"MERCY BULLETS” INVENTION

Evening Star, Issue 19791, 15 February 1928, Page 10

"MERCY BULLETS” INVENTION

A new bullet lias been invented which, it is hoped, will put an end to the suffciiugs of wild animals pursued in tho cause ol research and sport. This invention, is is said, combines with the usual functions of a projectile tho principle of a hypodermic needle. It can bo lirod from a shotgun or rifle, and contains a chamber filled with an aneesthetic. When the bullet strikes the animal the needle penetrates the flesh and releases the anesthetic, which almost _ immediately renders the victim unconscious. Then it is an easy matter to approach and bind the animal. Instead of trying to kill with the first shot, hunters who use this new bullet will be expected to try to get merely a superficial wound, for tho anaesthetic works just as well with a flesh wound as with a more vital one. lIOUES Oh' AGONY. Captain Harris, who is leading an expedition to tho wilds of Borneo intends to use those new bullets. He declares that every hunter ’knows that frequently he hits his animal or bird, but'fails to prevent its escape. “Thismeans that they go off somewhere, experience hours of agony, and finally die. If they are shot with the new bullets they svill die, at least, without pain,” he says. The “ mercy bullets,” as they are termed, are extremely complicated, and hence more expensive than ordinary bullets, and will have to be made in various sizes. An anesthetic, for example, which would render a rabbit unconscious would not bo potent enough for an elephant.