=Number of wounds in battle.=—The increased velocity of modern projectiles, together with the more rectilinear path in which they move, causes a greater number of wounds in modern warfare. The difference which has existed in the proportion of wounded to shots discharged in recent engagements, compared with the experience of former wars, is most marked. It is well known that from expansion of the bore of the musket in use a few years since, and consequent increase in the difference between its diameter and that of the bullet, after a few rounds of fire musket–balls rolled out in numerous instances in the act of elevation of the musket previous to discharge. Now every shot is propelled to a great distance, and with force sufficient, if brought into collision early in its flight, to penetrate and wound several persons. Colonel Wilford, Chief Instructor at the Government School of Musketry, stated publicly in a recent lecture the fact that 80,000 rounds of ball–cartridge were fired from the old musket in one day in Caffraria, and only 25 Caffres were known to be hit; while at Cawnpore, one company of soldiers, armed with the Enfield rifle, brought down 69 out of a body of horsemen by whom they were attacked, at one discharge. At the battle of Salamanca, only one ball in 3000 fired by the British took effect. Another result is, that we may now expect to meet more frequently the occurrence of several bullet wounds in the same individual. It is mentioned that, among the wounded from Solferino, it was not uncommon to see several wounds of different origins in one body; and M. Appia mentions a case, in one of the hospitals at Brescia, where a soldier had been struck at the same time by four balls. These circumstances become important in estimating the amount of surgical attendance that is required in modern engagements. At the battle of Solferino, just referred to, some returns show that, in twenty–four hours, 11,500 French, 5300 Sardinians, and 21,000 Austrians were laid _hors de combat_. The surgeons had no time to attend to the first necessities of a great proportion of the wounded. A multitude of those unfortunates were hastily conveyed to the little village of Castiglione, and had to wait hours, many even days, before their wounds could be dressed. To relieve thirst, and apply wet compresses of linen to ease the pain of the wounds, by calling into service the people of the neighborhood, was as much as could be done to a great number for the first day or two, on account of the vast number of wounds inflicted by the new weapons. At Brescia, within a short time after this battle, 15,000 wounded were congregated in thirty–eight fixed and temporary hospitals. From the actions in Flanders on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of June, 1815, including the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, the returns show the number of wounded, not including those killed in action, in the Duke of Wellington’s army, to have been rather more than 8000.