The treatment is noninterference, except for infection, which, contrary to what might be expected from presumable contamination from the object from which it ricocheted, does not occur more frequently in ricochet than direct wounds with lodgment of the projectile. [Illustration: Plate 67.] RIFLE--PLATE 67. LOWER EXTREMITY. Gunshot Fracture of the Lower Third of the Tibia. The course of the bullet, with reduced energy of long range, was anteroposterior, striking the inner border of the bone and punching out a circular area of small fragments with a single transverse line of fracture. The wound of exit was slightly larger than the wound of entrance. The treatment is conservative. Infection is not probable if emergency dressing is clean. [Illustration: Plate 68.] RIFLE--PLATE 68. LOWER EXTREMITY. Gunshot Fracture of the Lower Third of the Tibia. The course of the bullet was diagonally anteroposterior, from without inward, striking the internal border of the anterior surface of the bone, and partially splitting off fragments from the side with a perforating effect. The range of the shot was long. The dense and irregular shadows to the right of the fracture are caused by the material used in dressing and indicate a slight infection. The small shadows on the tibial side are not a part of the wound, but are due to opaque material caught in the dressing. [Illustration: Plate 69.] RIFLE--PLATE 69. LOWER EXTREMITY. Gunshot Fracture of the Lower End of the Tibia. The course of the bullet was transverse, from without inward, through the lower end of the bone, with a piercing effect and a fissuring of the upper fragment. The velocity was that of short range. The wound of exit would be slightly larger than that of entrance, as some small fragments can be seen extending along the tract of the missile from the line of transverse fracture toward the internal border of the leg. There was no laceration of the wound of exit. The wound was clean. The treatment is conservative. Results should be favorable. Infection would depend most probably upon the asepsis of the first dressing. [Illustration: Plate 70.] RIFLE--PLATE 70. LOWER EXTREMITY. Gunshot Fracture of the Tibia, with Lodgment of the Missile. The course of the bullet was from within outward, striking the posterior surface of the tibia about 2 inches above the ankle, and causing a slight crack in the bone at the point where its course was deflected. The velocity was that of extreme range, as the wholly normal outline of the projectile and the slight penetration indicates that its energy was almost entirely lost in flight and not by ricochet. The sharp outlines of the lower border of the fibula and the external border of the articular surface of the lower end of the tibia indicate the position of the fibula as next to the photographic plate.