CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

ere m

In Pope's translation of the Iliad, there may be
read the following words :-

“ Full on his breast the Trojan arrow fell,

But harmless bounded from the plated steel.”
This sentence, considered in relation to our sub-
ject, is of interest, as showing that, in ancient times,
from the protective armour worn, and the kinds of
weapons used, wounds of the chest would be of
rare occurrence : it possibly explains the reason,
also, why we have no records of the effects pro-
duced by, or the treatment adopted for, wounds of
the lungs, either from javelins, spears, or arrows,
in the wars of the primitive ages.

The employment of gunpowder in warfare in
1346, in which year large guns were used at the

B

CHAPTER II.

THE QUESTION OF MORTALITY.

In the attempt to arrive at a useful conclusion on the question of the mortality incident to penetrating wounds of the chest, I have before me the documents in the Director General's office, and other statistics from various sources. Referring to the first of these sources of information, I find the singular fact, that out of the grand total of wounded throughout the Crimean war, viz., 12,094, only 164 are returned under the head of actual lung wounds, being 1.35 per cent. of the total number wounded, as may be seen by the annexed Tables, Nos. 1, 2 and 3:

Return, showing the Number and Results of the Cases treated from

1st April, 1855, to the end of the War.
NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND PRIVATES ONLY.

1. Simple flesh contusions / Slight

and wounds .......... Severe 2. With injury of bone or cartilage,

without known lesion of contents

and not opening the cavity.... 3. With lesion of contents, but not

opening the cavity .......... 4. Penetrating the cavity, and mis- 1

sile lodged, or apparently lodged 5. Perforating, or appa- Superficial rently perforating, fi

'Deeply.... 83 the cavity

Discharged for duty.

Invalided or transferred.

op co rol | Total died.

e E

t

A 11:1

Return, showing the Number and Results of the Cases treated

during the entire War. COMMISSIONED OFFICERS ONLY.

1. Simple flesh contusion and wounds

Od Slight ....

4 Severe .... 2. With injury of bone or cartilage, without known

lesion of the contents, and not opening the cavity 3. With lesion of the contents, but not opening |

the cavity ........................ 4. Penetrating the cavity, and missile lodged, or

apparently lodged ........................) 5. Perforating, or apparently perfor- / Superficially

ating, the cavity......... 1 Deeply ....

claimed on the bles, therefore, inclut vith strictly in thisered that the numbe

* The Tables date from the 1st of April, 1855, to the end of the War; peace was proclaimed on the 30th of March, 1856. Previously to the 1st of April, 1855, no reliable data exist. The Tables, therefore, include a period of 364 days. In Table No.1, Sections Nos. 3, 4, and 5, are the items to be dealt with strictly in this Treatise.

+ In estimating the mortality, it must be remembered that the number, as given in Table No. I, must be taken with the qualification that out of the number discharged for duty, viz., 238, the number of 71 were shortly discharged the service, a certain proof of the extensive damage done, and, probably, a prelude to death from the effects of the original wound.