Mat 24, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



497 



ganized a commissary department for his 

 own army entirely without authority from 

 Congress and demonstrated that the army 

 itself could handle the matter of supplies 

 much better than outside contractors. This 

 resulted in legislation dated April 11, 1818, 

 which laid the foundations of our modern 

 Subsistence Department. It should be ex- 

 plained here that the Subsistence or Com- 

 missary Department, which was separate 

 and independent up to 1912, is now a part 

 of the Quartermaster Corps. 



The agitation for discontinuance of the 

 liquor component in the ration came up at 

 almost every session of Congress between 

 1812 and 1838. In 1832 coffee was for the 

 first time made a part of the ration, and it 

 was provided that six pounds of coffee and 

 twelve pounds of sugar per 100 rations, 

 that is, for one company of men, could be 

 used in lieu of whiskey or rum at the rate 

 of one gill a man each day. Nothing 

 further was done with the armj' ration until 

 1856, when some agitation was started to 

 increase the coffee and sugar components; 

 after four years this modification was made, 

 just before the outbreak of the Civil "War. 

 The ration which prevailed throughout the 

 Civil "War fixed by legislation dated Au- 

 gust 30, 1861, was as follows : 

 Beef, 20 ounces. 

 Bread or flour, 22 ounces. 

 Potatoes, 16 ounces three times a week, 

 Beans, rice or hominy "in proportion with 



above." 

 Then for each company of men or 100 ra- 

 tions: 



10 pounds coffee, 

 15 pounds sugar, 

 4 quarts vinegar, 

 4 pounds soap, / 



1^ pounds candles. 

 The peace-time ration, differing from the 

 last named only in the absence of potatoes, 

 beans, rice, hominy, etc., was returned to in 



1865. These articles were restored by leg- 

 islation dated 1892. Other minor changes 

 were made which were continued in new 

 legislation dated January 11, 1911. The 

 "garrison ration," as it is known, as fixed 

 by this last Act, is as follows : 

 20 ounces beef, or bacon 12 ounces, 

 18 ounces flour, or corn meal 20 ounces, 

 20 ounces potatoes, 

 2.4 ounces beans, 

 1.28 ounces prunes, 

 1.12 ounces coffee, 

 3.2 ounces sugar, 



.32 gill syrup, 



.50 ounce evaporated milk, 



.50 ounce butter, 



.64 ounce lard, 



.16 gill vinegar, 



.62 ounce salt, 



.04 ounce pepper, 



.014 ounce cinnamon, 



.08 ounce baking powder, 



.014 ounce flavoring extracts. 



Besides this garrison ration, the Ameri- 

 can Army has three other rations. The re- 

 serve ration consists of hardtack or army 

 bread, bacon, sugar, coffee, salt and pepper. 

 This, according to regulations, forms the 

 basis of field rations, but at the present time 

 in France is being considerably modified 

 according to the available supply. The so- 

 called travel ration contains soft or hard 

 bread, canned corned beef or corned beef 

 hash instead of bacon, as in the reserve ra- 

 tion, baked beans, canned tomatoes, jam, 

 coffee, sugar and evaporated milk. There 

 is an allowance also for coffee already pre- 

 pared when it can be obtained at railroad 

 stations. The regulations provide for an 

 emergency ration which has been well de- 

 fined as simply "a substitute for nothing." 

 This might also be called a tide-over ration. 

 Many attempts have been made to concen- 

 trate into small space, so that it can be car- 

 ried in the pack in a sealed parcel, the nee- 



