In the year 1866 Bavaria had an epidemic of small-pox, which, although it abated considerably in the following years, did not leave the country entirely free from the disease; it was, however, confined to a very few localities in the year 1870. In Upper Bavaria cases were reported in that year only in Altötting and Friedberg; in Lower Bavaria absolutely no cases were reported; in Upper Franconia a small epidemic raged in August 1870, in the district of Forchheim; in Central Franconia, where in the year 1868 a rather severe epidemic had raged, the disease had almost entirely disappeared by 1870; Lower Franconia and Swabia, finally, had only sporadic cases of the disease. French prisoners and homeward-bound soldiers, away on furlough, caused the pestilence, as was reported from all sides, to break out anew; the rapid dissemination of the disease, according to these reports, was helped by persons coming in direct contact with French prisoners in crowded places, by teamsters returning from France, by German fugitives from France, by persons handling the linen and clothes of patients, and by the sale of woollen blankets and other things which the French prisoners brought with them. The following table indicates the number of people who succumbed to small-pox in Bavaria:[281] _Total._ _Per 10,000 inhabitants._ Oct. 1, 1865–Oct. 1, 1866 577 1·2 Oct. 1, 1866–Oct. 1, 1867 1,210 2·5 Oct. 1, 1867–Oct. 1, 1868 917 1·9 Oct. 1, 1868–Oct. 1, 1869 487 1·0 Oct. 1, 1869–Oct. 1, 1870 363 0·8 Oct. 1, 1870–Dec. 31, 1870 224 1871 5,070 10·4 1872 2,992 6·1 1873 869 1·8 1874 263 0·5 1875 87 0·2 Munich fared pretty well, and the civil population suffered less than the soldiers.[282] Not a single case of small-pox occurred there during the entire year of 1870. In November an officer suffering from dysentery returned home from France, and shortly after his arrival he was taken sick with small-pox, which later attacked two members of his family. In the first part of the year 1871 small-pox became more and more widespread, and reached its climax in June. The total number of deaths in the year 1870 was 7, in the year 1871 it was 150 (8·9 per 10,000 inhabitants), and in the year 1872 it was 108 (6·4 per 10,000 inhabitants). The following table indicates the number of deaths that occurred in the months mentioned: