§ 41. Mr. MARLEYasked the Under-Secretary of State for War what is the authority for the statement which appears in the official Medical History of the War, volume 2, chapter xvi, page 441, that, in the Franco-Prussian compaign of 1870–71, 125,000 French soldiers contracted small-pox, of whom 23,470 died; and whether he is aware that the French Government informed the Foreign Office some years ago that the figures in question had no official authority, that they were greatly in excess of the facts, and that it was estimated that the total deaths caused by small-pox in the whole of the French Army for the period referred to did not exceed 6,000?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for WAR (Major Attlee)I am not aware of any communication by the French Government to the Foreign Office, but I am making inquiries. The statement which appears in the Medical History of the War was based on information given in the following recognised authoritative publications:—
and, lastly, a long German title, which I trust the House will excuse me from even attempting to pronounce.
- (a) Munson's Military Hygiene, 1901;
- (b) Revue d'Hygiene et de Police Sanitaire, organe de la Société de Medicine Publique et de Genie Sanitaire;