322 ASHFORD— APPLICATION OF SANITARY SCIENCE TO 



ness of the local problem. The general measures employed to limit 

 the spread of diseases disseminated by the respiratory system are: 



1. Hygiene of Living Quarters: (a-) A minimum of 40 square 

 feet per man. If less, the suspension of shelter halves between 

 bunks, (b) Head and foot sleeping in bunks side by side, (c) 

 The spread of a command in tents in warm weather, (d) Ventila- 

 tion by perflation once a day and once at night between taps and 

 reveille, (e) Airing of blankets and bedding several hours on pro- 

 pitious days. (/) The invariable punishment of promiscuous spit- 

 ting, (g) The sweeping of floors once a day after sprinkling. 



2. Hygiene of Mess Kits: (a) Immersion after use in boiling 

 water. Men were lined up after meals and made to dip their eating 

 utensils in a ten-gallon, or larger, container of boiling soapsuds kept 

 at ebullition by a hot fire, (b) Rinsing of same in flowing water. 

 (c) Air-drying of same. No common towels permitted. 



3. Inspections of Command: (a) Men lined up and inspected 

 twice a day for head colds, cough and inflamed eyes. (&) Tempera- 

 ture taking of men not feeling well, (c) Segregations of all coughs, 

 colds and red eyes in a separate barracks or curtained-of¥ portion of 

 a common barrack, (d) Evacuation of all with fever to a hospital. 



4. Inspection of Men's Personal Equipment: The verification of 

 possession by each man of a raincoat, an overcoat, two pairs of 

 shoes, three blankets and three pairs of socks. 



5. Provision for a Drying Room for Clothing — a vital necessity 

 in France. 



6. Avoidance of Excessive Labor. Drills and fatigue duty should 

 be cut to a minimum to avoid exhaustion, fatigue being a well-known 

 condition of inviting infection by lowering individual resistance. 



The majority of these measures could only be enforced in rest 

 areas. In combat, naturally, no sensible man could consider the em- 

 ployment of more than a tithe of these protective measures. 



The general measures employed to prevent dissemination of dis- 

 eases by the intestinal tract are : 

 I. Care of Latrines: 



{a) Fly-proofing (area sanitation). 



(&) Disinfection of interior of receptacles and latrine seats 

 during an epidemic (divisional sanitary squads). 



