Drainage.
Conservancy
and latrines
Water-supply,
Diet.
74
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
b .—The position of the lines relatively to one another and to the prevailing wind. The huts
are arranged in pairs, the doors of one hut facing those of the hut opposite. Now, as these huts
are built in a direction running almost due east and west, or as the prevailing wind here blows
from the west and north-west, it is clear that instead of enjoying the perflation they might have
from it if built with their doors looking east and west, the wind blows upon their gable ends,
or contributes little to the ventilation they so much need. A partial remedy for this original
defect of position would be found in making doors in the end walls, such as those in the hospital.
c.—What to my mind seems another serious want in these huts, though I find no mention of
it in previous reports, is the absence of any flooring upon the ground-space enclosed in those
huts. Now, as much evidence has accumulated in support of the so-called telluric origin of
intermittent fevers, the theory, namely, which adduces exhalations from the soil as a chief cause
of these fevers, it would seem to be of importance to screen the men from the operation of this
cause. There is, moreover, a special reason for taking precautions against the soil of Morar,
viz., that it is a soil containing a large proportion of iron. (I am told that iron used to be extract-
ed in the Lushkur until Scindia placed a prohibitive duty upon it.) It was Sir Ranald Martin who
called attention to the fact that many reputed malarious soils contain a large proportion of iron.
L y i n g , t h e n , a s t h e m e n d o , o n l o w c h a r p o y s , i n t h e a b s e n c e o f a n y f l o o r i n g t h e y a r e c e r t a i n
to be affected by such exhalations ; and this combined with the restricted air-space is, so far as
I can see at present, the cause of the numerous admission for fevers in this station. Further,
during the rains, the ground in the huts must become damp by soakage from the wet soil
outside. A cheap, and yet effectual, remedy for this would consist in laying down a flooring of
concrete or cement, and to prevent the accumulation of moisture under the side of the huts in
digging a small trench on all sides in which the water from the surrounding sub-soil might
collect, and along which, by providing a fall, it could be carried away.
VI. Drainage. —That of the lines consists merely in open channels running midway between
each pair of huts, having no regular fall, and not tiled or bricked to prevent the water soaking
as it does after a short course into the soil. Further, as this drain passes at a distance of a few
feet from the wells, it would seem likely to prove ultimately a source of contamination to the
water-supply.
VII. Conservancy and Latrines.—Described in the report for 1874, pages 32 and 33.
As there stated, the accommodation is still insufficient for the large number who desire to use the
trenches simultaneously in the early morning. The hospital latrine has been improved in
accordance with my representations. Formerly, it consisted merely of a square building having
a stone floor on which the fæces were deposited : there was also a channel for urine, which collect-
e d i n a s m a l l w e l l a t o n e e n d . T h e s w e e p e r w o u l d t h e n c o m e , s p r i n k l e s o m e e a r t h o n t h e d e j e c t a
and scrape the whole away. This seemed a very objectionable arrangement, as there were
always streaks of filth on the floor, unpleasant both to sight and smell. The Deputy Surgeon-
General directed that each man going into the hospital latrine should make use of two gumlahs,
which should be afterwards emptied by the sweeper into the large iron filth receptacles, and
these latter carried away in a cart to be supplied by the Cantonment Committee.
These recommendations have all been carried out with the result of a great improvement upon
the former state of things.
VIII. Water-supply. —That of the lines is by means of six wells. Its quantity is ample,
and the men say it is good. I can find no report of an analysis later than that made in 1870,
when the samples taken from wells situated in the lines were not unfavorably reported
upon. There are also two wells for the supply of the hospital ; one at the north-west end, the
other at the south-west. The water from the latter, which is a partially bricked well, is of good
quality, but that from the former, which is bricked for a very short distance from the top, has
a cloudy opacity and an unpleasant taste : it is therefore not used. The river is utilized for
bathing, watering of animals, and washing of clothing.
IX. Diet. —On one occasion at Lucknow, Surgeon Mackenzie, M. B., reported to the officer
commanding that he had reason to believe that the bazar supplies were of inferior quality, and
recommended that the Regimental Bazar Committee should be very careful in their examina-
tion of the supplies. Since then the bazar supplies have been uniformly of good quality, and,
except on the march, there has been nothing to complain of either in the amount or the purity
of the food supplies. From a comparison with standard diet tables, we learn that a sepoy con
-sumes about 24 oz. of hydro-carbonaceous food per diem, whereas 14 oz. of this kind of food is
considered sufficient for Europeans doing the same amount of work and receiving an equal
amount of the other articles of diet. Thus it is clear that sepoys eat too much hydro-carbonaceous
food, and the excess of this must be disposed of in one of these ways :—either it is wholly
oxidized or discharged as carbonic acid or water by the lungs, thereby throwing an unnecessary
amount of work on those organs ; or, entering the circulating fluids of the body in an imperfect
state of oxidation, they delay the metamorphosis of nitrogenous tissues (Parkes), and thus disturb
the balance between ingestion and elimination. Hence an interference with the normal
processes of nutrition expressed by a depression in the 'tone' or 'vigour' of the body, and
a consequent predisposition to become the victim of any noxious influence that may be
prevalent. Lastly, a considerable proportion of this excess is not absorbed at all, but accumulat-
ing in the alimentary canal and undergoing there various chemical changes becomes a source of
irritation, inducing dyspepsia, colic and diarrhœa, or else, by its mass, constipation. The
whole question of the influence of an ill-proportioned diet in rendering those who indulge in
it more liable to certain diseases rather than to others, is one deserving of more investigation
than it has hitherto received.