crease]

When the range of fire has been greater and the velocity retained by the
bullet lower, slit wounds are common, or some of the slighter degrees of
starring. Actual starring I never saw, but reference to figs. 20 and 21
will show a tendency in this direction, also a close resemblance to the
starred wounds resulting from perforations by large leaden bullets.
Such wounds, I believe, are usually the result of a somewhat low degree
of velocity.

Slit exit wounds may be vertical or transverse (fig. 20) in direction,
and the production of these is dependent on the locality in which they
are situated, the thickness, density, and tension of the skin, and the
nature of the connection of the latter with the subcutaneous fascia in
the locality. Thus in wounds of different parts of the hairy scalp, so
little variation exists in the relative density and structure of the
skin, that, in spite of the want of external support at the aperture of
exit, it is often difficult to discriminate offhand the two apertures,
if neither bone nor brain debris occupies that of exit.

If, however, a wound crosses from side to side a region such as the
thigh where well-marked differences exist in the subjacent support,
thickness, and elasticity of the skin implicated in the apertures, the
wound of entry, if in the thick skin of the outer aspect, was usually
circular, while the exit in the thin elastic skin of the inner aspect
was either slit-like or starred. The difficulty in laying down any
general rule as to the occurrence of circular or slit apertures of exit
in any definite region is, however, great, as may be seen by reference
to the accompanying diagrams taken from two patients wounded at
Paardeberg (figs. 22 and 23).

In fig. 22 the bullet entered the outer and posterior aspect of the left
buttock, crossed the limb behind the femur, and emerged at the inner
aspect by a vertical slit: the bullet then entered the scrotum by a
vertical slit, and emerged by a typical circular aperture; re-entered
the right thigh by a transverse slit aperture, and, striking the femur
in its further course, underwent deformation, and finally escaped by an
irregular aperture 3/4 of an inch in diameter. The occurrence of exit
slits in the adductor region is common, and to be explained by the
tendency of the comparatively thin elastic skin to be carried before the
bullet; the slit entry in this position must, I suppose, be explained by
the comparatively slight