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Show FEW WOUNDS BY COLD STEEL Shrapnel and Shell Fragments Causs Greatest Trouble Owing to Greater Danger of Infection, Much is said about the comparatively comparative-ly unimportant part played by cold steel in the present war. The follow. Ing passage from the article on "Sur-gery, "Sur-gery, Military," in the New International Interna-tional Encyclopedia, would seem to in-dicate in-dicate that conditions had not chained much in that respect since the Franco-Prussian Franco-Prussian war; also that the general classes of wounds remain essentially the same. "Shrapnel wounds are like those of the old round leaden musket balls, because be-cause of their low velocity they are more frequently lodged in wounds than are rifle bullets. Shell wounds, as a class, are much less frequent, but far more severe than shrapnel wounds Shell fragments cause complete destruction de-struction near the bursting point, but effect less damage in more distant zones. Both shrapnel and shell wounds are usually infected, because the missiles carry Into the wounds pieces of clothing and other foreign matter. The danger of infection is much increased because of the greater extent of laceration. Wounds by bayonet, bayo-net, saber and lance occur so infrequently infre-quently as to be of minor interest. During Dur-ing the Franco-Prussian war there were only 600 wounds by cold steel among 9S.000 wounded. Grenades, thrown by hand, rifle and trench mortar, mor-tar, a revival in late wars of an earlier practice, recently have been used to a conspicuous extent In Flanders and France. Their wounds differ in no material particular from those of shell fragments and subterranean mines." |