The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1915. MEDICAL SCIENCE AND THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2368, 26 January 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1915. MEDICAL SCIENCE AND THE WAR

It is quite safe to say that never in the history of the British Army have such elaborate measures been taken to keep the soldiers at the front in good health aa in the present war. No one knows better than Lord Kitchener that suitable clothing and plenty of wholesome food are absolutely essential to the success of a campaign. The proper care of the siok and wounded is another matter of first-rate importance. Those who are risking their lives for the sake of their country are entitled to the best medical treatment in case of illness or injury. Tile prompt cure of the. wounded, in order that they may rejoin the fighting.lines as soon as possible, is obviously of great advantage from the purely military point of view, and it must alp be remembered that every death is an economic loss to the nation. The British Empire wants every one of its men. There is plenty of useful work for thorn all to do when the war is over. It is therefore satisfactory to have the testimony of Sir Frederick Treves, one of the greatest surgeons in the world, that never have British wounded been so well treated, and never has an Army Medical Service been so , efficient. But in spite of all that science, foresight, and organisation can do, warfare under modern conditions is just a-s terrible a thing as ever it was. It is true that the of caring for the wounded have improved enormously as compared with the rough and ready ways of days gone by; but the continuous and nerve-racking nature of the fighting, and the perfection _to which the weapons of destruction have Been brought, have increased the hardships and perils which the combatants have to endure. In a cable message which appears in another column, •' Sir Frederick Treves draws a graphic picture of life in the trenches in winter time. He says many of the wounded reach the hospital caked with mud, "some of it so solid that they might be figures moulded for sculpture. They left England fine, alert soldiers: they, are now so bent and limp that they shuffle as if they had just left the torture rack." War has its glamour and glory; but this sad picture reminds us that it also has a very dark and pitiful side. Doctors and nurses have testified to the unquenchable cheerfulness and quiet heroism with which the British soldier bears his misfortunes. We feel proud of them, and fully realise that it is the nation's manifest duty to see that all the resources of medical science are placed at the service of those who are fighting its battles so bravely on land and sea. The medical profession has answered the Empire's call in a splendid spirit in this great crisis. Many of the most famous doctors of tho day have placed their services at the disposal of the Government, and the hospital system has been organised on the most approved lines. In previous wars disease often secured more victims than the weapons of the enemy, but on the present occasion the British authorities are doing everything that medical science and practical experience can suggest to safeguard the health 'of the troops. The tremendous importance of preventing and combating the ravages of. disease among soldiers engaged in warfare is now recognised by all civilised Governments. It is Btated that Napoleon did not pay much attention to the sick and wounded. In the Peninsular War the number of those who died of disease is said to have reached the enormous total of something like 400,000, as against 60,000 killed in actual battle. In the Kussian campaign of 1812 disease did much more to swell the death-roll than cold or bullets. Soldiers died by thousands owing to insanitary conditions. The historians of the Crimean War tell the same sad story. No fewer than 230 of each 1000 British soldiers died annually during the progress of the campaign from fever, dysentery, and other ailments. In the Franco-Prussian War the annual death-rate from disease among the French troops ■ waß 140.8 per 1000, as against 24.5 among the Germans, and more British soldiers died from sickness in the Boer War than were, slain in battle. During recent years the medical branches or the European military systems have been thoroughly reorganised with the object ox bringing all the resources of modern science to bear upon the problem of preventing disease and providing facilities for the proper treatment of tho wounded. The new mothods are now undergoing the test of actual warfare. The unique conditions and unexampled dimensions of the present struggle have placed an enormouß strain upon tho hospital and sanitary arrangements of the armies. The test is a tremendously severe one, and it is gratifying to know that, as far as the British Army is concerned, the medical service is doing all that_ can be expected of it. Statistics showing the actual number of deaths from disease among our ' troops are not yet available; but there is good ground for the belief that the deathrate from this cause is much lower than 'in previous wars. The statement made by Sir Frederick Treves regarding tho efficiency of the Army Modical Service is gratifying to every Britisher, and especially to those who have rolativos or friends at the front.