New-York tribune., 1918-07-20
Heroes
By Charles Vince
THIS is story of some old men in
London who have served their coun-

London who have served their coun-
try in singular way and will have
helped to add many battalions to her
armies. The oldest was seventy-eight
They were all over military age except one.
He was only twenty four, but he was an
epileptic
Some fine stories have queer titles. The
title of this one is "Transmssion OF Trench
Fever by the Louse'
Trench fever has been the great plague
of armies in this war 1t is not severe
disease, but it has taken thousands of men
out of the fighting line, and kept them out
of it for weeks. Many drugs have been
tried, but none has been found to check
the course Of the fever. At the beginning
no one knew quite what to make of it or
how the infection was spread. There were
many theories. Some thought that it came
from a fungus which grows on the sand
bags in the trenches, some from rat bite,
some from mosquitoes, some from fleas,
some from lice.
In the end the strongest opinion was
that the lice were guilty. If this were
proved it would mean great deal. It
would mean that the army could go long
way toward freeing itself of trench fever,
of this constant drain on its strength And
now it has been proved. 1t was proved in
London at the beginning of this year
There were cases of trench fever in Lon
don hospitals which could be used for the
experiment, but there were also needed men
who had not been out Of England and
could never have been infected with trench
fever before. The committee asked for
volunteers and the volunteers came.
The first experiment was to see if the
bite of louise conveyed the disease Two
of the volunteers were bitten by lice which
had already bitten fever patients. Thev
were bitten not once, but many times. The
experiment went on for more than month
Each day five hundred lice were used. Thev
were put on fever patients at all stages of
the disease. They were transferred to the
volunteers at different times, sometimes a
quarter of an hour, sometimes several hours
later. But there was no result. No other
volunteer caught the disease 1t was
evident that the bites Of the lice did NOT
give the disease. At the end of six weeks
the experiment changed
Inc tlrst two volunteers throughout the
whole time of the experiment had been
careful not to touch the bites, so that
nothing else might be rubbed into the
blood. Two other volunteers now came for
ward for the new experiment. which wa.
to see II, when the skin was broken and the
droppings or the bodies of lice were rubbed
into the places, as they would be bv men
nh
then be caused.
ms experiment was at once successful
Eight and ten days afterward the two foil
Ill with trench fever. Three more volun-
teers came forward. They were treated IN
the same way and all three fell i'll. Finally
another volunteer was inoculated with tho
blood OF one of the last three He also fell
III. The chain of evidence was complete
1T was established beyond doubt that the
disease was carried by the louise. It was
established how the louse gave the disease
1t was established that everv man who
could keep free of lice was safe from trench
fever.
1t is no small thing to take a disease in
cola Dlood, to commit yourself to six weeks
illness, to fever and severe pains. 1t is no
small thing to endure the bites OF hundreds
or lice day after day for month. Thera
are many dangers that every soldier would
choose before that And these were man
growing old, had probably already suffered
their share of sickness and the ills to which
flesh IS heir. Surely they deserve to rank
with their country's soldiers They have
suffered for her. They have served her
we'll. BY the knowledge which they have
enabled US to gain they have added greatly
20 her strength