I frequently use Perl scripts with Oracle's SQL*Plus (please don't ask... DBI/DBD is out in this situation... *Grins*) Anyway, here is a sample foreach loop I use to process the output from the Unix SQL*Plus.

foreach (split(/\n/,`$_SQLPLUS -silent /nolog \@$_TMPSCRIPT`)) 
{
  #-- Stuff
}
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This code executes a temporary SQL script with SQL*Plus, splits the output based on a newline, and processes each line (one at a time) as $_.

What I am trying to show is that newlines *ARE* preserved with backticks.