It has been suggested
that the satisfactory condition of such wounds is partly due to a
species of cauterisation produced by the heat of the bullet. But I
hardly think this can be so, for it is extremely doubtful if a bullet
ever gets hot enough to cauterise flesh. I once picked up a spent
Martini bullet which dropped within a yard or two of where I was
standing; it was quite warm but not nearly hot enough to hurt my bare
hand. A Mauser bullet fired at a fairly close range, say, 500 yards,
travels at such a tremendous velocity that it generally splinters any
bone it meets; on the other hand at long ranges--1,000 yards and
upwards--the bullet frequently bores a clean little hole through the
opposing bone and thus saves the surgeon a great deal of trouble.
The wounds from shell fire were not numerous in our wards. It seems
likely that if a one-pounder shell from the Maxim-Nordenfeldt hits a man
it is pretty sure to kill him. Some of the wounded men told me how
terrible it was to hear the cries of a comrade ripped to pieces by this
devilish missile.
The condition of the Highlanders' legs was terrible. Many of the poor
fellows lay in the open for hours--some of them from 4 A.M. to 8
P.M.--and the back of their legs was, almost without exception, covered
with blisters and large burns from the scorching sun. Very many of those
who had escaped bullet wounds could not, I should think, have marched
ten miles to save their lives.
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