p. When your clothing or shoes become wet, change them as soon as possible. Sitting around in wet clothes or with wet feet is almost certain to give you a cold or a worse disease.

q. Wear clothing of proper weight for the climate in which you are serving. Wear an overcoat when outdoors in cold weather. Your clothing should fit loosely.

r. Keep your hair cut short. Keep your finger nails clean. It is especially important that cooks, bakers, and other persons handling food should have clean hands, short nails, and closely cropped hair.

8. Do not drink intoxicating liquor. Drinking men are more apt to get sick than others and less liable to get well when they do get sick. In addition, the liquor sold nowadays may contain poison, such as wood alcohol. A small amount of this can cause blindness and death, and many such cases occur every year.

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t. Avoid venereal diseases. The venereal diseases are gonorrhea or clap, syphilis or pox (which usually begins with a "hard sore chancre or on the penis) and chancroids or "soft sore." These diseases are practically always caught by sexual intercourse with an infected woman. It is safe to say that nearly all regular prostitutes or "whores are infected with one or the other of these diseases, and that other women who permit sexual liberties from men are very likely to be. It is not a fact that the sexual act is necessary to keep up the health or powers of a man, although this is a common belief. Sexual indulgence by young unmarried men is responsible for an immense amount of disease and suffering, not only among the men themselves, but also in later years among their wives, to whom they give the disease, although they may believe they have been cured, and among their children, to whom the malady may be transmitted even before birth. Select for your female companions decent girls or women and keep away from whore houses, dance halls, or "joints" of any kind, and the temptations which are bound to exist in such places.

u. If you have had sexual intercourse, report at once to the hospital or other designated place for "prophylaxis." This prophylactic treatment must be carried out thoroughly and the directions followed exactly. Do this as soon as possible, preferably within two hours after exposure. The sooner you report for prophylaxis after intercourse the more certain are you of avoiding disease.

v. Never try to treat yourself for any venereal disease and never go to an advertising quack doctor. As soon as you see any sign of such a disease report to the medical officer and do

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exactly what he says. Any venereal disease can be cured much quicker if proper treatment is begun early. The advertising specialists" are after your money and not seeking to cure you. 165. Special rules for avoiding disease during field service.All of the rules enumerated above are of the same importance in the field as in a post or cantonment. Indeed it is even more necessary to follow the instructions in detail when in camp, since the arrangements for keeping you in good health can not be made as complete as in a permanent garrison. The following points are of particular importance in field service:

a. Be more careful of the water you drink. Do not drink any water until it has been passed as pure by a medical officer. When orders have been issued that all drinking water be boiled, be sure that the water you drink has actually been boiled, not merely heated some. When water has been purified in a Lyster bag by a powder which is furnished by the Quartermaster Department, drink only the water from the bag. Drain it from the faucet into your own cup. Don't dip a cup into the bag and don't drink by putting your lips on the faucet.

b. Be especially careful not to soil the ground with stools and urine. Always use the latrine or the night urine can provided in the company street.

c. Be sure that your mess kit and knife, fork, and spoon are thoroughly washed in hot soapy water and rinsed in boiling water after they are used. Unless this is done in boiling water your things may be contaminated with disease germs from the men who used the water before you did, and you may thereby contract disease.

d. Use a mosquito bar in regions where there are mosquitoes. Use same precautions about it that are given above.

e. Pay especial attention to bathing whenever possible. Be on the lookout for the presence of lice or other vermin on your body or on your clothes. Whenever they are found, report immediately to a medical officer.

f. Do not sit or lie directly on damp ground. When hot or perspiring, or when your clothes are damp, do not remain where a draft can strike you. If you do, you will become chilled and perhaps as a result will contract a disease like rheumatism, a cold, or pneumonia.

g. Every day, if possible, hang your blankets and clothing out to air in the sun; shake or beat them with a stick. Germs and vermin don't like this treatment, and it will help to kill them

drive them out. They do like cool, damp, musty bedding or

underclothes and will grow and increase in such articles. Whenever possible roll up your tent so the air and sun can get in it. Keep it ventilated at night.

h. Wash your shirts, underwear, and socks frequently. The danger of blood poisoning and lockjaw from a wound is much greater if the bullet passes through dirty clothes.

i. Ditch your tent as soon as you can after it is put up, even if your camp is only for one night. If you do not, a little rain may spoil a whole night's rest.

j. Always prepare your bed before dark. If you have no cot, level off the ground and scrape out a little hollow for your hips. Get some straw or dry grass if possible. Green grass or branches from trees are better than nothing. Sleep on your poncho. This keeps the dampness from coming up from the ground and chilling your body.

k. Cooks in the field should use special care in warm weather to prevent food from spoiling, because ice and ice chests are usually lacking. Meats, particularly in the form of hash, if kept too long in hot weather, may cause a serious and fatal illness in a whole company. This is known as ptomaine or food poisoning.

166. Care of the feet.-A soldier can not march with sore feet, and marching is the main part of an infantryman's daily duty in the field. All soldiers should be familiar with the proper methods of caring for the feet. Sore feet are generally due to carelessness, neglect, or ignorance on the part of the soldier. The following matters should be given special attention:

a. The most important factor in the care of the feet and the marching ability of the soldier is the shoe. Civilian shoes, particularly light, patent leather, or low shoes, are sure to cause injury and in time will ruin a man's foot. Only the marching shoes issued by the Quartermaster Corps should be worn, and they must be properly fitted to the individual. It will not suffice to order a marching shoe of the same size as one's ordinary civilian shoes, for it must be remembered that a soldier may have to march many miles daily over rough roads, carrying a heavy pack. The pack itself causes the foot to spread out to a larger size, and the rough roads give so much exercise to the muscles of the feet that they swell greatly through the increased blood supply.

b. Do not start out on a march wearing new shoes. This is a frequent cause of sore feet. Before beginning a march, new shoes should be properly "broken in" by wearing them for several hours daily for a week, and they should be adapted

to the contours of the feet, if necessary, by stretching them with shoe stretchers having adjustable knobs, to take the pressure off painful corns and bunions. Such stretchers are issued by the Quartermaster Corps, and there should be one or more pairs in every company of infantry. If it is desired to waterproof shoes at any time a considerable amount of neat's-foot oil should be rubbed into the leather. Waterproof leather causes the feet of some men to perspire unduly and keep them constantly soft.

c. Light woolen or heavy woolen socks will habitually be worn for marching; cotton socks should not be used unless specifically ordered by the surgeon. The socks need to be large enough to permit free movement of the toes, but not so loose as to permit of wrinkling. Darned socks or socks with holes in them are unfit for marching.

d. Until the feet have hardened they should be dusted with foot powder before each day's march; this can be obtained at the regimental infirmary. Clean socks should be worn daily. e. As soon as possible after reaching camp after a day of marching the feet should be washed with soap and water, and the soldier should put on a dry pair of socks and his extra pair of shoes. If the skin is tender or the feet perspire, wash with warm salt water or alum water, but do not soak the feet a long time, as this, although very comforting at the time, tends to keep them soft. Should blisters appear on the feet, empty them by pricking at the lower edge with a pin which has been passed through the flame of a match, and cover them with zinc oxide plaster applied hot. This plaster can be obtained on request at the regimental infirmary. If serious abrasions appear on the feet, or corns, bunions, and ingrowing nails cause trouble, have your name placed on sick report and apply to the surgeon for treatment. Cut the toenails square (fairly close in the middle, but leaving the sides somewhat longer), as this prevents ingrowing nails. (See also pars. 115-119.)

PHYSICAL INSPECTIONS

(A. R. 615-250)

167. Regimental commanders and commanders of lower separate units will require a physical inspection of the enlisted men of their commands by their medical officers, the first day of the field training camp. An officer of the company being inspected will be present. This inspection will include:

An examination of the feet and footwear, the mouth and teeth, and the condition of personal cleanliness.

A careful investigation for the detection of communicable diseases, including venereal disease and vermin infestation.

A careful observation for anemia and other evidences of chronic degenerative changes.

In conducting this inspection noncommissioned officers will be inspected separately and as individuals.