Of those cities which at that time had more than 10,000 inhabitants, Mannheim and Karlsruhe suffered very little; Rastatt, Freiburg, and Constance were the most severely attacked. The number of deaths caused by small-pox was:
| Population. | 1870. | 1871. | 1872. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mannheim | 39,606 | 3 | 33 | 4 |
| Karlsruhe | 36,582 | 4 | 25 | 9 |
| Freiburg im Breisgau | 24,668 | 10 | 138 | 17 |
| Heidelberg | 19,983 | 2 | 37 | 2 |
| Pforzheim | 19,803 | 2 | 34 | 2 |
| Rastatt | 11,560 | 10 | 99 | 1 |
| Baden | 10,080 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Constance | 10,061 | 2 | 39 | 2 |
(f) Small-pox in Hesse in the Years 1871–2
Regarding the epidemics of small-pox that raged in the Grand Duchy of Hesse in the course of the nineteenth century, Reissner and Neidhart[[289]] have published an excellent book. Vaccination, at least once, was made compulsory in Hesse in the year 1807. According to the above-mentioned book, small-pox was prevalent in Hesse all the time; the average number of deaths per annum in the years 1863–8 was O·47 per 10,000 inhabitants. After the year 1868 the statistics read as follows:
| Deaths—Total. | Per 10,000 inhabitants. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1869 | 20 | 0·24 |
| 1870 | 248 | 2·95 |
| 1871 | 1,028 | 12·08 |
| 1872 | 167 | 1·95 |
| 1873 | 3 | 0·03 |
The increased prevalence of the disease began in September; the following table indicates the number of deaths in the several months:
| 1870. | 1871. | 1872. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 163 | 27 | |
| February | 3 | 148 | 30 |
| March | 3 | 136 | 33 |
| April | 9 | 163 | 35 |
| May | 9 | 143 | 22 |
| June | 10 | 105 | 17 |
| July | 5 | 73 | 2 |
| August | 5 | 30 | 1 |
| September | 13 | 21 | |
| October | 30 | 15 | |
| November | 45 | 15 | |
| December | 116 | 14 | |
| Entire year | 248 | 1,026[[290]] | 167 |
While small-pox made its appearance here and there in the first half of the year 1870, it did not acquire epidemic dimensions until after the outbreak of the war. In many places, to be sure, it was impossible to prove that the disease was directly connected with the war. Reissner and Neidhart mention numerous cases in which the disease was communicated by field-soldiers who were sent from France to Hessian reserve-lazarets (Pfungstadt, Lampertheim, Crumstadt, and others), by furloughed field-soldiers (Lauterbach, Lorsch, Eschollbrücken, and others), by fugitives from Paris at the beginning of the war (Giessen, Gross-Eichen), by French prisoners who had contracted the disease in camp or during transport, by teamsters returning home from France (Worms, Grossgerau), by military effects—such as carpets, clothing, tent-canvas (three places in the district of Grossgerau), and especially by people who had visited the prisons where the French soldiers were confined (Mayence, Darmstadt, &c.).
Not a single district in Hesse was spared during the epidemic of the years 1870–2. The district of Mayence suffered worst of all; then came Giessen, Offenbach, and Darmstadt, all districts in which moderately large cities were located. The following table indicates the number of deaths per 10,000 inhabitants in the various cities and districts:
| 1870. | 1871. | 1872. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mayence (city) | 13·5 | 37·4 | 3·2 |
| Mayence (district) | 3·2 | 33·3 | 0·3 |
| Darmstadt (city) | 3·5 | 12·9 | 0·8 |
| Darmstadt (district) | 2·9 | 21·7 | 1·8 |
| Giessen (city) | 7·4 | 9·0 | |
| Giessen (district) | 11·8 | 9·6 | 1·0 |
| Offenbach (city) | 0·4 | 15·9 | 6·6 |
| Offenbach (district) | 0·7 | 12·7 | 4·7 |