1. _Stellate comminuted fractures._--A shows the primary nature of the lesion in all comminuted fractures of compact bone, consisting in the production of a number of radiating fissures, which assume a stellate form of which the point of impact corresponds to the centre. B shows an incomplete development of this form, the fragments being simply displaced laterally with slight loss of substance, so as to simulate a real punctured fracture. An illustration of this fracture produced by a bullet travelling at a low degree of velocity is seen in plate XXIII., which also shows the unaltered bullet lying in close proximity to the injured fibula. The degree of comminution in these fractures depends first on the range of fire and consequent striking force retained by the bullet, a high degree of velocity producing extreme comminution of compact bone. The severity of the latter again may be influenced by the measure of resistance dependent on the density and brittleness of any individual bone, or on the possession of the same characters as a special property by the tissues of the man struck. Thus plate IV. shows a fracture of the humerus produced by a bullet shot from a short range, and the fragments are comparatively large and of even dimensions, while plate XIV. shows extreme comminution of the portion of the femur exposed to direct impact, with elongated large fragments at the sides of the track. Plate XIX. shows less extreme comminution and less separation of the fragments, and was probably produced by a bullet from a longer range of fire. The separation of elongated lateral fragments is a special feature, and best marked when the portion of bone struck is considerably wider than the bullet, as in the case of the shaft of the femur. These fragments correspond in the method of their production to those seen in the wedge fractures described below, while their separation leaves a pointed extremity to either segment of the shaft. This fracture in its purest type is, I believe, spoken of as the 'butterfly fracture.'