On the sickness and mortality in the French Army, during the campaign in Turkey and the Crimea, in 1854-56 / by Gavin Milroy.

  • Milroy, Gavin, 1805-1886.
Date:
[1857]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the sickness and mortality in the French Army, during the campaign in Turkey and the Crimea, in 1854-56 / by Gavin Milroy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and drink, as well as the nature and condition of their ac- commodation, are under his continual cognisance. It is a point of the greatest importance in all epidemio- logical inquiries to determine beyond dispute, and to record at the time, the exact dates of the first few cases of attack in an epidemic outbreak, with the circumstances attending the occurrence of each case; for it is upon the accurate knowledge of these particulars that some puzzling questions respecting the origin and the mode of spreading of the disease can alone be satisfactorily solved. In the army, this informa- tion may always be had. And if the medical officer will take the trouble to obtain at the same time like information re- specting the disease among the civil population in the imme- diate neighbourhood of his barrack or cantonment, and also among the ships of war on the station, if he be placed at or near a seaport, his testimony would go far to settle several of the most disputed problems of setiological medicine. The influence, too, of different climates, and of different topographical sites, as to elevation, geological features, etc. on the same disease, can also be studied with peculiar ad- vantage by the military physician. The late campaign in the East afforded a good opportunity for the observation of certain epidemic diseases on a great and extended scale, and fortunately the opportunity has not been lost to medical science. Several valuable works illus- trative of the subject have been published both in this country and in France. Of these, the Relation 3Iedico-Chirurgicale de la Campagne Orient, by M. Scrive, who was at the head of the medical department of the French army throughout nearly the whole period, is especially worthy of notice and commendation. His detailed and connected record of the health of the army, from first to last, in this in every respect memorable campaign, is most instructive. I have thought that a brief summary of the leading facts of his narrative, with a few comments and remarks en passant on the great truths which these facts ought to teach us, would form a not unsuitable subject for a paper to be read before . a Society whose professed object is the investigation of the causes of diseases, with special reference to their mitigation and prevention. Almost all the details will be taken from M. Scrive's work; a few only from other sources of infor- mation. The first French troops, about 8000 in number, landed at GalHpoli, on the European shore of the Dardanelles, at the end of j\larch, 1854. Like all other Turkish towns, GallipoU