In the early days they came in large batches from other hospitals,
pathetic septic cases, their lives ruined for want of proper care. We
put their clothes in bags for future disinfecting, and the men, mildly
perplexed, were bathed, shaved, and sent to the "clearing-house," as it
was called. Those who developed typhus went to the barracks, and the
rest were drafted to the various hospitals in the village.
The clothes were first sulphurized to kill the lice, and then, until Dr.
Boyle's disinfector appeared, boiled. This was important, as typhus is
propagated by infected lice. Even forty-eight hours of sulphur did not
destroy the nits. One day the sulphur-room was opened after twenty-four
hours. Live lice were discovered congregated round the tops of the bags.
Jan put some in a bottle. They immediately fought each other, tooth and
nail, rolling and scrambling in a mass just like a rugby-football scrum,
and continued the fight for twelve hours at least, thus proving that the
scientific writer who says that the louse is a delicate creature and
only lives a few hours off the body can know little of the Serbian
breed.
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