as soon as the necessary evidence is obtained, or he should be held to appear by suitable bonds. If restraint is absolutely necessary to insure that appearance in case of capital offences, provision should be made for his comfort in keeping with the spirit of the law, which as yet regards him as innocent of the alleged crime. He should have all the privileges compatible with simple detention. His room should not be a cell, but a cheerful, well-aired and sunlighted apartment, furnished with comforts and conveniences such as the individual can command when at liberty; he should no longer have meagre and unwholesome prison fare, but be provided with a liberal and healthful diet; his freedom for exercise in the open air should be ample; and books and papers, and other means of mental recreation should be freely supplied. And it is quite as important that his companionship should be carefully selected. Not unfrequently the alledged criminal is of pure mind, but by hourly contact with the impure and vicious he gradually sinks to their level, especially if he is young and susceptible. We learn from the prison records that many of the most daring offenders took their first lessons in the methods of perpetrating crime in the jails in which they were lodged previous to their first trial. Thus the State not only inflicts a great wrong upon the individual, but too frequently, converts an innocent citizen into an expert criminal.

XLVIII.

MODERN MILITARY SCIENCE.

A

MBROSE PARÉ, the famous Chirurgeon to three consecutive Kings of France, writing, now nearly three hundred years ago, “of wounds made by gun shot, other fiery engines, and all sorts of weapons," contrasted the firearms of his time with the warlike weapons of the ancients, and says of the latter, "they seem to me certain childish sports and games made only in imitation of the former." So impressed was he with the destructive power of the "fiery engines" of war in use that he pronounced the following opinion upon the inventor of the gun: "I think the deviser of this deadly engine hath this for his recompence, that his name should be hidden by the darkness of perpetual ignorance, as not meriting for this, his most pernicious invention, any mention from posterity." The only comparison which he could make of the effects of "this hellish engine" (a cannon) "is with thunder and lightning;" greatly, however, at the expense of the latter. He says: "For what in the world is thought more horrid or fearful than thunder and lightning? and yet the hurtfulness of thunder is almost nothing to the cruelty of these infernal

engines." Had the pious Huguenot surgeon foreseen how these "infernal engines" and

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magazines of cruelty," as he calls them, would multiply in after ages, and be rendered infinitely more destructive of human life, we may well believe that he would have added fearful maledictions to his condemnation of their inventor. if a collection of the "fiery engines, and all sorts of weapons" of the sixteenth century were to be exhibited in our day, it would be the object of universal merriment. The formidable weapons which struck them with consternation would be regarded as little better than children's playthings compared with the instruments of warfare which are now brought into the field. The improvements in the various enginery of war are indeed marvelous in our time; even if we compare it with that of a half or a quarter of a century since. It is seen, not only in the comparatively greater precision of firearms, at greater distances, but in the destructive character of the missiles projected. A favorite order in the war of the revolution, when the old flint-lock musket was the weapon in the hands of the common soldier, was, "hold fire until you see the white of the enemy's eye." Even ten years ago the musket balls would not strike the object at eighty yards, and hence the few wounds which often followed a discharge of musketry, at the distances at which opposing forces generally meet. In Caffraria 80,000 rounds of ball-cartridges fired

from the old musket wounded but twenty-five Caffres; and at the battle of Salamanca but one ball in 3,000 took effect. Contrast these results with the rifle, which is now principally in the hands of our soldiers. The Enfield rifle is sighted at 1,000 yards, and two-thirds of the shots of a company of infantry have been known to take effect upon an attacking body of cavalry. The contrast in the precision of recent firearms with those in use in the early part of this century is strikingly exhibited in the following: At the actions in Flanders on the 16th, 17th, and 18th of June, 1815, including the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, the number of wounded in the British army was about 8,000. The armies approached within 1,200 yards of each other, and were for the most part out of reach of all but field guns. Now, balls will take effect at 2,000 yards, and the result is seen in the battle of Solferino, where in a single contest, 11,500 French, 5,300 Sardinians, and 21,000 Austrians were wounded. Another noticeable effect of improved firearms, "armes de précision," is the lodgment of several balls in a single person. This was seen after the battle of Solferino, where soldiers were found to have several wounds of different origin in the same person. One was noticed who had received four balls at the same time. The late Col. Baker, who fell at Leesburg, Va., is said to have had no less than five bullet wounds. It should also be stated that the additional force

per

given to projectiles increases largely the number of wounds from a single ball. One Enfield rifle ball has thus been known to wound several sons. The improvements in the destructive capacity of heavy ordnance are in kind and degree like those in small-arms. The improvement in projectiles is not the least important item in the comparison of the present and the past state of military science. The round musket-ball was very liable to be diverted in its course by bones, vessels, tendons, etc.; it was not uncommon to find it traversing large tracts of the body without seriously wounding important organs, or parts. The cylindro-conoidal ball, now so much used, is not diverted even by bone, but penetrates directly every tissue or organ in its track, leaving the most dangerous and destructive wounds. The bearing of these facts upon the duties of the modern military surgeon are obvious. Not only are his duties greatly increased, but they are rendered far more difficult than formerly. A single battle is liable to overwhelm the surgical staff with labor, to the great distress and loss of the wounded. Well appointed as was the medical staff of the French army, at the battle of Solferino hundreds of the wounded had to wait for days before they had surgical attendance. At Brescia, 15,000 of the wounded were congregated soon after the battle, most of whom were in urgent need of medical and surgical aid. In our sanguinary war, we witnessed the same lamentable