104 THE ZEMSTVOS DURING THE WAR 
department for medical personnel had been organized within a few 
months from the outbreak of the War, and training classes had been 
opened for the lower hospital staffs and attendants. But even those 
persons with medical training who were not mobilized preferred to 
seek service in the front organizations of the Zemstvo Union, so that 
serious difficulty was found in inducing them to work in the hos- 
pitals in the rear. Nevertheless, the Union succeeded in enlisting 
more than 37,000 men and women for the hospitals in the interior 
as follows: 5,000 physicians and surgeons, 6,600 junior medical 
officers, '7,900 nurses, and 17,900 attendants and various employees. 
On an average, each doctor had to attend to 89.1 cases and each 
junior officer to 29. 
Under the original plans, 87 per cent of all zemstvo hospital beds 
were to be devoted to major surgical cases, 33 per cent to minor 
surgical cases and the sick, and the remaining 80 per cent to the 
so-called “patronage” cases, that is convalescents and light cases 
requiring rest and richer diet under doctors’ orders. Actually, how- 
ever, these plans were never fully realized. Prince Oldenburg looked 
askance upon the institution of “patronage” and ordered this medi- 
cal service to be discontinued. In its place, the so-called “convales- 
cent battalions,” were established. In these battalions the primary 
consideration was not doctors’ orders, rest, and richer food, but 
rather discipline and encouragement of the patients to return to the 
front. 
As a result of these arrangements and of the experience gained 
during the first few months of the War, the zemstvo hospitals ac- 
tually had only 23.1 per cent of their bed capacity devoted to major 
surgical cases on July 1, 1915. Even if we were to add to this num- 
ber the beds not accounted for in the reports of the hospitals, bear- 
ing in mind that it is always possible to accommodate serious cases 
in beds intended for minor surgery, it would give only 35.6 per 
cent of the total for beds devoted to major surgery. For minor sur- 
gery and for the sick, 53.7 per cent of the total bed capacity was 
set aside, leaving for “patronage” cases not more than 5 per cent, 
3.6 per cent for contagious diseases, and 2.1 per cent for special 
cases, such as mental and nervous disorders, tuberculosis, balneo- 
logical cases, etc. 
The degree of utilization varied according to the location and