San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-02
Typhoid and Influenza
Show the Highest Incl
dence in the Armies
While Other Epidemics
Conspicuous by Absence.

The inspector general and director
of the army medical corps of France
DR.. Toubert, has published recently
an interesting treatise in which he an
alyzes several documents of the world
war that pertain TO the activities OF
the medical corps. The Paris CORE
spondent of he Journal of the Ameri-
can Medical Association has compiled
some of the statistics used by DR..
Taubert as showing the French troop
losses and the causes of these losses
which are of interest. A feature OF
this report is the increasing deadli-
ness of artillery fire compared to in
fantry fire shown in the World war
The medical Journal says:
When in 1914 mobilization orders
were first issued. the standing army
Of France consisted of ST 900 men
About two weeks later the total mum
be- of men under arms was 3.704, 900
From this time on additions wert
made TO the army at regular inter
walls. When the armistice was signed
including the men recovering froI
wounds and illness and the men pro
gressively called to the colors. the
number had reached the imposing to.
tai of 7,Si2,000. If to this we add
the officers We get q round total OF
S,407 600.
In this total, the colonial troops
t215,000 mem and the North African
contingents 100000 mem are not in
cluded. Adding these. we get a grand
total of S,SS2, 900 officers and men.
The number of men present on the
French front varied within quite mar
low limits. the minimum having been
around 100000 and the maximum
2,SO0.000. From these facts we are
forced to the conclusion that. for this
prolonged struggle. of the character
CT an open field war at the beginning
and end, and fought from established
positions during the intervening per
iod, it was necessary to mobilize ap-
prOximately three times as many men
as were kept permanently at the
French front.
Total Losses 1.325.OOO
The total losses of the French army
amount to 1.325,000 men. Approx
mately 674,700 were killed by the fire
of the enemy and 225,300 were listed
as ''unaccounted for, presumably
killed." making total of 100000
killed: 250,0O0 died from wounds and
10000 as the result of disease. The
immediate losses in killed amounted 10
90 per cent of the total number of
deaths; the remaining deaths resulted
from wounds or disease. The losses
due to the fire of the enemy (the
killed and the wounded who died from
their wounds) amounted to Sc per
cent Of the total losses: losses due to
L-Sease represented less than IA per
cent Of the total.
As regards the relative proportion
Of wounds caused by infantry, artil-
lery and other projectiles and explo-
sives, the World war presents char
acteristics quite different from the
wars of the half century Immediately
preceding. During the Crimean war
the wounds caused by artillery fire as
compared with the wounds caused by
infantry fire were in about the pro-
portion of 4 to ). During the period
that followed the predominance of the
effects of infantry fire over the dam
age done by artillery fire became more
and more marked.
Thus. during the Franco-Prussian
war of 1901 the proportion OF
hbulho uut 70 dIlllltIl lire dS COul'
pared with the wounds resulting from
infantry fire was as l to 3 in the
French army and as l to 10 in the
German army. During the Russo
japanese war Of 1904-1905 the proper
ton was as l to 10 in the japanese
army and as 1 to in the Russian
army.
Proportion Reversed.
In 1914 the proportion was re
versed. 4 constant predominance %
the effects of artillery fire over in
| fantry fire was noted. In the yea
| 1914, 20 per cent of the wounds wer'
due to artillery fire, % per cent t.
infantry fire and 2 per cent to othei
explosives. In 1917 the proportion
were. respectively, 56 per cent. IL pc
cent and 80 per cent. and in 1918 the!
were "a per cent, 10 per cent and 3.
per cent.
In other words, the wounds from
artillery fire ranged from three-quar
| tiers to a little more than half of tn
| total number of wounds; the wound
from infantry fire amounted at frs
| to One-third, then to one-quaTter an
| finally to one-fifth of the wound
from artillery. The other vulnerabl
agents (grenades, mines, torpedoes
toward the close of the war, elaine
a proportion equal to about one-thir
Of the total number of wounds cause
by the fire of the enemy.
The two diseases that had the higl