But not only are such captures a test of victory.
They are also sure indications of total casualties. Speaking generally, the lists of killed and wounded show much the same ratios as those of prisoners. If the enemy have lost in three days fourteen thousand prisoners, while you have only lost, say, two thousand, in all proba- bility the ratios of killed and wounded will be of somewhat similar dimensions. As to guns and material, as a rule it is only the victors who take any of these. We shall be very much surprised if the French lost any guns, except possibly a few machine guns, in their actions in the great battle of the Aisne, or in the supporting actions in Cham- pagne, where the fighting was also of a heavy character. The French battle continues as we write. Here the inevitable lull for consolidation and rearrangement of supply will probably not take place till the end of the week.
