In one of Napoleon’s letters back to the Directory from Milan, Andrew Roberts explains (in Napoleon: A Life), he said he had captured an Austrian spy who had carried a letter for Emperor Francis in a cylinder in his stomach:
‘If they have diarrhoea,’ Napoleon added helpfully, ‘they make sure to take the little cylinder, soak it in liqueur and swallow it again. The cylinder is dipped in Spanish wax mixed with vinegar.’
The Germans really are the best at everything.