Paillard mentions having heard M. Begin recount a case in which a ball of nine pounds so buried itself for a time. Hennen, too, mentions a case as having occurred at Seringapatam, in which a spent twelve pound shot buried itself in the thigh of an officer, and " so little appearance was there of a body of such bulk, that he was brought to the camp, where he soon expired, without any suspicion of the presence of the ball till it was discovered on examination." It is more easy to understand how a large fragment of shell should so conceal itself than a round shot, Unpublished records of medical department. ff-SHOT AND Til Kill TKKAT.M KNT. as, it' its long diameter corresponded with the run of the fibres of tin' superficial muscles, and especially it' the muscle at the time of contact, then a large r a muscular limb without causing an amount of injury proportioned to the size of the body introduced.
Such an instance occurred in the Crimea to a French soldier, of wl I'audens has given an account. A fragment 'of shell, weighing kilog. so completely buried itself in the thigh as almost to be invisible. The elasticity of the soft parts doubtless assist in closing the opening by which such a mass entered. Baudens has made an observation which 1 am not aware has been confirmed by any other, that when the ball is cut out from among the muscles, however early it may be accomplished, it has a cellular envelope round it, which he calls " kyste primatif," as contrasted with ygte detinitif," which forms its sac when it has been long inclosed in the tissues. lich have been severely injured by ball are emue contracted during it' precautions i In prevent it.
Of this most disagreeable it 1 have seen a good many cases in the East.:ieul.irly it' it strike at an an-'le to nd at a p.-riod n f its tli-ht when the force is A OOnioal lall, OF Tin: cnnir.Ax It is on lone that the destructive effects of n liall l,c8 most evident. (1.) When its line of flight is vnv oblique, and it is a flat bone against which it strike.-, tlu-ii it may be thrown off, causing no other damage than depriving the bone of its periosteum.
When this occurs in the case of bones of the head, much danger may subsequently ensue, as will afterwards be shown. Contused wounds of the long bones, though seemingly of little moment at first, are sometimes very serious in their results, not only from the separation of the periosteum, and subsequent disease of the bone arising from that source, but also from inflammation being set up in the medullary canal. (2.) A round ball may be flattened against the shaft of a long bone, without causing any subsequent harm. This was often seen in India, where the matchlock is used. (3.) It may turn round a bone without breaking it. Thus, Chevalier records a case in which a ball, entering at the lower part of the thigh, passed spirally round the bone to the top of the limb, " comprehending nearly the whole length of the bone in one circumvolution." (4.) A round ball, as is well known, may notch or partly perforate a long bone without causing fracture, and pass off, or remain in the. medullary cavity, having passed through the outer wall.