ix
Beluchistan, and the Brahui tribes. Surgeon-Major R. W. Cunningham, M. D.,
availed himself of the same route to describe the physical features of the
country between Sukkur and Kandahar in a very clear and intelligent manner.
Similarly the novel experiences of transporting native troops of all arms to
Europe was made the fitting occasion for medical observation of life on board
-ship, of the various methods of sanitation, the proper quality, quantity, and
variety of food, and the diseases which originated in new habits and climates.
Surgeons-Major R. Mantell and C. E. Raddock have given good topographical
descriptions of Malta and Cyprus. The ordinary cantonments have now been
so often and thoroughly described that medical officers may fairly be excused
for entering into a repetition of details. The march of the two divisions of the
Khyber Field Force was accurately described by the late Surgeon-Major W. W.
Galloway, M. D., 45th Regiment, Native Infantry, and Surgeon-Major S. C.
Amesburgh, 6th Native Infantry.
21. The meteorological section of the various annual reports is less satis
- f a c t o r y . M a n y c i r c u m s t a n c e s c o m b i n e t o r e n d e r a c c u r a t e o b s e r v a t i o n s , b o t h
barometrical and thermometrical, almost impossible in military hospitals, such
as the frequent change of station caused by ordinary relief, by camps of exer
- c i s e , a n d b y a c t i v e s e r v i c e ; a n d e v e n t h o u g h t h e r e m o v e m a y b e t e m p o r a r y ,
nevertheless it is a disturbance of all calculation for the current year, where exact
records suited for scientific generalization had been begun. In past years regi
- m e n t a l s u r g e o n s h a v e n o t i n f r e q u e n t l y b e e n i n t h e h a b i t o f c l o s e l y o b s e r v i n g t h e
natural phenomena of the climate and studying its changes, yet this cannot
be persevered in when, as before explained, the changes of locality recur at
such short intervals. Meteorology, as a science, is now taken up by a distinct
department; for no definite results would ever have been obtained from the
desultory and imperfect figures which are transmitted from Army hospitals. It
should not, however, be understood that the main features of climate, as
factors in the production of disease, have passed unobserved. The depressing
influence of the damp and heat of Assam, the excess of rainfall at Bareilly,
the flooding of the Punjab rivers, the regular mountain cold blasts of the Kur
- r u m v a l l e y , t h e e x c e s s i v e h e a t b y d a y a n d b i t t e r c o l d a t n i g h t o f t h e K u t c h d e s e r t ,
the 25° of frost in the Pishin valley, have all been recorded, and their influence
on the health of the troops described. It is known that the Punjab and
Trans-Indus stations have been widely desolated by malarious fever at the close
of the rains of 1878, and the condition of the land after the drying up of the
floods, which almost surrounded Jullundur and swept away the entire canton
- m e n t o f D e r a G h a z e e K h a n , m a y b e f a i r l y h e l d a c c o u n t a b l e f o r i t s p r o d u c t i o n .
22. The barrack accommodation for the sepoys is not on a proper footing.
The Army Sanitary Commission's comment on the report for 1877 draws
pointed attention to this. Although some "lines" are better than others, and
sanitation is more cared for in some regiments than in others, yet it may be said,
speaking broadly, that the dwelling-house of the native soldier is unhealthy from
top to bottom. The flooring, as a rule, is excavated instead of being raised; at
Peshawur the medical officers describe it as on a level with the irrigation
channels, which scour the cantonments in every direction; in the Eastern
Frontier district the Deputy Surgeon-General has repeatedly pointed out the
mistake of having the floors dug out to build the walls. There are doorways
alone, and the ventilation is always imperfect. Even before the present increase to
the strength of regiments, the principal medical officers have in several instances,
notably at Meean Meer, spoken of over-crowding as plainly productive of disease,
and it will therefore be most injudicious to put up the 800 sepoys of the pre
- s e n t r e g i m e n t i n t h e s a m e l i n e s i n w h i c h 6 0 0 h a v e h i t h e r t o b e e n a c c o m m o d a t e d .
But as regards the men on field service there does not seem much ground of
objection. The "lascar" form of pâl-tent is recommended by medical officers
as most suitable for Afghanistan, chiefly on account of its portability and the
more complete shelter which it affords to small detached bodies of men. The
half pâl of the sepoys' common tent is a miserable shelter against either heat
by day or cold by night. The 21st Native Infantry had bell tents issued on
first marching to Kurrum, and found them most inconvenient.
23. The drainage of military cantonments may be dismissed with a very
few remarks. It is entirely "surface" in every one of them, and the