After the contests in Paris in 1830, Me'niere tells us that it was a common observation at the Morgue, to which the dead were carried, that the greatest number had been shot through the chest. FROM GUX-Simr of the femoral vessels this is very commonly Throu-h tinaxilla, through the neck, out and in behind tht angles of tin- jaw, between the lx>nes of the fore-arm, ami even of the loir, halls of various sixes and shapes pass without injury to the vessels. Thus, the has suffered severe injury many times, and yet very few d ppear in tin' returns from these wounds. I have never myself seen anv CE86 in which a bullet has passed harmlessly between a large artery and its but many such eases are on record.
The following may be mentioned as instances of narrow escapes. A soldier was wounded at Inkermari, by dl which entered through the cheek, and 'ed behind the angle of the opposite jaw, tearing the pans in such a manner that the Li'reat vessels were plainly seen, hare and pulsating, in the wound. Three weekafter admission into hospital hewasdischar never havimr had a bad symptom. A soldier of the - wounded in June, 1855, by a rifle ball, which struek him in the nape of the neck. It passed forwards round tli ride of the neck, going deeply through the np under the angle of the inferior ilia, it fractured the superior maxillary and malar bones, <1the eye, and escapetl. killing a man who was sitr le him.
This patient made a raju'd recovery. A Fivneh soldier at the Alma was struck obliipi'dy by a rifle ball, near to. but the ri-'ht nipple; the ball passed seemiii'j-Iy <piite through tinvessels and '.ilia, and escajied behind. dm was rapid and uiiintrrnijited. Another irafl.-truck in tin- trenches by a ball, a little lavide. f l'h- ball escaped behind, breaking off the upper third of the posterior border of the scapula, and yet he recovered perfectly, without any bleeding taking place. Endless numbers of similar cases are presented to us in military hospitals. A considerable artery may be fairly cut across, and give no further trouble, beyond the first gush of blood which takes place at the moment of injury.
In such cases, the vessel contracts and closes itself. If only half divided, as it is apt to be by shell, or by the quick passage of a ball, then the haemorrhage will be, in all probability, fatal. The best example, perhaps, on record of the former result, is that mentioned by Larrey. A soldier, struck on the lower third of the thigh by a ball, suffered one severe haemorrhage, which was never repeated. The limb became cold, the popliteal ceased to beat, and the ends of the divided femoral could be felt retracted when the finger was placed in the wound. This man recovered perfectly. The younger Larrey records a veiy curious case from the wounded at the siege of Antwerp.