*Goitre still secured exemption from military service and many people refused the iodine lozenges dispensed by hopeful medical officers. Whymper thought they should be drafted immediately: ‘Let them be formed into regiments by themselves, brigaded together, and commanded by cretins. Think what esprit de corps they would have! Who could stand against them? Who would understand their tactics?’9 In 1870 the canton of Valais contained one cretin for every twenty-five healthy people.