BARON LARREY. 197 



the Austrian s at the " Bridge of Lodi." Here the 

 wounded were so numerous that Larrey had to bring 

 all his ambulance corps into use ; and he had to force 

 the innocent inhabitants to furnish supplies of milk, 

 bread and fruits to the wounded cantoned among 

 them. Although the simple hearted peasantry had 

 nothing to do with the unexpected and unexplained 

 war, they had to endure some of its burdens. Kot 

 a few of these ruralists, who had to be economical, 

 living largely on chestnuts and goat's milk, .found it a 

 hardship to feed a wounded soldier imposed upon 

 their strained hospitality. But such was the result of 

 cruel war. 



The Italian campaign was not conspicuous for 

 sanguinary battles, yet the loss of life in sickness was 

 fearful. In such cities as Verona and Bologna, where 

 it is presumably healthy, the most devastating of fe- 

 vers broke out. Larr jy and his confreres investigated 

 the causes, and could make out nothing but ordinary 

 " camp fever," aggravated by bad water and unhealthy 

 cantonments. There, at the foot of the Alps, on the 

 Italian lakes, should be plenty of cool and fresh water. 

 But, besides lakes, there are stagnant fens and mias- 

 matic pools. Larrey set about draining the marshes by 

 ditching around bivouacs, which caused the health of 

 the soldiers to improve. And zeal to keep the soldiers 

 well made Larrey exceedingly popular with the army. 



In May, 1798, the " Egyptian campaign " was 

 planned, and Larrey took its surgical lead, although 

 Baron Desgenettes outranked him as medical head of 

 the expedition. The latter was one of the great men 

 France developed from the lower walks of life to the 

 highest, and who deserves to be noticed for his arduous 

 duties in the Syrian campaign. After the naval bat- 



