WOUNDS BY FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES
It is not necessary here to do more than indicate the general characters
of wounds produced by modern weapons. For further details the reader is
referred to works on military surgery. Experience has shown that the
nature and severity of the injuries sustained in warfare vary widely in
different campaigns, and even in different fields of the same campaign.
Slight variations in the size, shape, and weight of rifle bullets, for
example, may profoundly modify the lesions they produce: witness the
destructive effect of the pointed bullet compared with that of the
conical form previously used. The conditions under which the fighting is
carried on also influence the wounds. Those sustained in the open,
long-range fighting of the South African campaign of 1899-1902 were very
different from those met with in the entrenched warfare in France in
1914-1918. It has been found also that the infective complications are
greatly influenced by the terrain in which the fighting takes place. In
the dry, sandy, uncultivated veldt of South Africa, bullet wounds seldom
became infected, while those sustained in the highly manured fields of
Belgium were almost invariably contaminated with putrefactive organisms,
and gaseous gangrene and tetanus were common complications. It has been
found also that wounds inflicted in naval engagements present different
characters from those sustained on land. Many other factors, such as the
physical and mental condition of the men, the facilities for affording
first aid, and the transport arrangements, also play a part in
determining the nature and condition of the wounds that have to be dealt
with by military surgeons.
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