vii
only incapable of being drained, but is liable to inundations during the rainy
season. It is no matter for surprise, then, if, notwithstanding the various
so-called improvements which have been effected in the cantonment within the
last few years, the amount of sickness from malaria has in no way abated; on
the contrary, it tends to increase. A regiment which is unfortunate enough
to remain there more than eighteen months comes away enfeebled to such a
degree that nothing but a prolonged residence in a salubrious station will suffice
to restore the shattered health of the men. The present condition of the 10th N. I.,
recorded at p. 76, is a case in point. If Mehidpore is to be retained as a
military station, no time should be lost in removing the camp from its present
position to the site at the old cavalry lines, as recommended by Deputy Surgeon
-General Wyllie at p. 71 of this report. Experience has shown the futility of at-
tempting to effect any improvement at this station so long as the existing site con
-tinues to be occupied. I beg also to draw attention to the extreme unhealthiness
of the cantonment at Surat; last year it was even worse than Mehidpore. This can
only be attributed to wet subsoil and defective drainage—or, to speak more truly,
to the entire neglect of drainage. If, from its position with regard to the river
Tapti, the site cannot be rendered dry, another should be selected. Mhow
also suffers from want of drainage to a very considerable degree. The evils of
subsoil dampness at Jacobabad have been sufficiently discussed in previous
reports. Bassadore is notoriously malarious, and Gwadur, which has recently
been added to the list of stations in the Persian Gulf furnished with detachments
from the 21st N. I., promises to rival it in unhealthiness. In both instances
wet subsoil is the cause. The subsoil of all cantonments in which there is
the smallest suspicion of dampness should be properly drained, and if from
local circumstances, as at Mehidpore, this cannot be accomplished, the huts
should be removed to another site. Means should also be adopted to ensure
the rapid removal of surface water. Until the measures above indicated
are carried out, the sick returns of the army will continue to show a large
proportion of disease from removable causes. All expenditure incurred with
the object of doing away with such sources of inefficiency would be well repaid.
The medical officer of the 1st L. C. at Poona attributes, with apparently good
reason, much of the fever which has prevailed in his regiment to an increase
in the area of irrigated land in the vicinity of the lines. It is not desirable in
any case that irrigation should be carried on so close to the huts, and steps
should be taken to prevent it from coming nearer than three hundred yards.
The 8th N. I. at Poona and the Sappers and Miners at Kirkee now occupy new
lines built on the standard plan; these are a very great advance on the old
habitations, but as regards bathing arrangements there is still room for improve-
ment. In fact, as long as bathing-places are allowed inside the huts or in the
verandas, so long are these liable to be rendered damp, dirty, and unhealthy.
At Satara, Kolapore, and Disa new lines are required; those of the latter station
have long since been condemned.
22. In several instances the permanent latrines, owing to their defective con
-
struction, are not so clean as they should be. In spite of
every care, the fluid portions of the excreta soaking into
the surrounding earth give rise to a persistent nuisance. Nor in other respects,
too, is it practicable to prevent these badly constructed privies from becoming more
or less foul, and eventually growing into sources of disease. The trench system of
latrine, when properly carried out, is undoubtedly the best for native regiments,
but when from local circumstances its adoption is not feasible an improved kind
of permanent latrine should be introduced. The sepoys in some instances do not
seem to take kindly to the trench system, but prefer the jungle. Since, however,
in other cases they resort willingly enough to the trenches, there is no reason why
those who now object should not also be induced to overcome their repugnance
to a system of this kind. At some stations the excellent plan of growing a crop
of vegetables on the ground previously used for trenches is followed, and should
be adopted wherever circumstances will admit.
Conservancy.