It was generally believed that bullets travelling at a very high degree of velocity were liable to cause severe comminution of the short bones, but I never saw any cases supporting this opinion; in point of fact, all the short-range lesions of this nature that I saw were of the clean perforating variety. I believe that this is capable of satisfactory explanation on the ground of the thin character of the layer of compact tissue which for the most part ensheaths the short bones; this decreases the resistance offered to the bullet and so tends to localise the lesion. This statement may be supported by two observations with regard to the long and flat bones. First, if the shaft of a long bone be hit above the junction of diaphysis and epiphysis, the cancellous tissue in and extending from the medullary cavity is pulverised, and examination of fragments from such fractures gives the impression of the inner aspect having been scraped clean. Secondly, I saw one fracture of the ilium produced by a bullet taking a course between its compact layers for 3 inches from the notch between the anterior superior and anterior inferior spines; the bone to the extent of 2-1/2 square inches was pulverised, the cancellous tissue blown away as dust, and the compact tissue only represented by scales still adhering by their periosteum to the muscles attached to the two surfaces of the bone. This injury was produced from a rifle fired at five yards distance, and was an extreme example; but, on the other hand, it illustrates only what we are thoroughly well acquainted with in the case of flat bones, such as those of the cranium, where the compact element is abundant in comparison with the cancellous, and the resistance offered to the bullet is consequently great. Some remarks on transverse fractures of the patella will be found under the heading devoted to that bone. Lesions of the flat bones are considered at some length in Chapter VII., which deals with injuries to the head, and their special features are there described; some further remarks on these injuries will be found under the headings of the individual bones.