DIETETIC DISEASES. 71 



the Zulu War. However, joking apart, from the winter of 

 1915-16 the occurrence amounted to 400 per week, in spite of 

 Routine Orders — which are apt to go in one ear and out at the 

 other; beautiful attractive red boxes with the word "Nails" 

 painted in pearly white, stuck up on the walls of villages; 

 posting bills of photographs of nails with witty remarks vying 

 with the attractive boxes on the walls, and "Nail Hunts" by 

 units in the vicinity of the Camps, which afforded great amuse- 

 ment after the manner of football. Competitions in "hunts" 

 would appear to have been started in one sector of the line ; one 

 unit was credited with 12 lb. of nails in one horn-, but whether 

 the finals were ever played off, history does not relate. I fancy 

 they were deferred by the Armistice to the next War. But the 

 nail went on. His name was legion. It was the business of 

 the man attending the "Cooker" marching along the road and 

 using packing cases as fuel, to see that the stew was appetising. 

 It was another man's job to look after the nails that dropped 

 into the fire-box or on the road. The same with the builder of 

 huts or stables. The seriousness of the matter lay in the large 

 number of "Quittor" cases for operation in Veterinary Hospitals. 



I will close remarks under this chapter by a brief reference 

 to:— 



Dietetic Diseases. Apart from the loss resulting from Debil- 

 ity, with reduced rations as a contributary cause, wastage from 

 digestive disorders was comparatively slight in the Army in 

 France. On one occasion there was serious poisoning from an 

 admixture of Castor beans amongst the oats, the vessel carrying 

 oats in bulk having, without doubt, previously carried castor 

 beans as part cargo, and in the hurry of requirement not having 

 been properly cleaned out. 



There was also occasional poisoning from feeding on certain 

 Linseed cakes, from the development of prussic acid, but this 

 can be, and was, avoided by boiling the cake. 



Sand Colic amongst units located on the dunes along the 

 coast of Belgium was very prevalent, and expedients to prevent 

 animals from eating sand had to be adopted. It was a long time 

 before animals got over the effects of sand, and it was a notice- 

 able factor of Debility. An alkaline sands appeals to animals, 



