Technologies

^ Return to Technologies
Skull showing gun shot trauma Male profile, 1950s
Skull showing keyhole gunshot trauma, about 1861-1865
Heart of a 26-year-old man, perforated by a bullet, New York, 1937
Leg bone from the Ragsdale Gunshot Wound Study, 1984
Leg bone from the Ragsdale Gunshot Wound Study, 1984
Chest plates commissioned by Frances Glessner Lee, about 1940
Bloodstain, blisters, bullet holes, 1864
Chest plates commissioned by Frances Glessner Lee, about 1940
Chest plates commissioned by Frances Glessner Lee, about 1940
Mrs. Frances Glessner Lee, the heiress to the International Harvester fortune, had a passion for forensic science. As a teaching and reference tool, she made a series of ceramic plates that illustrate the typical wound patterns caused by gunshots fired from a variety of weapons at different distances. The six ceramic "chest plates" here, part of a much larger collection, show the wound patterns caused by a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, with lead bullet, shot at various distances. The chest plates are used as teaching aids and for reference. From top to bottom and left to right the distances are: Contact, 1 inch, 3 inches, 6 inches, 18 inches and exit wound.
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Baltimore, Maryland
Image 6 of 7

Reading gunshot patterns

The mass manufacture of guns in the 19th century led to an epidemic of gunshot wounds incurred in wars, violent crimes, suicides, and accidents. The study of gunshot wounds became an integral part of criminal investigation and forensic pathology.