that the men should get accustomed to the hat in garrison, is as 
^unreasonable as to say that they should get accustomed to being 
hilled by bullets in garrison . a There are hundreds of dangers in 
• the field which can and should%voided in garrison and the deadly 
effect of the suns rays is one-. Then the men will be better able 
to stand tne work when it does come and not collapse as they have 
uox;e. The khaki helmet is recommended, but the brim Jjangs too low 
and slopes too much. The cap is fit only for officeM workers? but 
dangerous for prolonged exposure to the sun ; and no more to be 
tolerated than slippers for shoes* The cord on the officers cam¬ 
paign hat is entirely too heavy, constricts the forehead and should 
be abolished in favor of a very light weight ornament to distinguish 
commissioned rank. It has. been suggested that a straw hat be used 
like that of the Spanish soldier and the insurgents, but it is 
doubtful if this protects blonder skins sufficiently from the di¬ 
rect rays of the sun. The British in all tropical countries seem 
to be unable to use it if exposed for any length of time to the 
sun. Native troops do not have enough clothing allowance, but have 
to buy from private funds, nor does their clothing fit as it is all 
built for larger white men. 
With regard to cotton vs wool, it must be noted that all ou* 
former teaching to wear wool next to the skin was a serious error. 
No lower animal which wears wool ever perspires and the wool is evolved 
for the express purpose of keeping external dampness from reaching 
the skin, hence no matter how cold and damp the air, sheep, birds, 
canine and feline species always have dry skins. Hence we should 
use T 001 .outer garments only, and to keep outside dampness out. 
All lower animals which perspire have some arrangement whereby the 
moisture evaporates at once to cool the body when cooling is needed. 
It is silly then for us to wear wool next to the skin and thus 
present evaporation? when nature intended it to evaporate and cool 
us, i.e. when we are heated and exercising. We carefully keep the 
moisture in the soggy? nasty woolen undershirt, so that it will 
evaporate when we cool do.wn, so as to cool us more just when we 
dont want cooling and we thus get colds and pneumonia. Our dread 
of dratft&hts is due to a wet skin, which is kept wet by wool. Men 
who wear cotton or linen mesh find the vegetable fibre soaks up the 
perspiration at once, evaporates it at once, and they have dry skins 
and never take cold in draughts. Hence the Quartermaster Department 
should supply knit cotton undershirts. 
The wool overshirt seems also to protect from the suns rays, 
is used by stokers in firerooms and could be improved by being of 
a light color. Khaki cloth is only to protect from injury, is ©sal¬ 
ly an armor. I found that native troops in Singapore wore native 
costume when off duty, as the uniform was only for protection from 
injury from the brush and from the equipment. Unless something 
keeps the khaki from the shoulders, it will blister as soon as tin 
armor would, and it must be considered simply as armor. Khaki is¬ 
sued to scouts (Native) is reported of poor material, woolen 
That absurd hysteria which insisted upon a harmful/belly band 
as a fetish which in some occult way was to act as a filter down 
near the rectum to prevent us swallowing the germs of cholera? 
dysentery and typhoid has fortunately disappeared. Nosoldiera? 
should be permitted to wear one. "Chilling of the Bowels" is mere¬ 
ly a delusion. 
Complaint is made of the poor quality and: stretching of the 
"Wanamaker" socks upon washing? there being too large? they wrinkle 
and make sore feet. A thin woolen sock should not be allowed though 
some people prefer it. It keeps the. feet constantly wet. 
At san Jose, Nueva Dcijza? it was reported that there was con- ■ 
siderable difficulty in getting shoes and clothing for the Hospital 
Corps. 
