

HYGIEKE IN THE ARMY. 



501 



they had become very wet and were sub- 

 sequently subjected to the cold in a season of 

 immeasurable severity, have suffered from fro- 

 zen extremities. "With the sick or wounded 

 when exposed the sudden accession of a low, 

 moist temperature often proves fatal, idiopathic 

 and traumatic tetanus supervening, and caus- 

 ing speedy death. Apoplexy, bronchitis, pneu- 

 monia, diarrhea, and rheumatism are often 

 induced by it ; clear, bracing, moderately cold 

 weather is highly conducive to health. The 

 amount of sickness is less than one half during 

 the winter months of the summer ratio. In 

 the army of the Potomac, in 1862, March was 

 the healthiest month, and July the sickliest ; in 

 the army of "Western Virginia, May was the 

 healthiest and October the sickliest. In South 

 Carolina, March was the healthiest ; in Florida, 

 December, while in July the ratio of sickness 

 was more than five times as great. In Kansas 

 the health of the troops was best in May, 

 and worst in September. High temperatures 

 are prolific in disease, unless great caution is 

 exercised. Sunstroke is very prevalent, and 

 to prevent it the troops should wear the Zouave 

 turban, or a wet folded cloth in their cap. Dis- 

 eases of the liver, diarrhea, dysentery, and fe- 

 vers also prevail in the hot season, and the con- 

 stant care of the surgeon is requisite to ward 

 them off. 



Water is a very active agent both in promot- 

 ing and in preventing disease in camps, barracks, 

 and. garrisons. In its use for drinking and cook- 

 ing purposes it is absolutely essential to health 

 that it should be at least moderately pure, and 

 yet it seldom is so. The water for the use of ar- 

 mies in the field is supplied usually from rivers 

 or streams, from springs, or from pools or ponds, 

 very rarely from wells or from cisterns, in 

 which rainwater has been collected. In bar- 

 racks or hospitals, cisterns, wells or reservoirs 4 

 are the usual sources of supply. Eainwater, ' 

 though containing some impurities acquired 

 from the atmosphere, or from the roofs, etc., 

 from which it is collected, contains fewer hurt- 

 ful substances in solution or admixture than 

 water obtained from any other source. River 

 water usually contains earthy and sometimes 

 mineral substances, and when drawn from 

 the vicinity of a large town has also more 

 or less animal matter in solution. Spring 

 water and well water also very generally 

 contain lime, magnesia, and other mineral 

 salts in solution, while water from pools, 

 marshes or stagnant ponds, is largely charged 

 with confervs9 and infusoria, and is thus 

 more injurious in its effects than any other, 

 producing typhoid and paludal fevers, and 

 other diseases of a grave character. The 

 presence of earthy or mineral substances very 

 generally induces diarrhea, dysentery, and 

 sometimes serious ulceration of the bowels. 

 To prevent these evil results from the use of 

 impure water, the surgeon of each regiment 

 should require all water drank or used for 

 cooking to be filtered by some one of the numer- 



ous simple processes in use in the army, and 

 at permanent camps, barracks, and hospitals 

 great care should be taken to have all the war 

 ter used in the purest possible condition. The 

 use of water in bathing and thorough ablution 

 by the soldiers is a matter so important that it 

 should be insisted upon wherever it is possible 

 to obtain sufficient water for the purpose, but 

 the time of taking the bath, the condition of 

 the men when taking it, and the temperature, 

 should be carefully attended to by the surgeon. 

 Dr. Calvin Cutter, surgeon of one of the Mas- 

 sachusetts regiments, and for some time bri- 

 gade surgeon, kept the men in his command in 

 perfect health during the intensely hot summer 

 of 1863, in the Department of the Tennessee, 

 by the strict enforcement of cleanliness and 

 frequent bathing, the careful selection of po- 

 sitions for the camps, and the avoidance of un- 

 necessary exposure to the sun. Similar care 

 would have been rewarded, in most regiments 

 or brigades in the field, with similar success. 



The influence of soil and locality upon the 

 health of an army is also very important. 

 Some soils retain the heat of the sun much 

 longer than others ; this is especially the case 

 with sandy soils as compared with those of a 

 clayey character, or those composed of decom- 

 posed vegetable matter. The latter, on the 

 other hand, retain moisture with great tenaci- 

 ty, and hence are unfitted for healthful camp- 

 ing grounds. A clayey soil, overlaid with 

 gravel, is, of all others, the worst for the 

 site of a camp, and should never be chosen 

 when it is possible to obtain any other. Dry, 

 sandy positions sloping to water, to secure 

 good drainage, with wood at no great distance, 

 yet not overshadowing the camp, and where 

 the sun can have access to the ground and dry 

 up the moisture speedily, are preferable to 

 all others. The locality should not be in a 

 valley if it can be avoided, but rather on a hill- 

 slope not on the top of a lofty height, since 

 the soldiers would be exhausted in the trans- 

 portation of fuel, etc. ; not on a plain unless 

 the plain is extensive and dry. 



An army going, as the army of the United 

 States have done, to & climate warmer than that 

 in which they had previously resided, find a 

 necessity, if health is to be maintained, for care 

 in diet and habits, and should as far as possi- 

 ble adopt the customs and food of the people 

 of the new climate, to secure that acclimation 

 without which the change will be likely to 

 prove fatal to large numbers. The food in a 

 hot climate should be to a greater extent com- 

 posed of fruits and .amylaceous substances. 

 Meat and spirituous liquors should be spar- 

 ingly used in health, and coffee or tea sub- 

 stituted for the latter. The clothing should 

 be adapted to the climate, and violent exercise 

 avoided in that portion of the day when the 

 heat is most intense. The use of anti-scorbu- 

 tics and sub-acids, to avoid scurvy, is indispen- 

 sable. 



The habitations of the soldiers greatly in- 



