help to make life a burden to the soldier in the trenches are the animal parasites which feast upon him. An English physician has in fact published a monograph on the subject calling them the "Minor Horrors of War," and going into detail in regard to their habits. His work is touched here and there with humor; indeed, for some reason the subject seems to many persons to be intrinsically facetious, altho the soldiers themselves usually see the comical side of it some months after they have returned from the front.

Naturally many expedients have been tried

moved. They are unharmed by this process and the odor imparted is not disagreeable. The protection lasts, moreover, for some little time afterward, as the process leaves minute crystals of naphthalin on them and these have a prophylactic effect.

If the above method is really all the discoverer claims for it it is certainly an unmixed blessing, not only for the relief from the mechanical discomforts inseparable from the entertainment of the pediculus, but also for the protection from disease, especially typhus. Another lesson is learned from the Great War

to rid armies of this pest. The rigid cleanliness which excludes it from civilians and their households is not possible, of course, at the front, and instead dependence must be placed on chemical agents to destroy the invaders or to prevent the invasion. Many of these chemicals have been found impracticable on account of unpleasant physical characteristics, but an Italian physician has lately reported one which he claims is free from these disadvantages.

Dr. Alfonso Muto, in an Italian periodical (Annali d'Igiene, August 31, 1916) advises a ten per cent. solution of creolin as the ideal chemical agent for this purpose. The clothing to be treated is placed in a wardrobe, the interior of which is connected by a pipe with a boiler containing the creolin solution, which is then boiled, the vapor permeates the wardrobe for about fifteen minutes and is then turned off; a quarter of an hour later the clothes are re

which will be noted by the military surgeons of America, to be applied in case of need.

25,000 Medical Men Needed. Not fewer than 25,000 medical men of all classes will be required for service in the event of a long war, according to the estimates of military authorities. Opportunities for service in the Red Cross are described in a section given over to that subject in the Columbia University booklet.

"Graduates of recognized medical, dental or veterinary schools who apply for commissions in the Reserve Corps will not be examined or marked on general education," it says. "At the discretion of the surgeon general examinations such as to determine the applicants' physical and professional fitness for the war service will be given. There are no age limits to this serv

ice, except that applicants over sixty must show cause for their acceptance.

"All applicants must be physically fit. Special Regulations No. 43, War Department, March 29, 1917, supersede all other regulations. Copies may be obtained from Governor's Island, New York City, or the Adjutant's Office, Washington. If you are in doubt as to what to do, get in touch with the medical school or the hospital where you were trained. Inquiries may be addressed to Major H. C. Coe, Academy of Medicine, 17 West Forty-Third Street, New York City. Hours, 3 to 5 daily, except Saturday and Sunday.

"Hospital units are already established at the following hospitals in New York City: Presbyterian, Dr. Brewer; New York, Dr. Charles Gibson; Bellevue, Dr. George Stewart; Roosevelt, Dr. Charles Peck; Post-Graduate, Dr. Samuel Lloyd; Polyclinic, Dr. John Wyeth; German, Dr. Frederick Kammer; Lebanon Hospital, and St. Luke's, Dr. H. H. M. Lyle.

"These units are under the Red Cross and need ambulance drivers, cooks, ward men, quartermasters and some engineers. Lectures are given on Thursdays at 5 p. m. by Major Philip Huntington at Cornell Medical College.

"Physicians, graduates of a reputable medical school, between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-two, may apply for examination for a provisional commission in the Medical Corps of the United States navy. If this and a physical examination are successfully passed, a four months' course at the Naval Medical School, Washington, is required, and, if successfully completed, the applicant may be commissioned in the Medical Corps. The same provision is made for army service, save that the course in the Army Medical School is of eight months' duration. Detailed regulations are given in Navy N., November, 364, 1917; Army, Form 132, Revised August 17, 1916. About 350 men are needed for the regular Army Medical Corps and about fifty for the regular navy service.

"If you have ability in chemical, clinical, pathological or bacteriological work useful in the medical service, get in touch with the officials of the laboratory where you were trained. For the bacteriological service Dr. Hans Zinsser, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Fifty-Ninth Street, New York City, may be addressed.

"Dentists continuing at their practice have been organized into the Preparedness League of American Dentists, with a membership of 20,000. They have offered to repair the teeth of prospective recruits free of charge. This is a most important service, for many applicants are rejected because of defective teeth.

"Medical students are strongly urged by the Federal authorities to continue in the study of their profession so that they may be adequately trained to take the places of those needed for war duty. Vacation service as Red Cross instructors or in laboratories is suggested."

Army has made the whole world a debtor says the Journal Michigan State Medical Society. It was an army surgeon who slew the hookworm in Porto Rico; it was an army man who fought to the death with yellow fever in Havana and conquered it; it was an army man who made the disease-breeding swamps of Panama into a zone of health; it was an army man who perfected camp sanitation and disease prevention during mobilization. And so one might continue to enumerate the world-wide influence that has followed the studies and discoveries of the men now enrolled in the medical department of our army. Noble, whole-hearted, thinking not of or for themselves, but for their country and country's good. We may well be proud of our professional brothers thus serving our country. Small tho the credit awarded them, great and enduring are these, their achievements.

Military Surgery Clinic at the Rockefeller Institute. It is reported says the Medical Record that a portable military hospital unit will at once be constructed and equipped on the grounds of the Rockefeller Institute in New York. The hospital will have accommodations for 200 patients, and it will be used as a clinic of military surgery under Drs. Carrell and Dakin. Among other things will be demonstrated the method of antisepsis introduced by these surgeons in the French military hospitals. The objects of the clinics are stated to be as follows: (1) To make available to patients the improved method of treatment. (2) To demonstrate and teach to American surgeons, who may be enrolled for military service, measures for the treatment of infected wounds. (3) To test the feasibility of a portable military hospital unit.

British Relief in America.-The British War Relief Association of America, was established for the purpose of assisting to supply the needs of wounded soldiers in England, France and Belgium. The special efforts of the association are being directed to providing surgical dressings for the wounds of the soldiers. These dressings are cut, folded and prepared for use by friends at the headquarters of the association which occupies an entire floor in a lofty building at 542 Fifth Avenue. Ladies work here all day and every day cutting surgical dressings. They also collect and despatch comforts of every kind, from motor ambulances to antiseptic pads. Already over 1,500 packing cases, five motor ambulances and one motor car have been sent away and cases are being shipped each week.

The association has been doing splendid work but could go much further if more funds were forthcoming. The association appeals for donations and we know of no cause more worthy of help.

It may be said that all supplies are purchased in this country and that checks may be made payable to British War Relief Association, Inc., 542 Fifth Avenue.

H. EDWIN LEWIS, M. D., Managing Editor

IRA S. WILE, M. D., Associate Editor

cines, of drinking water, rations, clothing, the care of excreta, the treatment of infected wounds and the ability to hasten the healing of wounds have a familiar sound. Shock, first-aid dressings, the examination of recruits, and dressing stations are natural subjects for military investigation. Poisonous gases, antivermin crusades, the fly pest, the control of venereal diseases, the protection of the ear from the noises of battle, the prevention of fatigue, the disinfection of transports for the wounded suggest a variety of topics whose investigation will tax the skill of our educational institutions, research laboratories and industrial organizations.

While there has been a varied literature upon these subjects there is a marked necessity for collating the main facts and presenting them to the medical forces of the nation. The United States has been far removed from the scenes of actual conflict and the realities of war have scarcely begun to manifest themselves. The realization that actual experience in many of the lines. above mentioned has been inadequate has sufficed to arouse a deep interest in their investigations.

The sum total of the additions to the world's knowledge arising out of war difficulties has not been as large as might have been expected. Practical medicine and surgery have made moderate gains but have