Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office].

Date:
1941
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Army manual of hygiene and sanitation, 1934 / [War Office]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ‘felt. Such conditions may be brought about by unsuitable, _ heavy or tight clothing or equipment, hot climates, bad ventila- tion, ill-hea,th or pain from such disabilities as sore feet. In cold climates more of the heat derived from the food is used in keeping the body warm, therefore more food is required - and the body has to be covered with warm clothing to prevent excessive loss of heat ; on the other hand, in hot climates less food is required to keep the body warm and the clothing must be light and loose fitting to assist heat loss. Clothing Clothing is primarily intended for the protection of the body. against cold, heat and injury ; in addition, the clothing of the soldier must be uniform, economical and hard wearing, while for field service the outer clothing must be inconspicuous. The essential factors in deciding on the suitability of military - clothing are materials, fitting and colour. A material with large air spaces is the most satisfactory in a cold or temperate climate because it keeps the body surrounded with air of an even temperature. Dry air is a poor conductor of heat, and clothing containing large air spaces keeps in the body heat in cold climates. For general purposes in cold and temperate climates woollen clothing is the best as it has the largest pro- portion of air spaces ; woollen clothing, however, may be very irritating to sensitive skins, but this can be overcome by pro- viding an inner surface of cotton or by including a proportion of cotton with the wool in the material as in the Army shirt which is 70 per cent. wool and 30 per cent. cotton. The use of a cellular mesh material for underwear also achieves the object of surrounding the body in an envelope of air at an even temperature. Retention of moisture in the material must also - be considered both from the point of view of sweat and external moisture. Wool, except when in its natural state, absorbs water rapidly and gives it up slowly, so that, when wet with sweat or rain it soaks up the moisture quickly but dries slowly and thereby prevents chilling of the skin by rapid evaporation. Cotton and linen materials absorb moisture slowly. but dry quickly and therefore may cause excessive moistness. of the skin or too rapid cooling ; nevertheless, during the heat of the _ day in the tropics they conduce to greater comfort une woollen clothing. The colour of military uniforms must be inconspicuous and _. for this reason khaki is used. Grey or other neutral colours are also inconspicuous, but white is easily visible. The colour of clothing is important in hot climates from the point of view of coolness. _. When a person is exposed to the sun, some of the heat rays ' are absorbed by his clothing and some are reflected. Dark 15