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Otago Daily Times, Issue 1690, 31 May 1867, Page 6

The Mortality of Wak.— Some extremely interesting illustrations of the way in which war proves fatal to life are given by the Provost Marshal-General of the, army of the United States, An abstract of the facts from the New York Times has bean very extensively circulated. 280,739 officers and men of the army lo3t their lives. When it is-remembered that this does not include the disabled nor the account of the dead and maimed in the Confederate army, the terrible destruction of male life—the deranging effect of which upon the world must be f«lt for years to come—will be more fully realised. The number of men killed in action, or v/iio died of wounds, v.as not half the number who died from disease. Of the former there were 90,830; of the latter, 182,320. The mortality among the officers was slightly greater than amongst the men from wounds received in action, but markedly less from disease. Thus, the mortally amongst officers and men in action, or the result of wounds, •was as 1 to 18; whereas the mortality amongst them from disease was .-us 1 to 90! Tliis is a very striking difference, which is only very partially explained by the "superior morale, the hopefulness and elasticity of spirit which is given to a man by investing him with a commission, and its accompanying authority, responsibility, and chances of advancement" of the commissioned class. A very striking—not to say shocking— feature of thesip figures is the mortality of the black troops, not from wounds or in action, but from disease. Whereas the officers of the black troops died in the proportion of I in 77, of tho enlisted men of tho black troops there died 1 in. 7! There is no other mortality in the.experience oHhe United States army to compare with, this of its black troops.— Lancet.