CARE OF THE HEALTH
[1451]. Importance of good health. Good health is just as necessary to an army as rifles and ammunition. Not only does every sick man take away one rifle from the firing line, but in addition he becomes a care and a burden on the hands of the army. Indeed, it is fully as important for a soldier to take care of his health as it is for him to take care of his rifle and ammunition. The importance of doing everything possible to look after one's health is shown by the fact that in every war so far, many more men have died from disease than were killed in battle or died from wounds. In our Civil War, for instance, for every man on the Union side who was killed in battle or died from wounds, two died from disease. In the Spanish American War the proportion was 1 to 51/2.
To do all that he can to keep in good health is a duty that the soldier owes his country.
[1452]. Germs. Diseases are caused by little, tiny live animals or plants called germs. They are so small that you require a magnifying glass to see them.
The following illustrations show the typhoid and malarial germs as seen through a magnifying glass:
Fig. 1
The Different Ways of Catching Disease
[1453]. Five ways of catching disease. There are only five ways to catch disease: