In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> The silk bit is also an example of unusual technical
> accuracy. Oriental soldiers have worn silk shirts for ages, for a
> good reason. While an arrow might penetrate the outer clothing, even
> if it's armored, an arrowhead usually won't cut the silk. So you can
> grab the shirt and pull the arrow out. The silk will have blunted the
> arrow's edge and retarded its penetration. You still have a serious
> puncture wound, but it's not a cutting wound. With a little forced
> bleeding to flush it out, your chances of survival are far greater
> than with any other cloth.
On the same (non-musical) note, readers of C. S. Forester's Hornblower
novels will remember that the good captain insisted on his officers
wearing silk stockings instead of woolen stockings when going into
battle, for much the same reasons. The rationale was that a bullet or
shell fragment would carry wool particles into the wound, usually
resulting in gangrene and loss of the limb in question (or life), but
that wouldn't happen with silk.
Hornblower, of course, was absolutely tone-deaf (in spite of his
name), so those with an interest in naval fiction as well as music
should stick to the late Patrick O'Brien's work :^)
Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau ......................... [EMAIL PROTECTED]
If one tells the truth, one is sure, sooner or later, to be found out.
-- Oscar Wilde, *An Ideal Husband*
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