of fixity of the nerve or the special segment of it implicated.
The general tendency of the tissues around the tracks to escape
extensive destruction from actual contusion has also been referred to,
and is, I think, indisputable.

If these observations be accepted, I think there can be no difficulty in
allowing that the small intestine is exceptionally well arranged to
escape injury. First of all, it is very moveable; secondly, it is so
arranged that in certain directions a bullet may pass almost parallel to
the long axis of the coils; thirdly, it is elastic, capable of
compression, and light, and hence offers but a small degree of
resistance to the passage of the bullet across the abdominal cavity.

Certain evidence both clinical and pathological supports the contention
that the small intestine may escape injury from the passing bullet.

First of all, the fact may be broadly stated that injuries to the small
intestine were fatal in the great majority of certainly diagnosed cases,
while, on the other hand, many tracks crossed the area occupied by the
small intestine without serious symptoms of any kind resulting.
Secondly, experience showed that when the bullet crossed the line of the
fixed portions of the large intestine the gut rarely escaped, and that,
although a considerable proportion of these cases recovered
spontaneously, in a large number of them immediate symptoms, or
secondary complications, clearly substantiated the nature of the
original injury. As far as my experience went, however, I never saw any
instance in which an undoubted injury of the small intestine was
followed by the development of a local peritoneal suppuration and
recovery, a sequence by no means uncommon in the case of wounds of the
large intestine. Although, therefore, I am not prepared to deny the
possibility of spontaneous recovery from an injury to the small
intestine, under certain conditions which will be stated later, I
believe that in the immense majority of cases in which a bullet crossed
the small intestine area without the supervention of serious symptoms,
the small intestine escaped perforating injury.

Beyond the clinical