
INSECTS AND DISEASE 
Department of the Moselle. In the years following the Napoleonic 
wars the disease broke out from time to time in different parts of the 
country, and showed special incidence among the inmates of convict 
prisons and local jails. In 1848 an outbreak of typhus was started 
by a prisoner at Amiens, who infected the judge, the clerk of the 
court, as well as several Sendarmes and prisoners. Similar outbreaks 
occurred at Rheims, Toulon and elsewhere in connection with civilian 
prisoners. | 
“The next importation of typhus fever to France on a large 
scale by troops occurred on the return of the French military forces 
from the Crimea, where they had suffered severely from the disease. 
It is reported that out of an effective force of 120,000 men at least 
12,000 were attacked by typhus during the campaign, and that half 
that number died. 
“Following upon the return of the troops, outbreaks of typhus 
occurred at Marseilles, Toulon, Avignon, Paris and elsewhere.” 
Gradually and without any intelligently directed effort to control 
its spread, but apparently as a by-product of the generally improved 
sanitary conditions of living, typhus fever almost disappeared from 
civilized countries. ‘““T'yphoid”’ fever, named from its resemblance 
to the more deadly typhus, with which it was once confused, 
remains a serious menace, but typhus was almost forgotten in west- 
ern Europe until war broke out in 1914. The table below from 
Doctor Bruce Low shows how the deaths from this disease have 
decreased in England and Wales and in Ireland. 
DEATHS FROM TYPHUS FEVER IN 
England and Wales Ireland 
1869-1883 23,702 11,544 
1884-1898 2,249 4,703 
1899-1913 390 1,043 
In certain parts of the world, however, where sanitary conditions 
remain primitive, typhus has held its own. It has occasionally found 
its way into central Europe from Poland and Galicia. In many dis- 
tricts of Mexico it has long been a serious scourge; and an infection, 
known as Brill’s disease, which occurs in New York City, has been 
shown to be a mild form of typhus. 
Many of the characteristics of typhus fever pointed to the prob- 
ability of an insect carrier, and suspicion was finally fastened upon 
the louse as the most probable culprit. The coincidence between 
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