The wound was stated to have been received at a distance of from fifty to a hundred yards. I think we can scarcely assume that impact with the margin of the erector spinae could have resulted in 'setting up' of the bullet, while an irregular tongue of skin at the point where the wound crossed the spines of the lumbar vertebrae did suggest possible bony contact. That the latter must have been of the slightest nature is evident, as no signs of concussion of the spinal cord were noted. I should rather be inclined to compare this case to one of gutter wound quoted on p. 56, and to assume that the bullet passed so closely beneath the surface as either to entirely sever the skin, or at any rate to allow it to give way on flexion of the back on movement. [Illustration: FIG. 44.--Small Circular Entry, large 'explosive' skin wound of back. Track only an inch or less in length (see text)] On the ground of the observations made in the foregoing pages it will be gathered that the opinion I formed was against either the very free use or the great wounding power of so-called expanding bullets of small calibre. I believe that a great number of the injuries which were attributed to the employment of these missiles were produced either by ricochet regulation bullets of small calibre, or by large leaden bullets of the Martini-Henry type. _Symptoms._--I very much doubt whether the general symptoms observed as the result of wounds from bullets of small calibre differ in more than slight degree from those described when larger bullets were regularly employed. Great variation was met with, but I do not think a diminution in serious results in this direction corresponding to the comparatively limited nature of the direct injury to the organs or tissues can be affirmed. It is true that the immediate symptoms in many patients were amazingly slight, but after all, this has always been a feature of gunshot injuries on the field of battle and cannot be assigned a position of distinctive importance.