ficulty in determining the position of the
openings, and section of the bone was necessary in order to assure
oneself as to the direction of the track.

In some instances the centra were pierced in the coronal direction with
varying degrees of obliquity; in others the direction was more sagittal;
in two of the latter the bullet was retained in the spinal canal. The
tracks were sometimes confined to one vertebra, but often implicated
two. In others the bullet passed longitudinally through the thorax,
grooving or perforating one or more centra.

The accompanying evidences of nerve injury varied from nil to those of
pressure or irritation of the nerve roots, transient signs of spinal
concussion, signs of contusion and haemorrhage, or to evidence of total
transverse lesion. Instances of all these conditions will be quoted
under the heading of injuries to the cord or nerves.

_Signs of injury to the vertebrae._--Separation of the spinous processes
was often indicated by slight deformity, either evident or palpable,
local pain, tenderness, mobility, and crepitus. In some cases these
local signs were reinforced by evidence of cord injury. Fractures
involving the laminae differed merely in the degree to which the above
signs were developed. Fractures of the transverse processes were
generally only to be assumed from the position and direction of the
wounds, the assumption being sometimes strengthened in probability by
evidence of injury to the cord and nerves.

Fractures of the centra were also frequently only to be assumed from the
direction of the wound tracks, and possibly from evidence of nerve
injury. When no paralysis supervened, interference with the movements of
the back, or pain, was so slight as to be inappreciable, especially in
the presence of concurrent injury to other parts, which was seldom
absent. I only once saw any angular deformity from this injury, and that
slight, and not apparent before the end of three weeks. In this
particular a very striking difference exists between injuries from
small-calibre bullets and larger ones such as the Martini-Henry. In the
only instance of Martini-Henry fracture of the spine that came under my
notice, the centrum was severely comminuted and deformity was obvious.
Still, as in so many particulars, the difference was only one of degree,
since comminution of the centra in gunshot wounds has always been
observed to be slight in nature compared with what is met with in the
co