The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-29 00:00:00

Pinner.—Freehold Building Land.

NR. ANDW. HIND will SELL by AUCTION
shortly, 23 Acres of LAND, beautifully situate near
the village, and about a mile from the station. Tho plots
will contain from half an acre to two acres and upwards.
The estate is well wooded, and has a stream of water flowing
through it. Residents on this property will be entitled to
the privileges of Harrow School, and the occupant of each
house of the value of £5O per annum will receive a free first-
class railway ticket to London for thirteen years. ()faces,
corner of Little Carter-lane, St Pat

IRNAMENTS for the Drawinvoom, Library,
kJ and Dining-room, consisting of a new and elegant assort-
ment of VASES, Figures, Groups, Candlesticks, Obelisks, Ink-
stands, beautiful inlaid Tables, Paper weiglits,,lko., ip Italian,
Alabaa ter, Paean, Marble, Bronze, nerbysnire Ate.
Imported and manufactured by JAMES TENNANW, Mine'
ralogist to her Rajesty, 149, Stand, W.C., London.

Mr. Tennant arranges elementscollections of WELLS,
51INEIIALS, ROCKS, and FOSSILS, whioh will greatly
facilitate the interesting study of MINERALOGY, CON-
CIIOLOGY, and GEOLOGY, at 2,5, 10, 20, 50, to 100 guineas
each.

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE.
aALOGY id given by Mr. TENNANT. at 149, Strand W.C.

DINNEFORD'S PURE FLUID MAGNESIA
has been, durirg thirty years, emphatically sanctioned
by the Medical Profession, and universally accepted by the
Public, as the Rest Remedy for Acidity of the Stomach,
Heartburn, Headache, Gout, and Indigestion, and as a Mild
Aperient for delicate oonstitutions, more esp Goi a lly for Ladies
and Children. Combined with the Accidulated Lemon Syrup
t nagreeable Effervescing Draught, In which its
it
an
Aperient qualities are much increased. During Hot Seasons,
and, above all, in Hot Climates, the regular use of this sim-
e!egant remedy has been found highly beneficial.
mplae and
nautitatured (with the utmost attention to strength and
purity) by DINNEFORD and CO.. 172, New Bond-street,
London; and old by all respectable Chemists throughout
the Empire.

quickly fatal, or lays the foundation of chronic
suffering extending over years. Next to dysentery in fa-
tality, but of more frequent occurrence, aro the remittent
fevers, which are found almost everywhere throughout the
East Indies, varying in their intensity and in their compli-
cations according as they occur in low marshy lands, or in
drier and more elevated tracts of country. The seaboard,
where there is jungle or salt marsh, and the adjacent
islands are peculiarly liable to the ravages of this
pestilence. Out of an average British force of
23 731 men serving in Bengal, there were in seven
years 14,159 cases of fever, and throughout India
fifty per cent. of all the admissions into hospital are
reparted to have arisen from that cause. Diseases of
the liver, too, aro very frequent, and in the acute stages the
danger to life is so imminent that recovery more or less
complete within two or three days or deaths furnishes the
history of almost every case. Acute inflammation of the
liver would appear to be essentially a disease of the hot
plains, and the deadliness of its nature may be judged by
the fact that the risk of death is greater from one attack of
it than from 13 of fever of the various forms as they ordi-
narily occur in India. Cholera, however, is the most acute

of all the diseases which scourge the country, and, like
inflammation of the liver, almost always ends in
the immediate recovery or death of the suf•

ferer. This disease has been known to prevail as
an occasional epidemic in different years, seasons, and

places throughout India, from 1774 to 1817 ; but ever since
it would seem to have engrafted itself on the endemics of
the soil, and has become of annual recurrence at many of
the larger stations, commencing generally at the beginning
of the hot, but sometimes in the rainy and cold, season. In
India, as all over the world, it acts with the same fatal

rapidity. There, as elsewhere, its tendency is to attack
populations living in low, damp, crowded, and ill-venti-
lated situations, especially when supplied with im-

pure water. When the water is pure cholera and epidemic
diseases in general are of rare occurrence in the elevated
parts of the country. Troops, both European and native,
have been:observed to become more liable to the disease

while on the mareh,'and when attacked by it alter a length-
ened march its virulence has been found to be increased in
intensity, proportion of deaths out of every 100 Euro-
peens serving in the Presidency ul Thenhey between 18 0
and 18.16 attributable to each of the tour great endemic dis-
eases enumerated was as follows—Dysentery and diarrhoea,
32 441 ; fevers, 23.054 ; cholera, 10.320; diseases of the liver,
9.597. The dreadful fatality of these diseases is rendered
evident to the eye by means of diagrams prefixed to the
report, which show at a glance how wide is the scope of
their action compared with that of all the other causes of
of mortality put together. Among the infantry of
the line serving at home from 1859 to 1861 the
deaths from zymotic diseases did not amount to
1 per annum in 1,600 living; in the European army
serving in Bengal between the years 1830 and
1845 they amounted to 58 in every 1,000. To this class of
diseases, therefore, is to be attributed the groat difference
which exists between the mortality of the soldier in the two
countries, and its action being reduced to the same level in
both there would not be an average of quite two in 1,060 in
their respective death-rates in favour of England. Indeed,
the mortality from lung and tubercular diseases is shown to
be as 3to 4.2 in 1,000 living in favour of the Indian service,
while that from all other diseases, besides those which have
been mentioned as so peculiarly fatal, is not very largely
against it, With those facts before them the commission-
ers of course find little difficulty in arriving at the conclu-
sion that if it wore possible wholly to put an end to the
deaths arising from the various classes of fevers, cholera,
and dysentery, to which they add hepathis and its conse-
quences, the troops in India would be as healthy as any
body of mon in the world. The practical part of their
inquiry, therefore, resolves itself into ascertaining, as
far as possible, the causes of those diseases, and de-
termining by what means their occurrence might be pre-
vented or their virulence mitigated,
The problem which they set themselves to solve is, it
may be observed, one not peculiar to India. Zymotic
diseases have always been the chief causes of mortality in
uncivilised or imperfectly civilised countries, and they have
been the special scourge of armies. Whole regions of the
earth which were formerly devastated by fever and dysen-
tery have long since been freed from their baneful in-
fluence except in the milder forms, in which they now
form part of the ordinary mortality. Why, then, might
not the same happy result be brought about in India? In-
quiry, the Commissioners say, proves that intermittent
fever has disappeared from localities which it formerly
ravaged, after the soil hadbeen drained and the cultivation
improved, while cholera and dysentery are known
to depend manly, for their frequency and se-
verity, on the neglect of well ascertained sani-
tary precautions. May it not be, then, that the
mortality in India is attributable to causes which are re-
movable and not inherent in the very nature of the soil and
climate ? In prosecuting this part of their inquiry, the
Commissioners enter into an examination of the topography
of the country ; the sanitary condition of the several canton-
ments, barracks, hospitals, bazaars, and neighbouring native
towns-ethe source, quality, amount, and means of distribu-
tion of water supply—the diet, drink, clothing, accoutre-
ments, duties, and recreations of the soldier, as well as the
effect of all those things upon his health under different
conditions. The examination had to be conducted over an
immense range of territory. India extends over 26 deg.
north latitude. It has a superficial area of 1,500,000 square
miles inclosed on the north, east, and west by gigantic
mountain ranges for 4,500 miles, and along its southern,
eastern, and western sides by 4,500 miles of tropical sea-
board. Much of the country consists of plains traversed by
large rivers, having deltas projecting into the ocean, and
hardly raised above its level. In other parts there aro ex-
tensive tablelands of greater or_ less elevation, rising
from the plains. Along the west coast there is a continu-
ous range of mountains intercepting the warm moist winds
coming from the Indian Ocean, and influencing the climate
for a considerable distance inland. Here and there are to
be found solitary mountain groups of altitudes varying from
3,000 ft to 5,000 ft, and presenting, owing to their elevation,
climate very different from thoeo of the plains on which
they look down. The northern barrier of the Himalaya
consists of a succession of ranges increasing in
height as they recede towards the north until they attain
altitudes of from 3to 5 miles, On the plains India enjoys
perpetual summer, but the sensible effsots of its climate
vary as widely as the physical character of the country
itself. The climate is hot and moist, with considerable
rain-fall on the plains and deltas. In the southern parts of
India heat and dryness prevail. Along the mountain
ranges the temperature falls with the elevation, and at cer
• lain altitudes diminution of heat is accompanied by a per-
cep
-
Lib!, inobture in the air. The climates of the seaboards
vary with the dire etion of the wind. Sometimes they are,
. "a et others they aro warm, moist,
comparatively cool, wh,.
4em most as healthy as those
,4 of certain isolated moun-
and depressing. The elite:tains, groups, and table laude are of those very same
of Southern Europe, while at the base e absolutely
mountains there are local elimatee which are..
pestilential.

At the majority of the stations occupied by the British
troops the evidence goes to show that a high mean tempera-
ture prevails. At many of them there is, it appears a consi-
derable difference between the day and night temperature,
accompanied by night and morning fogs. Indeed, heat,
moisture, and the great variations iu some localities
between the night and day temperature are the three special
climatic co4ditions to which the soldier is exposed, and,

Having come to the conclusion that malaria was the prime
cause of disease in India, and having insisted upon the ex-
pediency of its being removed, as far as possible, the Com-
missioners proceed to deal with the other influences by
which the health of the soldier serving in India is affected.
This part of the inquiry they preface by a brief gene-
ral statement of the nature of his services, from which
it appears that the usual recruiting age lies between
20 and 35 years, but that a great many lads under the age
of 20 enlist. The average time spent by these recruits at
the depot at Warley before embarking for India was, pre-
vious to the mutiny, four months, *ail° during the mutiny
it was only six weeks. The evidence goes to show that this
system of recruiting is open tQ grave objection, on the
ground that many of the men were obliged to undergo labo-
rious duties in a tropical climate at too early an age, while
the period allowed for drill was too short, inasmuch as it
rendered further drill necessary after the recruit arrived in
India, under circumstances not so favourable as those enjoyed
at home. Indeed, the great bulk of the evidence on this point
is to the effect that no recruit ought to be sent out to India
under 20, and that these who are sent out should be fully
drilled. The practice of issuing spirits to the recruits, too,
on their passage out, which formerly prevailed, but which
has been so far modified by the latest Queen's regulations
as to render it necessary that the spirits should bo mixed
with three parts of water, and not issued till after dinner,
is strongly condemned by the great majority of the wit-
nesses, as predisposing to disease. Formerly, it may be
added, little or no attention was paid to the time of the
year at which men were landed in India, and after landing
they were forwarded to their destination without much re-
gard to season or means of conveyance. The evils of this
system were, as stated by Col. Durand, to a considerable
extent abated under the ad ministration of Lord Ellenborough
and a very appreciable diminution in the susceptibility of
the newly-arrived troops to disease was found to be the re-
sult. Having joined his regiment, the soldier's duties in
India consist in time of peace for the most part of the usual
guards, and of drills and parades before sunrise and at sun-
set, and, so far as these duties are concerned, the Commis-
soners are of opinion that he cannot be said to be exposed to
excessive fatigue in their discharge.
Following up his history after his arrival in India, they
are compelled to look for other causes besides the nature of
his duties or the prevalence of malaria in order to account
for the vastly greater mortality which exists in the soldier's
case than in the civil officer, In the prosecution of this in-
quiry they find that many of the stations occupied by Bri-
tish troops—and this circumstance operates equally to the
prejudice of the officer—are either within or close to
cities and towns, the inhabitants of which are decimated
periodically Fy fevers and are ciposekl to the influence of
the same sanitary defects from which the civil population so
largely suffers.
Sir Mertin. in his evidence, says that these stations,
and indeed the stations generally thr-ughout India, have
been selected without any special regard to sanitary consi-
derations, and that no station which iiet'had ever visited
was exempt from the action of malaria. All the stations, it
appears, are surface dra;ned, but this, with very few ex-
ceptions, is the only form of drainage to which they have
been subjected, and it is proved to be utterly insufficient to
carry away the fluid reface which accumulates in large
quantities. In fact, all the stational reports go to show
that the drainage of Indian stations, on a well-digested plan
to suit local circumstances, is a work of urgent necessity for
improving the health of the army. Of equal importance is
it, as is clearly demonstrated by the evidence, that the water
supply of the different stations should be placed upon an
improved footing. At present the stations as well as the
town in India derive their supply from three sources—
tanks, wells, and ricers; and the results of analysis, so far
as it has been carried are by no means satisfactory as
regards the purity of the supply. Dr. It. D. Thomp-
son, the officer of health for the district of Marylebone, who
has visited India, describes the state of the Indian tanks as
" quite shocking," while the mode of distributing the
water by means of water carriers, called bheesties, who
draw it from its source to the barracks, and then empty it
into euch vessels as may happen to be at hand, as pro-
nounced by Dr Letheby—who stated in his evidence that
he was disposed to rank impure water above the impure air
as one of the most powerful causes of disease—to be open
to great object. The testimony of Dr Sutherland upon this
point is to the effect that the present condition of the water
supply is one of the cardinal defects in the sanitary arrange-
ments of India, and that it is undquestionably a predispos•
ing cause of disease, especially
during the seasons when the
cholera, fever, dysentery, and other eymotic diseasea usually
make their appearance. With this evidence before them, the
commissioners deem it their duty to dwell upon the expedi-
ency of instituting a chemical investigation of all the water
sources at the several stations, with the view of improving
them—either by the adoption of precautionary measures, di-
minishing the risk of pollution, or by the creation of a purer
supply. The remaining influences pre-disposing to disease
are of a nature which tell almost exclusively on the health
of the common soldier.

Fashions for the Month.

(From Les (odes Parisietmes.)

Certainly the last month 118.5 been most devoid of all im-
portant change in fashion, Indeed, there is scarcely any
precisely as they were—scanty in front to increase the effect
write about. Skirts arc worn
The round bodices, to which we referred in our last as
once again making their appearance, appear to have received
a temporary check—temporary beyond all doubt from the
simple reason that the large buckles, to accommodate which
the round bodices were again introduced, are keeping in
change
athnegetrianina
public favour.
Sleeves, if anything, are looser than they were. The coat
sleeve, however, is still the prevailing mode, the cuff being
modified, so that the entire sleeve does not so forcibly re-
mind the observer as it did of the model whence this
fashion was taken.
Girdles, or half bodices, as some of
them may nov., be
called, still continue to be worn, their shape being made to
agree, by the exercise of much ingenuity, with the tailed
bodices which still remain prevalent.
Zouave
jackets are still worn, and so also at the seaside
and in the country are Garibaldi shirts. These, however,
are very much embroidered.
actual fashion
to
Perhaps the only actual novelty in the way of dross is the
introduction of a double-skirted toilette in silk, the under
skirt of which is made in one silk, while the upper, open
down the front, and looped up, together with the bodice
and the sleeves, are made of a totally different silk, trimmed
however with the silk of the ender skirt,
Of trimmings the only marked change since last month is
that of the introduction of the saw-edge or zigzag pattern
trimming. This is used in every
. way—at tho edges of
jackets, at the hems of skirts, even at the edges of the
sleeve—while its application in a hundred various ways to
flat patterns is very remarkable.
Flat trimmings aro qui e a necessity at the present t ime.
who
ois
aniymonein cares about any ether style. EsPe.
g are those ti at bands used. We
have e
iay as
seen some very pretty effects by the use of hem bands
N o
ll on e,
a hem trimming
; of black velvet upon striped white muslins,

Of bonnets, it may be said that the small shape is gain-
ing ground, perhaps all the more rapidly because it affords
the opportunity of displaying the hair-drossing. They are
made a little larger than they were a month ago, but they
are still erownless, and almost frontless.

Many of the best milliners, while abandoning the curtain,
very absolutely replace it by a ruche, which gives a good
finish to the whole. Drawn and puffed tulle bonnets are
now in their glory, for the abolition of the late bonnet shape

in favour of something like a cap admits at once of the use
-f miffed tulle. While talking of bonnets, wo would
^,ivise ladies when purchasing the new shape to be
' 4r choice, for now, more than ever, does
ascend upon the proportionate
- of the wearer.

strongly,,._
very careful in tuv....
the success of the bonnet
size it bears to the head and feature..