ENTOMOLOGY

CHAPTER XXIIThe Control of Human Lice 1W. Dwight Pierce and R. H. HutchisonNever in the history of, the world has the subject of insect-bornediseases become so prominent as it has since the discovery that severalof the great diseases which ravage nations and armies are borne bylice, and that personal prophylaxis alone will combat these diseases.The knowledge of the means of conveyance of a disease is the firstrequisite for the successful preventive measures. Had the scientists notknown how typhus fever was spread the entire nation of Serbia, and possiblymost of the peoples of eastern Europe and the poor peoples of allthe war-stricken nations as well as the men in the trenches might havebeen wiped out by now. As a matter of fact, probably one-third of theSerbian nation and hundreds of thousands of Roumanians, Austrians,Russians, Germans, and Turks were lost before the medical authoritiesobtained the necessary grip on the situation. The lice would have goneon disabling the men in western trenches with trench fever if they had notbeen proven to be the vectors.THE RAVAGES OF LICEThe eastern theatre of war has long been scourged with louse-borneepidemics. During the Crimean war the British troops became seriouslyinfested, becoming anaemiated and debilitated and death carried off manyof them. The only remedy available was to put the wet flannels in thesnow for two days-this killing all but the nits (Shipll!y).Typhus fever ravaged the Bulgarian troops during the two Balkanwars to such an extent that it was estimated by a staff officer that theylost more soldiers in a short period of tiJl1e from fleck typhus than fromall other diseases combined.During the present war, the lice at first were most serious in theeastern theatre, probably due to the greater congestion of populationamong the Slavic peoples. The Germans first had to combat them amongthe Russian prisoners, finding the French almost completely free. But1 This lecture is a modification of one read June 24 and c1istributed June 27 and of asynopsis presented September 18 and distributed October 4, 1918.312-