Modern Bullets More Humane Than Those of Past

1915

Wounds Quicker to Heal — Soldiers Not Long Absent from the Front

The bullet covered with hard nickel now in use make the surgeon's task very simple, as a rule. Formerly, when large bullets of soft lead were used, the soldier's lot was not a very happy one. These often broke up inside the body, shattered bones, and frequently remained embedded in the muscles, bones and other parts.

The result was slow-healing, festering wounds which kept the soldier ill for a long time. The modern long slender bullet generally passes through the body without doing any vital injury. Even when it goes through the intestine, the stomach, the kidney, etc., the wound closes up without any very serious after-consequences. A good deal, however, depends on circumstances. If the soldier's stomach is empty — as it generally is in a battle — so much the better for him when he gets a bullet through it.

When he is tired and half starving, however, the shock is very great, and he may become utterly helpless from a slight wound. A curious fact, difficult to explain, is that a bullet fired at a range of 300 to 600 yards has more penetrating power than one fired at a range under or over that distance. In the former case it passes through the bone without doing very much damage; in the latter it shatters the bone and makes recovery slow. A ricocheting bullet causes a very bad wound as a rule. Small as it is, if a bullet strikes a large bone, like the hip, it gives a blow like that of a crowbar.

We are hearing a great deal about dum-dum bullets in this, as in all wars, both parties making charges against one another. The probability is that neither side is using them. The bullet now in use consists of a core of lead covered with a hard nickel case.