INTRODUCTION. 
“Man, the chief lord of other animals, is, notwithstanding his power, 
the food and ordinary abode of this vermin, who riots in his blood, 
and sometimes colonizes his body with innumerable and detestable 
offspring. When such a mean, disgustful insect as this, can raise 
legions sufficient to render thee loathsome, and even to destroy thee, 
0 man! where is thy boasted greatness 1” Barbot (1781, p. 328). 
The unprecedented scale of the present war, coupled with the con¬ 
ditions under which it is being fought, has led to a prevalence of lice 
among soldiers that has never been equalled in the world’s history. 
That lice are prone to infest soldiers has long been known. Moffett 
(ca. 1590, ed. 1658, p. 1190) wrote: “It is a beastly creature, and known 
better in Innes and Armies than it is welcome.” At the time of Queen 
Anne (1702-1714) we find the London Spy describing the Foot Soldier of 
the period and saying: “ Hunger and Lousiness are the two distempers 
that Afflict him; and Idleness and Scratching the two Medicines that 
Palliate his Miseries 1 .” Old references to the prevalence of lice in troops 
could easily be multiplied. The trouble due to them is referred to in 
writings dealing with the Napoleonic, Crimean, and other wars. 
When the present war broke out, there was much carelessness dis¬ 
played in dealing with recruits, the lousy being intermingled with the 
clean in reckless fashion whereby the scourge of pediculosis descended as 
a veritable pandemic upon the soldier population. This recklessness was 
but partly due to the circumstance that recruits had to be rapidly assem¬ 
bled. However, much has been learnt since, and prophylactic measures 
conducted in an intelligent manner are being more generally employed. 
The task of combating lousiness in armies at war offers innumerable 
difficulties because it is frequently impossible to carry out preventive 
measures adequately and half measures may be practically useless. As in 
the past, much depends upon the intelligence of combatant officers and 
their willingness to accept the advice tendered b v their subordinate medical 
and sanitary officers. Although it has been amply proved that slovenly 
and makeshift methods are of little avail, there are many who from 
ignorance still persist in applying them. To deal with lousiness in the 
army, education is as much needed as among civilians. It is required both 
in the higher and lower grades, for in armies no measures possessing any 
value can be taken without the authority of higher combatant officers. 
The medical officer is there merely to advise. 
In the following pages I have sought to bring together and classify 
1 Quoted in Ashton’s Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, ii. 200, 
