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Show 'l'l't‘llltl. . 7 L Lil.) or woutznnb .in'rmucs. or wonunnn an'rnruns. 1 my ..;.. gun, killed two and wounded four. Roe felt his breat h gone, and was sensible of a shot in his breast. The shot had 'pass~ ed through his arm, breaking the ulna above the middl e, and wounding the ulnar artery ; it then passed obliquely over the scorbiculus cordis, very critically passing betwixt the muscles and skin. Although there were circumstance s in that wound of the breast that might be interesting, yet it is to the wound of the artery only that I have at present to call my reader's attention. The finger could be put into the worm! by which the ball entered, as well as that by which it passed out of the fore arm. These wounds were filled with lint. compresses laid on each, and a tight roller applied. There was at first no pain -, very little even when the surgeon thrust his finger deep into the wound ; but in half an hour the patient felt the bandage tight, and became sensible of the cramming of the wound and soreness. The shot holes were black at the second dressing; the dossils of lint were drawn out, but he had no recurrence of litemorrhagy. It may be said that there was no absolute proof that the ulnar artery was wounded in this instance : in my opinion it was complete ; but there can be no cavil about the following instance. M‘Kenzie was on the covering party, on the retreat from Villa Franca, and while reloading his piece he saw a sharp-shooter of the enemy take his aim at him; the ball struck him in the fore arm; for the space of three miles of the retreat he bled freely from the wound, but on finding the surgeon the arm was bound up and the bleedi ng was stopt and did not return. When I looked on this man's arm some days after, I was assured that the ulnar artery was in the di~ reet course of the ball, and that it must have been cut through : the ulna was shattered, and many loose pieces lay in the bottom of the wound. I was confirmed in my suppos ition of the artery being divided, by the unusual irritation and pain in the wound, which I attributed to the ulnar nerve being cut across, and now engaged in the fungous and ill-conditioned sore. The arm was amputated: the propriety of the opera- tion turning on other circumstances than what is to my pre- sent purpose. 24;) When I examined the part in dissection, 1 found the ulnar artery and nerve cut across, and on introduc~ ing the probe into the artery, I found it stopt for the length of an inch and a half, in part owing to the contraction of the artery, but principally from the adhesion through coagulable lymph. I could give other cases of wounds which I have seen of the ulnar and radial arteries thus easily stopt by compression; but what I have said is sufficiently conclusive on this point, viz. that where these arteries are divided by gun-shot, compression is sufficient to stem the blood. I give here a sketch of a wound. of the lingual artery, which being of the second order of arteries also, is I think conclusive on this head. ' pm wow mossy {I r" A, Ball entered. B, Passed our. The ball shattered the angle of the jaw, passed obliquely through the tongue, and came out by the edge of the mastoid muscle of the other side. This wound bled for half an hour and then stopped. I judge that the lingual artery was wounded here, first from the course of the ball, as apparent to the eye ; but also from this circumstance, to which I was careful to attend, viz. the insensibility of the left side of the tongue. which implied that the nerve was cut. |
