BEFORE AND AFTER LISTER 169 



our army. 18 There were 47,387 killed. Of 173,425 

 wounded 11,500 died, a mortality of 6.7 per cent. The 

 killed and those who died of wounds numbered in all 

 58,887, while the deaths from disease numbered only 

 27,158, a remarkable showing. 



The present war naturally has yielded so far very few 

 statistics. These can only be collected and tabulated after 

 some years of peace. So far as I can judge, I fear that, 

 while the mortality from disease (except perhaps from 

 typhus, especially in Serbia) will be less than in former 

 wars, the military conditions are such that the larger num- 

 ber of artillery wounds, the unavoidable delay in gather- 

 ing the wounded into hospitals, the apparent absence of 

 any truce for collecting the wounded and burying the 

 dead, and the virulent infection from the soil may result 

 in a large mortality rate and possibly a larger percentage 

 than in previous wars in spite of the benefits of Listerism. 

 But were the first-aid packet and the Listerian treatment 

 not available the mortality ratio in this present horrible 

 war unquestionably would be far greater than that which 

 will be recorded. 



This short resume gives us some idea of surgical condi- 

 tions preceding the great revolution inaugurated by Lister 

 to which we will next proceed. 



LECTURE II., AFTER LISTER 



Yesterday the dominant note was one of despair and 

 defeat. To-day the dominant note shall be one of joy 

 and victory. 



Instead of hospitals reeking with pus and emptied by 

 death, of operation after operation, when the roll was 

 called, reporting a mortality of 40 per cent., 50, 75, 90, 

 and even 100 per cent. we have hospitals of immaculate 

 whiteness and emptied by quick recovery, while the roll- 

 call of operations reveals very few mortalities exceeding 



18 Reports of Military Observers attached to the Armies in 

 Manchuria during the Russo-Japanese War, Part IV., p. 399. 



