386 Appendix B 



kerchiefs, socks, etc., would be necessary. The poncho 

 should extend to below the knees and should be provided 

 with a hood large enough to cover the helmet. It should 

 have no cemented seams; the material recently adopted 

 by the United States Army for ponchos seems to be the 

 best. For footgear the traveller needs two pairs of stout, 

 high hunting shoes, built on the moccasin form with soles. 

 Hobnails should be taken along to insert if the going is 

 over rocky places. It is also advisable to provide a pair 

 of very light leather slipper boots to reach to just under 

 the knee for wear in camp. They protect the legs and 

 ankles from insect stings and bites. The traveller who 

 enters tropical South America should protect his head 

 with a wide-brimmed soft felt hat with ventilated head- 

 band, or the best and lightest pith helmet that can be 

 secured, one large enough to shade the face and back 

 of neck. There should be a ventilating space all around 

 the head-band; the wider the space the better. These 

 helmets can be secured in Rio and Buenos Aires. Head- 

 nets with face plates of horsehair are the best protection 

 against small insect pests. They are generally made too 

 small and the purchaser should be careful to get one 

 large enough to go over his helmet and come down to 

 the breast. Several pairs of loose gloves rather long in 

 the wrist will be needed as protection against the flies, 

 plums and boroshudas which draw blood with every bite 

 and are numerous in many parts of South America. A 

 waterproof sun umbrella, with a jointed handle about six 

 feet long terminating in a point, would be a decided help 

 to the scientist at work in the field. A fine-meshed net 

 fitting around the edge of the umbrella would make it 



