districts of France : consequently when there
is a shortage of fuel, shortage of food, coupled
with the usual very low sanitary standard of
life, it is only to be expected that epidemics
arising from filth should be the order of the
day. In addition there was very little soap to
be obtained owing to the absence of fats. I
am told, but I have no authority except hearsay
for the statement, that Russians as a rule
do not care to wash themselves too often, but
whether this be so or not, during my short
stay washing would have been impossible for
me had I not carried my own soap. As typhus
is a disease which is carried by lice, it is easy
to understand how everything conspired to
produce the sort of epidemic which has been
running through the country for a considerable
time.
In an interview with the Commissar of Public Health—N. A. Semashko—he informed me that in Moscow during the time of my visit things were much easier with regard to all diseases; that in Moscow and Petrograd the number of affected persons was down to 5,000 ; that there was a daily average for both towns together of 200 cases, and this was steadily falling. Both the Commissar and his assistants were confident that with the necessary disinfectants and a united effort on the part of the people, it would be possible to get through the spring without a very large
