266 KATHARINE FOOT. 



been suspected of carrying nearly a score of other diseases. In 

 view of the fact that the louse is not only a dangerous pest but 

 that its bite causes subsequent effects that may be torture to the 

 victim, the most imperative need is to persist in the search of a 

 means of eliminating or at least limiting them, in spite of the 

 many discouraging experiments which give only negative and 

 disappointing results. Even a negative result may be of value to 

 future investigators as one false step to be avoided and it is in 

 this spirit that I have attacked the problem. 



Innumerable experiments have been tried to make the host dis- 

 tasteful to the louse by various drugs applied to the skin or cloth- 

 ing but these have been so far from satisfactory that the most 

 practical method at the front and elsewhere has been the bath 

 and a complete change of clothing. This gives at least tem- 

 porary relief, but to the poor victim who is sent back to the 

 trenches it is of short duration. I have talked to many soldiers 

 who have had sad experiences with Pediculus, and all appre- 

 ciated the delousing methods in use but expressed the need of 

 some method by which each soldier might individually control 

 the pest even when compelled to live in their midst. I have 

 often been impressed by the keen appreciation of our soldiers 

 towards any effort to kill the " cursed louse." One amusing ex- 

 perience is worth recording. I had talked for nearly half an 

 hour with two poor fellows who had just come from an area of 

 the front which had no delousing outfit. They did not complain 

 but merely stated how impossible it was to get an entire change 

 of clothing and that a clean shirt one day and some other gar- 

 ment a few days later was a useless effort at delousing. They 

 both had suffered greatly and were depressed at the thought of 

 returning to the front the next day. They appealed to me for 

 help and asked what experiments I was trying. When I told 

 them I was experimenting with the hope of finding some drug 

 that when taken by the soldier might make him distasteful to 

 the cootie, one of the soldiers jumped to his feet exclaiming " My 

 God! that is a good idea! what shall we take?" 



So many investigators have experimented with the external 

 use of drugs that it makes further effort seem almost hopeless 

 and gives very little encouragement that the experiment of in- 



