Do not eat ice or snow to quench thirst. It will make you more thirsty. Do not drink large quantities of cold spring water when heated,—it will give you a very bad bellyache.
Do not drink whiskey or beer, especially in the field. It will weaken you and favor heat exhaustion, sunstroke, frost bite and other serious troubles.
Alcohol muddles the mind and clouds thoughts, and so causes a feeling of carelessness and silliness that may ruin some military plan, or give the whole thing away to the enemy and with it the lives of yourself and your comrades.
The soldier who drinks alcohol will be among the first to fall out exhausted.
If you use tobacco, do not chew or smoke while marching. Tobacco is only a dope and increases the work of the heart.
A cup of hot coffee is a good stimulant.
[1474]. RULE 4. Keep the body supplied with fresh air. The brain, kidneys and other internal organs require oxygen (a part of the air) continually, and if deprived of it for five minutes, the body will die. Therefore, it is easy to see that we must continually get plenty of fresh air into the lungs to supply the blood which carries the oxygen throughout the body. Except in winter time when steam-heated barracks are filled with sleeping men, it is not, as a rule, difficult to get all the fresh air we need. The air in a dormitory should smell sweet and clean, even though warm. Fresh air should be continually admitted in a way that will not throw a draft on any of the sleepers.
It is much better to sleep in a cold room with fresh air than in a hot stuffy one.
Fresh air not only prevents consumption, but it will cure mild cases of consumption without other medicines.
[1475]. RULE 5. Keep the body well exercised without exhaustion. Exercise is absolutely necessary to good health. Lack of exercise of any set of muscles will cause them to grow flabby and weak. Outdoor sports are the best form of exercise, because they use all the body muscles, and are in the open clear air.