The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

by Lindsey Fitzharris

Those who survived the combat and loss of limbs were not clear of danger just yet. Shortly after the guns fell silent, there was an outbreak of Asiatic cholera. It stalked Mackenzie’s battalion across water, over hills, and through valleys. It was relentless in its pursuit. Generated by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, this disease is usually transmitted through water supplies contaminated by the feces of the infected. At the time of the Crimean War, the disease was making its way across Europe—and it’s possible that the cholera was carried to the front line in the guts of soldiers. After an incubation period of two to five days, a victim will suffer the sudden onset of severe diarrhea and vomiting, giving rise to massive fluid loss and dehydration. Death can follow within hours, as Mackenzie noted in a letter back home: “Many were struck down at morning parade, and died in three, four, or five hours.… I need scarcely say, that any treatment in such cases was utterly vain.” If left untreated, Asiatic cholera has a 40–60 percent mortality rate.