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carried out. Records throughout journeys were kept by the officer in medical
charge and graphs prepared for each journey. Journeys through the Sind.
Desert to Karachi were not accepted owing to the intense heat on this section
of railway where Mean temperatures of 86° to 110° are experienced in June
to August.
From a consideration of shipping facilities and the stations from which
troops would move the subject of the journey to Bombay or to Karachi be
-came important. The advantages of the Bombay route in relation to tem
- p e r a t u r e s e n c o u n t e r e d d u r i n g t h e j o u r n e y a r e s h o w n b y t h e g r a p h s g i v e n b e l o w .
These refer only to June, but similar differences are shown for the months of
July and August. The hours spent in a temperature over the danger mark
for Heatstroke are lengthy on the Karachi route and short on the Bombay
route.
Very special precautions were taken in respect of troops and families
such as ample supplies of ice, one maund per compartment and five maunds
per troops carriage twice daily: proper provision of fans: provision of ample
drinking water: spraying of all compartments on the train as an anti-insect
measure with pyrethrum solutions before occupation: entrainment as far
a s p r a c t i c a b l e e a r l y i n t h e m o r n i n g o r a t l e a s t s h o r t l y b e f o r e d e p a r t u r e : t h e
proper spacing of meal hours and provision of meals suitable to requirements.
In Waziristan District the special danger is the "Heat-Stroke Express"
which runs at some 10 miles per hour from Mari Indus to Manzai. Ice blocks
were issued to British troops and hand fans provided. There was one British
case of heat exhaustion.
Throughout the season there have been practically no adverse results
from these hot weather journeys.
(ii) General management.—With the more reasonable management of
troops, British and Indian, during the hot weather the fetish of early rising
and close seclusion in barracks during the day is being stopped.
Later reveille, feeding adapted to the season, ample supplies of cooled
drinking water, exercise and employment out of droors or indoors throughout
the day, and minimum clothing are all methods now being successfully em
-ployed during the hot weather to keep men fit.
(iii) Extra Salt.—The increase of sweat during hot weather means an
increased loss of salt which over the hot weather period will amount to a
serious drain from the body. The loss per day in really hot weather is esti
- m a t e d a t n e a r l y h a l f a n o u n c e , w h e r e a s t h e n o r m a l d a y ' s r a t i o n c o n t a i n s o n l y
one quarter of an ounce. Unless this deficit of nearly a quarter of an ounce is
made good the bodily tone is bound to decrease.
Issues of extra salt have been made in several hot stations over the past
3 years, originally w th a view to preventing prickly-heat and the subsequent
boils. The results were not considered conclusive but the opinion has been
expressed that there is a marked general improvement of bodily fitness, the
extra salt is definitely appreciated and the extra salt has a very definite effect
in prevention as a prophylactic treatment for heat exhaustion and heat
stroke of which examples are quoted.
(a) Voyage reports from ships travelling through the Red Sea during
the hot weather specifically mention the absence of cases of Heat
stroke and Heat exhaustion and attribute this to increasing the
salt intake for each individual by increasing the salt put into all
the food during cooking.