WATER-BORNE INFECTION 77 



Many men expressed their fear that dis- 

 ease was spread at camp by means of the 

 water in the troughs becoming infected. It 

 was agreed that this possible line required 

 guarding by the early isolation of cases to 

 the sick lines and a separate drinking trough ; 

 but the men were urged not to try to put the 

 blame of a spread of disease on this possible 

 cause, as they were again reminded that the 

 most important result of their temporary and 

 honorary veterinary officer's investigations 

 was to show that the cause of coughing — the 

 dark-stable bacillus — could not live in the 

 light. Therefore, while it was allowed that 

 this was a possible explanation of some of 

 our cases last training, when we had ten 

 days' continuous rain, during which the sun 

 hardly shone out from behind the clouds, the 

 fact was emphasized that, as the water troughs 

 were in the sunlight, no such organisms could 

 long live there. Whether the microbe could 

 even live in water is more than doubtful, 

 but troopers were requested to report to the 

 medical officer cases of coughing next train- 

 ing, so that investigations to settle this point 

 might be undertaken then. 



H: * * * * 



