ion of that knowledge--that is to say,
sanitary science and sanitation.[17]

The fact that ninety-nine per cent. or more of the diseases that
prevail in the tropics are caused by germs was known, of course, to the
surgeon-general of our army, and ought to have been known to General
Shafter and the Secretary of War. It was, therefore, their duty,
collectively and individually, to protect our soldiers in Cuba, not only
by informing them of the best means of escaping the dangers threatened
by these micro-organisms, but also by furnishing them with every
safeguard that science and experience could suggest in the shape of
proper food, dress, equipment, and medical supplies. The rules and
precautions which it is necessary to observe in order to escape the
attacks of micro-organisms and maintain health in the tropics were well
known at the time when the invasion of Cuba was planned, and had been
published, long before the army left Tampa, in hundreds of periodicals
throughout the country. Cuban physicians and surgeons, Americans who had
campaigned with Gomez and Garcia, and travelers who, like Hornaday, had
spent many years in tropical forests and jungles, all agreed that if our
soldiers were to keep well in Cuba they should drink boiled water, they
should avoid sleeping on the ground, they should have adequate
protection from rain and dew at night, and they should be able to change
their clothing, or at least their underwear, when wet.[18] By observing
these very simple precautions Dr. Hornaday maintained his health
throughout five years of almost constant travel and exploration in the
woods and jungles of Cuba, South America, India, the Malay Archipelago,
and Borneo. If our soldiers went to Cuba, or marched from Siboney to
Santiago, without the equipment required for the observance of these
precautions, it was not the result of necessary ignorance on the part of
their superiors. As the Philadelphia "Medical Journal" said, ten days
before the army sailed: "The climate and sanitary--or rather
unsanitary--conditions of Cuba have been much discussed, and it is well
known what our troops will have to contend against in that island." The
"Army and Navy Journal," about the same time, pointed out the grave
danger to be apprehended from contaminated drinking-water, and said:
"The government should provide itself with heating and distilling
apparatus on an adequate scale. Sterilized water is cheaper than
hospitals and an army of nurse