The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-15 00:00:00

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THE FRENCH FIELD-HOSPITALS, AR
AMBULANCES.

(From the Lancet of February 10.)
We offered in the Lancet of the 3d inst. a description
of the military hospital of the French, and now proceed

to say a few Words about their ambulances. -
The word ambulance, or field or flying hospital, is very
familiar to most of our readers ; but many are, perhaps,
not aware of the actual manner in which these hospitals

are organised and conducted. A few details may pro-
bably be welcome.

Tile principle upon which the whole arrangement rests
is, that the medical officer—viz., the scientific man,
should not be harassed with anxiety about stores and
packages, and that these matters should rest entirely
with responsible agents, whose duty it is to attend to his
directions, within the limits of thb regulations. Hence
we have the following practical divisions :
The medical officer at the bed-side is invested with the
whole control and management of his patient. The phar-
inacien, upon the surgeon's prescriptions, prepares the
medicines ; the clerk sees to the procuring and proper use
of the required article. s of furniture, and to the carrying
out of the diet-cards filled up by the medical officer ; the
ward-attendautt ,kes the lin mediate charge of the wounded
man ; the sisters of charity and chaplains aid in the
work of benevolence d kindness ; the assistant-com-

missariat officer, who receiv,)s orders from his superior,
watclies over the management of the whole ; and the
regular w orkins, of all these secures a pErftct unity
action.

Ti,e ambulances, temporary hospital, and convales-
cent depots, ar.) intended, during a campaign, for the
reception of the Wounded or sick soldier. If the seat of
war is too distant from the frontier of France, where
hospitals are organised for the reception of the sick or
convalescent, an eligible locality is chosen for the erec-
tion of-a temporary hospital : hence the great central
nosocornial establishment of Constantinople. Now,
these various modes of relief for the soldier—viz., the
ambulance, the temporary hospital, the convalescent de-
pot, and the permanent hospital, have each a peculiar
organisation. _

The ambulance is the moveable hospital wkioh
follow the army in all its movements. They are ambu-
lances for infantry, and others for cavalry—all connec-
ted with the different divisions. At head-quarters there
is, besides, a reserve of surgeons and two ambulances of
infantry and one of cavalry, always ready to go forward
at a moment's notice. It was important, in order to in-
sure lightness and rapid movements from one place to
another, to arrange the packages so that they might not
prove cumbrous under any circumstances. Everything
must, therefore, be reduced to the least volume, and all
the requisites for dressing wounds are disposed in pan-
niers, the weight of which is so calculated as to suit the
strength of a pack-horse, in case the usual waggon breaks
down, or cannot be got through a difficult country.
Only Ave carriage boxes are allowed for the reception
of the following articles : amputation and trephining
cases, tent!, litters, splints, solidified broth, brandy,
linen and lint, medicines, &c. These five boxes or cases
constitute an infantry ambulance, and provide 8,900
dressings. Three cases, with 4,900 dressings, form a
cavalry ambulance. These ambulances are subdivided
into active and reserve sections. The reserve section,
which comprises two cases for the infantry, aid 3,500
dressings ; and one case, with 1,500 dressings for the
cavalry, remains generally with the waggons attached to
the corps, and is kept ready to supply the active sec-
tion with any articl6 which may be wanted. The latter
is again subdivided in ambulance depot, and flying am-
bulance.

The depot ambulance settles down at a convenient dis-
tance from the battle-field, and the atteislaats immne.
diately take down the cases from the waggons, prepare
the linen, lint, dressings, &e. They light a fire, and
immediately make, with their solidified broth, a good
saucepanful of soup. This is called the "precaution
soup," and thus they have at once what we should call
baef-tea for the wounded. Everything being thus pre-
pared, a red flag is unfurled, to apprise the wounded
men where they can get relief. The flying ambulance
goes, in the meanwhile, to the immediate rear, within
the enemy's range, to attend to the men who receive
dangerous wounds. At the same time, clerks, under the
command of commissariat officers, proceed along the
lines, and cause the wounded to be taken up by the at-
tendant; and the drivers. This latter arrangement is
especially intended to prevent the soldiers from yielding
to compassion, and succouring their fallen comrades, no
man being allowed to leave the ranks, however desirous
of aiding the wounded.
The ambulances just described are called the Euro-
pean ambulances, but there is another kind, called Afri-
can ambulances, which latter have been instituted to serve
in countries devoid of roads and destitute of accommo-

dation. An ambulance of this kind, calculated foracorps
of 10,000 men, contains 6,500 dressings, and requires 364
pack mules. Twenty-four of these carry iron litters, on
which soldiers who have had a limb amputated, may be
placed, and 250 carry little arm-chairs made of iron and
leather, which may be unfolded, slung, and fastened to the
pack-saddle, and will take a patient on each side of the
mule. The rest of the mules carry the casks of diet drinks,
the stretchers, the blankets, the leather covers for the

sick, the tents, the surgical boxes, the cases containing
the drugs, &c. Sixteen medical officers, 7 clerks, and
101 attendants on the sick or wounded attached to this
ambulance, which is mainly intended by its fleetness for
vanguard service, and for picking up the wounded en the
field of bmtle. Both the European and African ambu-
lances are being used in the Crimea with the best effects.
One hundred liat.t cacti have lately been sent to the
seat of war by order of the Mirrster. Three wounded wen
can be acc 'nano:Med on the front seat ; there is a case

propeiV secured, which is So made as to contain

two stretchers ; and boxes, surrounded by wire-work,
are int..nded for the guns and sacs of the soldiers. Theso
carts, though light, are very strong, and may, if neces-
sary, be drawn by one horse only.
Such are the characters of the ambulances, the pecu-
liarity of winch is, to move rapidly from place to place,
and to be ready for a,l the emergencies of war. Thus, be-
fore Sebastopol, the ambulance placed in the trenches re-
ceives the wounded immediately they are struck, and these
are sent, after rho first dressings aro applied, to the am-
bulances pla,:ed behind the lines. Hitherto all the sick
wounded were attended to in the latter ambulance
until they could be removed to Constantinople ; but
General Can robert has just established a tem-
porary hospital on the beach of the bay of Kamiesch,
which hospital accommodates 500 patients. This is a
great boon fur the sick, a great proportion of whom will
be saved the tedious and perilous passage to Constan-
tinent)hpiosrary,inclement
itsi Constan-
tinople
it ses
se
taasbolni
s. h Ae
dltahcocuogrhd tulagi this
ohospite alre-
gulations of the permanent institutions of the same kind.
Hence the medical staff for the 500 patients is composed
as follows :—Two chief medical officers, three principal
ones, and twelve assistants ; one chief pharmacien and
two principal ones. The food is the sante as in the hos-
pitals at home, but the men are not given hospital shirts,
trousers, or great coats. The bed furniture is not so
complete as in the permanent hospitals, but each man
has a palliasse and a blanket ; and, for every twentieth
man, there is one mattress, three sheets, caps for the
fever patients, various vessels, &c. The whole of the
articles fur such a temporary hospital weighs 30,0001b5.,
and requires E 5 cubic yards of stowage ; the pharma-
ceutical portion weighs 3,600 lbs., and requires 9 cubic
yards' stowage.
A convalescent depot has also been established, where
soldier!, are under the same discipline as with their regi-
meats ; but they receive double rations of wine daily,
and are exempt from duty until they have completely

recovered.
The permanent hospitals are, of course, not restricted
as the one just described, hence the hospitals of Con-
stantinople are under the same regulations, and in pos-
session of the same articles, as those of France. Tea
thousand either wounded or sick soldiers receive at this
moment, though 800 leagues from their country, the
same attention as they would have at the Yal de Grace
or Gros Caillou in Paris.

THE ACCIDENT TO THE SCREW STEAM-

SHIP PERSEVERANCE.

WooLwicH, Feb. 14.—The Perseverance, screw
steam-ship, which capsized in Woolwich dockyard,
still remains in the same position, the attempts
by the Government officers to raise her by chains,
.&c., having failed. She lies in the new stone
graving-dock in the eastern part of the yard. In
getting her into the dock, the ship being upwards of 300
feet long, it was necessary to raise her up on extra
blocks, so as to bring her head close up to the edge of
the dock, to admit of the cassosn being fixed at the en-
trance. When the water was let in, and the vessel
turned over, she slipped some 15 or 16 feet from her
original position, so that her stern extended out, as it
were, from the entrance, thus preventing the cnssoons
being refixed. It is already known that the ship filled
with the tide. Examination since of her port side,
which lay on the blocks at the bottom of the dock, shows
that she has started one or more of her plates, no doubt
caused by the force with which she termed over on them.
A. cofferdam has been built at the entrance to the dock
to prevent the tide flowing in ; this has enabled work-
mon temporarily to repair the started plates on her port-
side ; her hatches, cabins, &c., have boon tightly bat-
tened down with planking, and attempts will be made
at the next spring tides to float her. It is thought that
the weight of her engines, water tanks, and the 10 tons
of ballast that were, and remain, in her, will cause the
ship to righten without any additional aid, as the whole
of her heavy yards, topmasts, and rigging have been re-
moved. There is one great difficulty, however, appa-
rent—the keel now rests on the "altars," or stone steps,
at the west side, descending to the bottom of the dock ;
and it is apprehended that, in floating her, she will do
herself greater injury in her efforts to right herself, by
striking on the "altars," or steps, unless some means
are devised, as she feels her buoyancy, to haul her
gmenrl
into the body of the dock. We are given to 11adrta d
that the Government have now sold the ship for 151.
less per ton than what they gave for her. They
have
in the
ttwwoo other., ntimed
East India Docks, are of the same description. The
h ships buildingaonnd hce rBl lines 0 awt
fißtltainekgwhaultl ; and
Europa, screw-steamer, which toppled over in the East
India fitting-basin a few weeks since, was built on the
same lines as the Perseverance.

TROOPS FOR TETE CantEA.---At Queenstown, on Wed-
nesday, the hired steam transport Severn embarked the
following troops to join the reserve force in course of
orgauisatiou at Malta :---Ensign T. A. Cox and R. B.
nyndman, 2 sergeants, and 50 rank and file of the 3d
Buffs ; Ensign R. St. John, 2 sergeants, and 50 rank
and file of the 72d Highlanders. 13 officers, and 33
men of the Royal Artillery had previously embarked on
board this vessel at Southampton. With these the
Severn steamed out of Queenstown harbour on the
afternoon of Thursday, the 6th inst., for Malta.