In the hygiene of travel by land Gilbert commends a preliminary
catharsis, frequent bathing, the avoidance of repletion of all kinds,
an abundance of sleep and careful protection from the extremes of
both heat and cold. The strange waters may be corrected by a dash of
vinegar. Some travelers, he tells us, carry with them a package of
their native soil, a few grains of which are added to the foreign
waters, as a matter of precaution, before drinking. The breakfast of
the traveler should be light, and a short period of rest after a day's
travel should precede the hearty evening meal. Leavened bread two or
three days old should be preferred. Of meats, the flesh of goats or
swine, particularly the feet and neighboring parts, which, Gilbert
tells us, the French call _gambones_, the flesh of domestic fowls and
of the game fowls whose habitat is in dry places, is to be preferred
to that of ducks and geese. Of fish, only those provided with scales
should be eaten, and all forms of milk should be avoided, except whey,
"which purifies the body of superfluities." Fruits are to be eschewed,
except acid pomegranates, whose juice cools the stomach and relieves
thirst. Boiled meats, seasoned with herbs like sage, parsley, mint,
saffron, etc., are better than roasted meats, and onion and garlic are
to be avoided.

The primitive conditions of land travel in the days of Gilbert are
emphasized by his minute directions for the care of the feet, which he
directs to be rubbed briskly with salt and vinegar and then anointed
with an ointment of nettle-juice (_urtica_) and mutton-fat, or with
a mixture of garlic, soap and oil. If badly swollen, they should be
bathed, before inunction, with a decoction of elder-bark and other
emollients.

In travel by sea, Gilbert tells us the four chief indications are to