G. H. Q.

ation and the present popularity of "v.d." as a theme for small talk-The Army and "v.d."-The e

vers of the battlefield born of mud and filth and fatigue. Some came to work on the Staff whilst still under medical treatment, and the

vices appeared ever at G.H.Q. It was a pleasure not easily won to persuade them

BY

d together by some unbreakable bond. One would like to hear Socrates to-day, as his limb, injured in Flanders, was rubbed back to usefulness, talking to his masseur on the good that will follow the e

y be disappointed in some measure; but no one can observe closely the phenomena of the war without being sure that from its sacrifices and lessons much good will come. The dreadful fire that had to be kindled to burn out the

sive against Disease, with its trench systems which hold up foes whom we cannot destroy with our present weapons; its Intelligence Department, spying with a thousand microscopes into the designs and dispositions of the enem

great advances in the war against the germs that we greet peace as a definitely healthier people, organised to save, in a generation

than made up by the lives saved from the germs. The British Medical Service, following in the path of the victorious British Army, and wielding an authority that it never knew before, carried on a war against disease in Europe, Asia, and Africa that is now saving thousands of lives, and

cles; of fairy princes who destroy wicked enchantments with spells from tiny glass tubes. Those attentive gentlemen experimenting with neck ribbons smeared with potent charms have not come to their second childhood; they are on the track of the perfect cimicifuge which will keep lice off the body and, keeping off lice, will reduce the range of typhus and other diseases. A great tank of little live fish sen

ed fever has in his throat and spinal fluid the causative germ; but this germ hides behind a smoke cloud of other germs and must be placed quite definitely before it can be destroyed. It was found that it is a germ shaped like a double bean, that it is to be distinguished from other germs of the same shape by the fact that its hide is impervious to a certain stain which those other germs will absorb. It was further

of all our neglects and stupidities, crops up insistently in the story of the British medical campaign in this war. Thus, chlorine gas came

e for it. They would go away from Boulogne, after an extra careful bath and the putting on of a clean tunic, with a steady resolution to put away from their thoughts and their tongues all the coarseness of the camp; and find themselves at their first dinner party in England ta

young and attractive lady at that. She plunged into her subject without the least trace of embarrassment. She wanted lectures, with pictures, in every recreation hut of the B.E.F., France, and was firm to brus

res but expected the Army to supply them, I took refuge in a subterfuge. "Very so

knew that there were cinematog

ot my department.

said firmly. "I'l

f Officer that universal lectures on v.d., wi

f medical officers, the opposite was the case. Among the officers with whom I came into touch during the campaign-many hundreds in the aggregat

the civilian population. There were some tragic outbreaks-one in Cairo, another (of m

the civilian had not. For instance it was the duty of the Assistant Provost Marshal of a Division, whenever a man reported sick from v.d., to go to the hospit

ying the means of prophylaxis). The British Army on a whole did not follow that course, thou

So many had "taken a knock" and put in a spell at a hospital. Opinion was practically unanimous that "Hospital"

tte for officers to stand up, provided they have legs and strength to stand up. Otherwise you "come to attention" by smiling as well as you can; a respectful, cheerful, but not an hilarious or free-and-easy smile. It should convey the message that you are having the time of yo

our wound, but at the back of your gladness is the knowledge that you want her for next dressing. A good "strafer" goes over a wound with the enthusiasm of a thrush with a large family going over a lawn for worms. She examines, searches, squeezes, probes, looking out for shed pieces of bone, for "

that the hospital was always a fairy bower by going out and "finding" some flowers. Then Matron had clean quilts on all the beds, and the order went forth that these were to be kept creaseless and smooth. But one patient would persist in crooking up his kne

not come after all; and I think sh

regulation. If a very pretty nurse were posted to a hospital, Matron generally tried to assign her to the sick sisters' ward. Obviously that was bad strategy. The prettiness of their nurse would have no cheering effect on s

ISIT, DEC

t still "Sister," ready with skilful aid and encouraging sympathy in case of need. It is a nice etiquette that makes the title

ainly designed to lessen the self-importance of the second lieutenant) usually fraternise in a common cheerfulness. There are no rank badges on pyjamas. But one distinction has intruded-that between surgical cases and medical cases. The

us at -- Hospital. A rumour went around that he was a trepanned case, and as Rumour stalked from bed to bed the size of the silver plate in his skull grew and grew until it was almost the size of a dinner plate. His shameful secret was at length discovered; he was

one's neighbour's wounds and to affect to hold lightly one's own. I

nces); "except for a bit of my liver and a few yards of lung blown

rtain now to stay on. But it must be hor

ghoulish ch

ing argument leading to "red tabs" if an officer were qualified for the distinction; and Medical Boards in England were quite

observed in the rest camps behind the British lines companies of men with bare feet, and officers bending down anointing them. And he might have perhaps concluded that this was some religious ritual of humiliation, such as the theatri

ont had to face when the Germans, beaten in the field, "dug in," and Trench War began. The struggle with the

that shop employees must be allowed seats is an indication of this). The soldier in the trenches must often stand for long periods. That makes him to some extent liable to foot trouble. Again, tight boots and tight bandages rou

eglected, developing into open sores. Long periods of standing, and any constriction of the circulation from tight boots or tight puttees, help cold and damp to cause chilblains; and chilblains used to be

lets at Montreuil was a French soldier who had lost both his feet from this cause. Later, both treatment o

of the War Office, and of admirable and intelligent service on the part of regimental officers. The medical staff told me that it would have been impossible to carry on to success the campaign against "Trench Feet" if t

provisions. To second them there was an active propaganda in personal hygiene, and here the regimental officer and non-commissioned officer were enlisted to help the medical staff to make the men understand that the smallest sign of a chilblain was to be met with prompt treatment. A whale oil ointment was provided both as a prophylactic and as a curative for mild chilblains. When necessa

back, and there was no longer the old organised trench system. Nevertheless the British hospital records show that the disease was held. It was still a trouble; but,

ssfully the vast medical problems which the Great War presented. The greatest armies known to history grappled in a continuous and furious struggle, not for a day or a night or a week, but for months. The wounds caused by hand grenades and high explosive shells were often of terrible extent. The battlefield to a depth of five miles was under constant shell fire, and transport of the wounded for that distance was ther