| Abstract: | Chemical effect of gun powder gas on the biologic tissues manifests by red-brown staining of the tissues, mainly at the expense of methemoglobin and sulfhemoglobin. Scarlet staining of the tissues at the edges of gun-shot wounds is not a specific marker of a shot made from a short distance; it may emerge several hours after wounding at the expense of hydroxy-hemoglobin and is not at all related to the chemical effect of gun powder gas. The conditions conducive to scarlet staining are an open wound permitting free oxygenation by air oxygen and hemoglobin transfer from the injured red cells into blood plasma and adjacent tissues. |
