February, ’18] 
FELT: INSECTS AND CAMP SANITATION 
95 
The above figures give an idea of the great importance of disease 
from a military standpoint. It will be noted that the number of 
deaths in hospitals from disease exceeds and in certain cases greatly 
exceeds, the number of deaths from wounds. This by no means tells 
the whole story, since in Serbia during the winter of 1914-1915 there 
was a general outbreak of typhus, one in every five of the population 
developing the disease and 135,000 (including 30,000 Austrian prison¬ 
ers) dying. The mortality ranged as high as 65 per cent though in 
some hospitals it was as low as 19 per cent. 1 
The results possible from the application of preventive measures is 
indicated by the following: During the first winter of the Crimean War 
the British had 2,286 deaths from fever and 129 in the second. They 
lost 164 men from typhus the first winter and but 16 the second. There 
were 3,196 deaths of British soldiers during the first winter from diar- 
rhceal disorders and only 37 in the second winter. 2 During the first 
twelve months of the present war the average monthly mortality 
rate for disease was, in round numbers, 29 per thousand and for the 
succeeding eight months 14 per thousand, while for wounds the rate 
was 34 per thousand for the first year and 15 per thousand for the first 
eight months of the second year. 3 
The foregoing data has been restricted by design largely to diseases 
which are carried in part or entirely by the agency of insects, since 
this paper is primarily entomological. In not a few instances the 
control of disease is determined by the solution of the insect problem 
and this is notably true of typhus and lice, bubonic plague and fleas 
and mosquitoes, yellow fever and malaria. The intimate relation 
between insects and disease is less evident though very real in the case 
of flies and such affections as cholera, typhoid, dysentery and probably 
tuberculosis. We know that insects may be carriers of all these dis¬ 
eases and it has become evident within the last few months that the 
hardships and privations of war have been followed by numerous cases 
of tuberculosis and it is reasonable to expect, even if there be no epi¬ 
demic, that other preventable diseases will exact a heavy toll among 
the unfortunate populations of the stricken areas. The situation, in 
our estimation, justifies the ranking of the insect menace as one of the 
important problems in the conduct of the war, second only to the equip¬ 
ment and provisioning of the army and the adequate care of the sick 
and wounded. In fact, insect control is intimately connected with the 
last. Not only is there urgent need of looking after this phase of sani¬ 
tation but the probabilities are, as the war progresses, that the medical 
1 1916. Beasley, S. O. Military Surgeon, 39: 634. 
2 1917. Garrison, F. H. Military Surgeon, 41: 469-470. 
3 1917. Military Surgeon, 40: 100. 
