In Winter Quarters, Soldiers are apt to make the Rooms in which they sit, and their Guard Rooms, as hot as possible; especially in _Germany_, where the Inhabitants use close Stoves, instead of open Fires; and continue in these warm Rooms till they are called out on Duty, when, by being exposed to sudden Cold, they are apt to be seized with Inflammations of the Breast; and therefore Officers ought to examine carefully the Quarters and Guard Rooms allotted for their Men, and chuse them dry and comfortable, if possible[120]; but never to allow the Men to keep them as hot as Ovens, by Means of close Stoves, or other such Contrivances; but to depend more on good warm Cloathing, and dry Quarters, for guarding against Diseases, than upon artificial Heat. Many of the Regiments in _Germany_ made the People in whose Houses their Men were quartered, take down their Stoves, and use only open Fires; when there was no Danger of the Soldiers making their Quarters too warm, as Wood was difficult to be got. [120] Dr. _Pringle_ has very justly observed, that upper Stories are preferable to Ground Floors; and that all uninhabited large damp Houses ought to be rejected. _Observat. on Diseases of the Army_, part ii. chap. iii. sect. 2. If Necessity obliges Officers to put up with such Places for their Men, Care ought to be taken to clean them well, and to air and dry them by Means of Fires, before the Soldiers go into them; and to supply well the Men who are to lodge in them with Straw and Blankets, and with Wood or Turf. But although close Stoves are prejudicial in small Rooms, yet when a Town is much crowded, and Men are obliged to be lodged, in Winter, in large Barns or Churches, or other large open Places, the _German_ Stoves may be used with great Advantage in airing and drying such Places, and keeping them of a moderate Heat; especially if there be a Place in them for an open Fire, or if they be of that Kind which the _Germans_ call _wynd Stoves_, which have a Door opening into the Chamber where the People are lodged; or if there be broken Windows, or any other Opening by which a free Circulation of Air can be kept up in the Men’s Apartments. In Winter, when the Weather is very cold or wet, a Glass of Brandy, or of the spirituous Tincture of the Bark, given to the Men as they went upon Duty, especially in the Night, has been found to be of great Use[121]. Dr. _Pringle_ has very justly observed, that the Times of standing Centinel, and being upon Out-posts, ought, if possible, to be shortened at such Seasons; and that Fires in the Rear of the Camp, for Men coming off Duty to warm and dry themselves at, were found to be of great Service.