Litter

(Lat. lectica , from lectus , “bed”). According to Rees’s Cyclopædia, a kind of vehicle borne upon shafts, anciently esteemed the most easy and genteel way of carriage. It was much in use among the Romans, among whom it was borne by slaves kept for that purpose, as it still continues to be in the East, where it is called a palanquin . The invention of litters, according to Cicero, was owing to the kings of Bithynia. In the time of Tiberius they had become very frequent at Rome, as appears from Seneca. Horse-litters were much used in Europe prior to the introduction of coaches. In the military service the litter is a species of hurdle bed, on which the wounded are sometimes carried from the field of battle. What is known as the hand-litter or stretcher is used to carry men from where they fall in battle to field hospitals. The hand-litter or stretcher is generally constructed with canvas about 6 1 ⁄ 2 feet long by 3 feet wide, the sides securely fastened to two hard-wood poles about 8 feet in length; the two cro -pieces should be constructed so that the litter can be rolled up. Small outlying bodies of troops, especially detachments of cavalry, are not always provided with them; for these the hand-litter, made with guns and blankets, has been extemporized; for this purpose the edges of the blanket are rolled over the guns, and tied firmly with twine, and two stout sticks are also tied acro at the head and foot, serving as handles for the bearers. This being laid on the ground, the wounded man is placed upon it, with his knapsack under his head. The Indian litter is made by taking two stout saplings, and attaching to them three cro -pieces, about 2 1 ⁄ 2 or 3 feet apart, by cords and notches; the sick or wounded man being placed on his blanket, this frame-work is placed over him, and the blanket knotted to it. By three bent twigs and an additional blanket, a kind of top can be made to this in case of a storm. Several kinds of horse or mule litters for frontier service have been invented, but none seem so well adapted for all purposes as the one invented by Surgeon J. C. Baily, U.S.A. Ambulance litters are so constructed as to be drawn from the ambulance and taken to the wounded man, who is by it conveyed to the vehicle. It is then slid into place on rollers, and steadied by loops and guys.