Mortality during the Siege of Paris
 
No. of the week. First and last day of the week. Important ordinances and events. Average no. deaths in the years 1867–9. Total no. deaths during the siege. No. of deaths during the siege caused by
Small-pox. Typhoid Fever. Dysentery. Diarrhoea. Pneumonia. Bronchitis.
1 Sept. 4–10   889 981 116 39 8 25 54 45
2 Sept. 11–17   852 1263 168 45 10 65 66 55
3 Sept. 18–24 Sept. 19, investment completed 821 1272 158 45 9 43 62 61
4 Sept. 25–Oct. 1   766 1344 210 56 23 46 46 36
5 Oct. 2–8 Oct. 8, meat ration fixed at 100 gr. for adults, 50 gr. for children 754 1483 212 54 18 69 50 56
6 Oct. 9–15   737 1610 311 54 26 72 64 55
7 Oct. 16–22   761 1746 360 55 23 76 66 70
8 Oct. 23–9   754 1878 378 62 49 99 71 77
9 Oct. 30–Nov. 5 Oct. 30, requisition of fuel 767 1762 380 61 32 87 69 72
10 Nov. 6–12   781 1885 419 62 39 91 79 82
11 Nov. 13–19   780 2064 431 94 25 91 73 92
12 Nov. 20–26 Nov. 21, requisition of potatoes 793 1927 386 103 25 92 81 89
13 Nov. 27–Dec. 3   833 2023 412 140 25 76 92 99
14 Dec. 4–10   833 2455 398 137 33 83 108 107
15 Dec. 11–17 Dec. 15, horse-meat ration fixed at 50 gr. per head 884 2728 391 173 38 103 131 190
16 Dec. 18–24 Dec. 19, reduction of bread ration to 300 gr. for adults, 150 gr. for children 854 2728 388 221 30 73 147 172
17 Dec. 25–31   856 3280 454 250 51 98 201 258
18 Jan. 1–6 Jan. 4, beginning of bombardment 838 3680 329 251 52 151 262 343
19 Jan. 7–13   902 3982 339 301 46 143 390 457
20 Jan. 14–20   903 4465 380 375 42 137 426 598
21 Jan. 21–7   936 4376 327 313 48 134 478 548
22 Jan. 28–Feb. 3   951 4671 258 324 63 150 465 627
23 Feb. 4–10 Feb. 4, armistice. First supplies brought in 955 4451 225 260 57 144 468 593
24 Feb. 11–17   974 4103 174 298 59 158 471 539
25 Feb. 18–24   995 3941 134 301 52 181 410 557
26 Feb. 25–Mar. 3   984 3500 147 260 50 190 338 424
27 Mar. 4–10   1020 2993 85 258 60 142 267 379
28 Mar. 11–17   975 2576 98 229 49 104 188 301
      24148 75167 8068 4821 1042 2923 5623 6982

Scurvy broke out, but did not become at all widespread; sporadic cases of the disease were observed among the civil inhabitants, while in the prisons and hospitals it was somewhat more prevalent. Delpech[349] attributes the appearance of the disease to the lack of fresh vegetables, which were very expensive and could not be given out in the public establishments. Among the soldiers the disease broke out only in Fort Bicêtre, the garrison in which consisted of 800 marines, of whom some seventy or seventy-five contracted it. None of them were given any salted meat, and Grenet[350] contends that the outbreak was caused by the lack of light and air in the small casemates, and by arduous service, especially in the night. But here, too, the real cause was probably to be found in the lack of fresh vegetables, which Grenet does not mention.

The death-rate in Paris during the siege was about three times as high as normal. Sueur has estimated that in the years 1867–9 the mortality in the twenty-eight weeks corresponding with those in the above table was 13·1 per 1,000 inhabitants, whereas in the twenty-eight weeks of the siege the mortality was 38·6 per 1,000.