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be a useful addition to the. dress, and an extra blanket is also desirable at that
season. At the military prison at Poona, for example, the wind during the mon-
soon is very cold towards morning, and one blanket is in my opinion not
sufficient.
It would be a good plan to have printed directions hung up in every barrack-
room to teach young soldiers what especial dangers they should avoid. The men
will not tell of each other, but it should be somebody's duty to inform the non-
commissioned officer in charge of the room when any man does not eat his food
for more than a day.
One of the most important sanitary measures that could be introduced would
be the abolition of the spirit ration, which is the most fruitful source of disease,
and which I have no doubt is the cause of a good deal of crime and is also a power-
ful incentive to vice. The Army Sanitary Commission has long and powerfully
advocated this measure and the Adjutant General of the Army in a remarkable
minute quoted by the Commission in the XIVth Yolume states that young
soldiers are in point of fact taught, under existing regulations, to drink spirits.
Nothing I can say can be stronger. I can only hope that measures will be taken
not only to discontinue the sale of spirits in canteens, but also to prevent, as far as
possible, their sale in Sadar Bázárs and in the villages round cantonments ; or,
if spirits must be sold in Bázárs, that they be reduced by the addition of pure and
filtered water to at least 30 per cent. below present strength. The dull, heavy
porter now supplied is, I am confident, a source of disease, and the substitution
of light Vienna or other German beers, as recommended by the Army Sanitary
Commission, would not only tend to great improvement in the health of the British
soldier, but would also exercise a marked influence in rendering him less predis-
posed to attacks of disease.
If tobacco less strong than black Cavendish could be provided for the men it
would lead to their better health. Cigars of Indian manufacture are now almost
universally smoked by officers and civilians in India. Why could not the experi-
ment be tried of providing Indian cheroots for the men ? There is but little doubt
that the manufacturers would make a substantial reduction in the present prices if
they had the promise of the large supply that would be required for the Army.
I am convinced that if the Infantry soldier were kept at work like the Artil-
lery-man or Cavalry soldier is, he would be much healthier. The ennui of a bar-
rack-room is enough to make them ill. On hill stations the men could be worked
with perfect safety, and in some stations in the plains. The late experience of
making the prisoners in the military prison at Poona work has been attended
with improvement in their health.
If out of door work cannot be found, they might be employed in washing their
clothes, in making coir matting, in carpentry, &c.; but work other than drill is
necessary to employ their minds and give them an interest in their daily avoca-
tions.
There is not so much marching now in India as formerly, but soldiers are
never so well in cantonments as they are on the line of march during the cold
weather, and I think, as Government has recognized in cholera outbreaks the
wisdom of leaving the affected barracks, that the same course might advantageously
be adopted in outbreaks from other diseases, such as enteric or malarial fever.
Medical or chemical skill may, in our present state of knowledge, not be able to
discover the exact character of the poison which affects the men, but the practical
action I am certain should be to clear out of the barracks when it becomes
active. The good effects of leaving the fever-stricken Napier barracks at Karáchi
and of the march, even though it was through a somewhat malarial country, on
the sickly 98th Regiment in 1881 were most remarkable. The men on leaving the
station were so weakly that the ordinary marches had to be divided so that they
might be able to perform them. Within six weeks they returned to Karachi so
altered in appearance for the better, that it was difficult to believe that they
were the same men.
There is also another point I must mention. We have the great authority of
Dr. Aitken for saying that "no man can be considered as fit for work or for gene-