I feel that no hints on health would be complete without some brief reference to the "terrors of the trenches"—Lice. A learned Professor of one of the Universities of England published a little book whose exact title I have forgotten but which was something like this—"Flees, Lice and Bugs, or, the Little Brothers of the Prussian." That is pretty hard on the enemy—or the lice—but it serves to emphasise one important point and that is, that the ravages of these vermin is so great that they can well be said to be fighting the same cause as the enemy. In spite of all a soldier can do, lice are sure, sooner or later, to overtake him. They make their nests in the straw upon which he throws himself when fatigued, or in the walls of houses, or on other human beings, and contact is almost sure to bring them. They are most interesting little pets whose sole interest in life seems to be to lay eggs and thus make sure that their race shall be perpetuated. The female louse takes up her abode upon the soldier's body and immediately sets herself to an egg laying competition. If she gets five minutes start of her victim she lays up for him weeks of trouble, and the only thing to do is to go after her and her eggs as soon as her presence is made known. I discovered my first louse while I was at luncheon in the trenches. I seized the spot on my arm where I believed her to be, and calling to my orderly hurried off to the fields some distance behind the lines. There we began the hunt which ended, I am happy to be able to say, in her decease. But the eggs had been laid and not for weeks did I succeed in ridding myself of these unwelcome boarders. I was, much against my will, used as a perambulating incubator, and only the greatest vigilance served to rid me of the pests.

It was our custom, as soon as we were relieved from the trenches for a spell of a few days, to turn all the men out into a field and bid them "Hunt!" I used then to walk around amongst the men and enquire of them what luck they had had. "Two," "Seven," "Nineteen," etc., were the frequent replies. One of the saddest men I have ever seen replied "None, Sir." His unhappiness was due to the fact that he was perfectly well aware that there were some there to be caught, but that he had not yet had the luck to get them.

As to means of combating them, the best is constant vigilance. Make sure that not only the live lice are killed but that the eggs as well are destroyed, say with the ash of a lighted cigarette. The next thing to remember is that body lice are opposed to cleanliness, and that the oftener you can wash yourself, the more you inconvenience them. Gasoline squirted over the body and the clothes also serves to discourage them. Some thin cotton shirts covered with a solution of carbolic, had a good effect, and at the least they served as another barrier to the little rascals before they could reach the body.

Since I returned to this country, a manufacturer of vermin killers told me that the following method will be found effective: Take a goose quill and seal up one end. Put in half an inch of mercury, and then seal the other end making a little phial of about an inch and a half in length. Sew this to the clothes under each armpit and round the belt line. As to whether this will work I do not know, for I am glad to be able to say that I have not needed to test the theory since I returned to America.

Fleas are not so common, but when they occur, they must be hunted with the same vigilance as lice, and the same methods apply to their extermination. As carriers of typhus, they are particularly to be dreaded.