1919] 



on Medicine and the War 



427 



scientious objector. If a man volunteered to fight but objected to 

 inoculation, his services for overseas were declined. He was not 

 allowed to endanger the health of his comrades. It is interesting to 

 note that one battalion alone, the first to cross, and that before 

 routine inoculation against typhoid was fully established, was only 

 inoculated in part, and that battalion afforded many more cases than 

 any other. I owe the figures to my chief, Surgeon-General G. La F. 

 Foster, C.A.M.C., and more particularly to Lieut.-Colonel F. G. Bell, 

 C.A.M.C, A.D.M.S. in charge of Hospitalisation. 



In the second place the two sets of figures are well adapted for 

 comparison. The numbers engaged are roughly equal, 548,237 

 being the number engaged in the Boer War, 420,000 odd the 

 number of Canadian troops who came overseas. The Boer War 

 lasted 31 months ; the first Canadian contingent arrived in 

 England in October 1914, and thus the period of exposure was 

 49 months. 'nn^sj 



Compared with the 59,684 admissions to hospital with typhoid in 

 South Africa, there were 412 Canadian admissions for this disease. 

 In place of 8,248 deaths (excluding officers) there have been 

 altogether (including officers) 14 ! Indeed, out of 10,000 young 

 ofiicers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, men at the most 

 susceptible age for typhoid, i.e. between 18 and 30, not one who 

 came overseas died of the disease. 



n 



100= 



TYPHOID 



! ADMISSIONS PER 1000 GREY 



BLACK 



50- 



129.9 lae 

 BOER WAR 



00 0.003 



C.E.F 



I9I4-I9I8 



Fig. 1. 



