TYPHOID FEVER 73 



after war was proclaimed typhoid had extended so extensively among 

 certain divisions of the German troops, notably in the eleventh corps 

 of the Prussian soldiers and in the Wurtemberg division, that more 

 than 15 per cent, of these commands were sick of this disease. The 

 total number of cases among the under officers and men in the Ger- 

 man army during the Franco-German war amounted to 73,396, which 

 was equivalent to 9.31 per cent, of the average strength. The invasion 

 of France began about the middle of July, 1870. During the second 

 half of this month the total number of cases in the German army was 

 345, less than the average for preceding years of peace. In August 

 the number perceptibly increased, amounting to 2.6 per thousand, but 

 not enough to cause apprehension, and up to September it could not 

 be said that there was an unusual prevalence of the disease. Early 

 in this month there was an explosive outbreak and the cases ran up 

 to 12,463, which was equivalent to 15.3 per thousand. In October 

 there were 17,253 new cases. In this month the epidemic reached its 

 climax and fell slowly. 



Typhoid may be transported by an army into regions practically 

 uninhabited. This is illustrated by the Afghan war of 1878-80. Some 

 of the sites occupied by English soldiers were never before peopled. 

 It is not at all likely that the waters of the mountain streams were 

 specifically contaminated with the typhoid bacillus; nor was it likely 

 that the virgin soil covered by these encampments was infected, except 

 as it became so by occupation, and yet typhoid developed at nearly 

 every station occupied by the English troops. Only one explanation is 

 possible. It is known that the English troops drawn from various 

 parts of India were widely infected with typhoid when the invasion of 

 Afghanistan was begun. A similar experience is furnished by the his- 

 tory of French expeditions in Northern Africa. In the Oran cam- 

 paign, in 1885, French commands encamped in desert stations never 

 before occupied, and in these typhoid not only appeared, but devel- 

 oped epidemic proportions. In the English expedition to Suakin in 

 1885 every precaution was taken to supply the troops with pure water. 

 In fact the drinking water was distilled. Notwithstanding, typhoid 

 developed extensively. The east Surrey regiment joined the expedi- 

 tion already infected and it is more than likely that these men infected 

 the latrines and the disease was spread by contact and by flies. In 



