Mr. Specter. What is the axilla, in lay language, Dr. Shaw?
Dr. Shaw. The arm pit.
Mr. Specter. Dr. Shaw, will you describe next the wound of exit?
Dr. Shaw. Yes; the wound of exit was below and slightly medial to the nipple on the anterior right chest. It was a round, ragged wound, approximately 5 cm. in diameter. This wound had obviously torn the pleura, since it was a sucking wound, allowing air to pass to and fro between the pleura cavity and the outside of the body.
Mr. Specter. Define the pleura, please, Doctor, in lay language.
Dr. Shaw. The pleura is the lining of the chest cavity with one layer of pleura, the parietal pleura lining the inside of the chest wall, diaphragm and the mediastinum, which is the compartment of the body containing the heart, its pericardial sac, and great vessels.
Mr. Specter. What were the characteristics of these two bullet wounds which led you to believe that one was a wound of entry and one was a wound of exit, Dr. Shaw?
Dr. Shaw. The wound of entrance is almost invariably the smaller wound, since it perforates the skin and makes a wound approximately or slightly larger than the missile. The wound of exit, especially if it has shattered any bony material in the body, will be the larger of the wounds.
Mr. Specter. What experience, Doctor, have you had, if any, in evaluating gunshot wounds?
Dr. Shaw. I have had considerable experience with gunshot wounds and wounds due to missiles because of my war experience. This experience was not only during the almost 2 years in England, but during the time that I was head of the Thoracic Center in Paris, France, for a period of approximately a year.