124 LICE AND THEIR MENACE TO MAN 



alone can answer are how much longer may it 

 last ? what may it lead to ? At any rate we know 

 that in the bodies of such sufferers the germs of 

 trench fever continue to exist, and that from time 

 to time the disease flares up, giving rise to bouts 

 of fever, with the old pains and depressing after- 

 effects, which are apt to be mistaken for attacks 

 of influenza or rheumatism. 



But if this is trench fever in its latest and 

 most obstinate form, how does it appear at the 

 onset ? Like the familiar " flue," trench fever 

 is often upon one most unexpectedly. It is no 

 unusual thing for a man to start the day in his 

 accustomed good health and to be in the midst of 

 his work when he is suddenly stricken down with 

 severe headache behind the eyes, giddiness, weak- 

 ness in the legs, and pain all over. So sudden may 

 be the onset that a man may fall out of the saddle, 

 or while walking become so weak and giddy that 

 he has difficulty in dragging himself home to bed. 

 In other cases coming events cast their shadows 

 before them, and the victim feels " out of sorts " 

 and complains of headaches for a day or two 

 before the fever has him down. When once in bed 

 the patient finds that he is unable to lie still 

 because he aches all over the small of his back and 

 limbs, his temperature rapidly mounts and may 

 reach 103 or 104 F. or even higher, his tongue 

 is slightly furred, his eyes become pink, and he 

 passes a most uncomfortable day, becoming worse 

 towards evening, when his mind may wander, 



