The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-19 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The British Army in India. By Julius Jeffreys,
F.R.S., formerly Staff Surgeon at Cawnisore.
Longman.
This is a very valuable and interesting work that
treats of a subject that concerns the welfare of
thousands of our countrymen, and at the present
epoch is especially deserving of the attention of
those in authority. The care of the health of the
soldier in India has always been an imperative
duty, but it has not met with the c insideration it
deserves. Now, when motives of policy are joined
to those of humanity, and when the demand for
increased forces reudtrs every man of so much
value to Lis country, we may hope that means will
be adopted to render the soldier's life in India as
harmless and as little wearisonae.as possible. The
author of the present work has eviJently thought
much on the subject, and combines the knowledge
of theoretical principles with the experience of prac-
tical results. He was formerly a staff-surgeon at
Cawnpore, and civil surgeon at Futtegnrh, and
having-passed many years in India be has gained a
full acquaintance with the injurious effects ef a
tropical climate on the European constitution. His
remarks are full of sound sense ; he takes into con-
sideration the difference of the temperament, the
mental excitement, the insidious evils which are
not less surely destructive than the n.ore apparent
'sunstroke, or fever. He protests very strongly
against the opinion that exposure to the sun in
India is not so injurious as has been. hitherto be-
lieved. The apparent exemptoss of the trsops
before Delhi has b- en 'aken s..s a prof by many that
.t 211 soldiers may be employed throughout the
year in the field with no great danger. In opposition
to this assert ion,lhe air !tor says that human health,
even in India, is to be estimated at more than a
season's duration ; and that in the prime of life,
without the aid of depressing mental emotions,
some time will elapse before the man succumbs to
those influences Which may, nevertheless, b 3 ruin-
ing his health for • life. In some instances ira-
dividnals are possessed of what the author terms a
semi-tropical constitution, and speedily adapt them-
selves to the climate, and it is, he says, unfor-
tunate to others when a man 'of influence possesses
this' immunity, as he is • too likely to measure the
con'titutions of others by his own. The importance
of a suitable dress for the climate can scarcely be
overated. The author has made ni,uy suggestions
and given illustrations of his prop teed uniform,
which be himself derived great benefit from. What-
ever opinions may be entertained of the proposed
changes, it is impossible to deny the truth and jus-
tice of his remarks on the necessity of a speedy
alteration in the dress of the Indian wither. It
has often been said that we cannot do better than
copy the example of the natives, but Mr. Jeffreys
brings two forcible arguments again st this suggese
tion. Firs., that their seucibility to climatic influ-
ence is very different from ours, and secondly that
they have no knowledge of science, and come-
quently can only try experiments without any cer-
tainty of success. The British soldier on duty bas
to contend with three fees niore deadly than
native troops, the sun above his head, the ground
beneath his feet, and the surrounding atmosphere.
Their different action on the so stern is clearly and
ably shown by Mr. Jeffreys, and the best means of
defence explained. The principles of the refrac-
tion of heat, the evaporation of water, the con-
vection and subterranean ab orption of beat are alt
employed by him as beneficial agencies, and made
to influence his system of dress end lodging. To
the hat he at aches especial importance. "It is posi-
tively frightful to contemplate the passive spectsc'e
of the sun above in Cancer, British skulls belo iv, kird
by that tropic, and between them scarce a quarter of
an inch of matter, and that the most receptive of
radiance, and at the crown only at any distance
from the skull, but pressing close against its sides
all round. Would that one lied the command of
rhetoric and of leisure adequately to depict the
cerebral ruin and coustit ttional destruction pac-
ing on in an army marching in' such shakos and
helms ts, and throttled with neck stacks !" In sup-
port of his theory of the dangers of the china-Ls,
ho proves the fallacy of comparing the mortality
in a newly arrived corps with its subsequent de-
crease, and of supposing that the acclimitatiou has
made the difference. There are many vigorous
men, he says, who are quite unable to stand a
tropic d climate, and die at once ; there are many
others who aro so wilfully careless, that they soon
fall a prey to intemperance and exposure, and
there are others naturally feeble who soon
become invalided ; and when all the se are sifted
out of a regiment, the rate of sickness and death
is naturally reduced, " not because the survivors
have become climate-proof." The housing of the
troops, the ventilation of barracks, the !twat on of
the regiments, and especially the employment of
the soldiers, are all treated of earnestly and Tem-
t-cally. The terrible effects of ennui are forcibly
-depicted-. "Itis to lie hoped that all aAi-ve ebul-
litions of the Datives will be quenched by t wo years
of chilling defeats, and then will roc mmenca bar-
rack imprisonment, objeet'ets and hopeless, with
its ennui, intemperance, and, at times, even de-
spair; eyes looking upon nothing ; minds caring
for little, and hoping less ; thoughts of home long
suppressed." The Indian Government has sup•
plied the troops with reading r, oms, but, as the
wiitcr justly observe, a largo portion c,f* the sol-
diers are drawn from the village labourers of
Euglaud, to whom purely intellectual recreaticm is
not enough. He suggests that they should be en-
couraged to follow those arts or trades with which
they were acquainted in England, and to iestruct
some of the native lads in them—a system which
would thus be doubly advantageous. The duty of
holding out hopeful encouragement to the soldier
is also especially dwelt upon ; and all who are ac-
quainted. with the demoralising effects of a life of
moody idleness, without prospect of change, will
be glad to see the case so simply and forcibly stated.
The appendix treats of some general questions of
policy, involving many mixed principles, and
varitus considerations ; but there can scarcely be a
difference of opinion as to the necessi y of giving
the soldier every possible chanceof health and life,
and as suggesting much that is useful and pracical
this volume is deserving of immediate attention.

Notes on the Revolt in the No;fit-Western Provinces
of India. By Charles Rakes, Judge of the
Sadder Court at Agra. Longman.
The author of this work ob,:etve7, with trutl),
that in these days any It nest narrat of the
Judith history of his day niny hope for the indul-
gence of the publ'c. Notwithstanding the increa,ing
number which are now claiming attention and con-
sideration, the diaries of besiegers and hesiegeil,
the works of those who strove itttd suffer..d in the
mutiny, and of those W:IC;S3 previous acquaintance
wi h the cAmtry enable them to &sod ibe its people
and natuial featu, es, the v. lames from-the pen of
tho soldier, the surgeon, the civilian, the records
'et feininine heroism and endwance, notwithstand-
ing this great variety and apparehtly interminable
number, the work before us will not be likely to
sass unnoticed. The author having filled a high
offie;al position at Agra, and being late civil com-
missioner with Sir Celin Campbell, has mixed with
many men whose names are now eminent in the
history of B itish India. Though having no per-
sonal adventures to relate, he has naturally seen
much of the striking and terrible °rents that hay,
filled the last year. Having very lttely returned
to England, he observed the anxiety felt Ly
a large clas of his countrymen to obtain
correct information respecting the feelings and
conduct of the people of India. He COMO-
quently offers to the public an account of his
own obse.rvations dueing the eventful epoch, and
resultsPiet of the mutiny in
provinces of India. The state
otag lciftvcetuei north-western
coaLict:ll the
country
iedtaerrdsr rnnyatewea, of theno doubt faithfully and
before the revolt, the retirement
into the fort, his visits to Delhi, Utnballa, and
Furruckabad, and various other branches of infor-
a onre given, while the author's views and
the character of the revolt, our future
Sic., are added in supple-
relation to the natives
mentary chapters. He •
.inste ers that there has
been no rebelli,n, properly so called, in Not th-
Western India, but that the disorgatisalion occa-
sioned by the violence of the Sepoys and temporary
removal of the magistrate,
was•merely a passing
evil. The Sepoys are represented in more favour
able colours than they are usually painted in, and
the writer is fully in f ay. ur of judicious lenitybeing
shown to the whole Indian people, thcuAli he
would not, of caur,c, ttJe prestige of British
p ,w. t by any unworthy modes of conciliation.
There is much in this work which may be new to
the reader, and it gives him a fair and simple nar-
ative of the rise and fall of one branch of the
great mutiny.

A Long Vacation in Continental Picture Galleries.
By tie Rev. T. J. Blake, M.A. Parker.
A. series of succinct criticisms on the contents
of the Continental Picture Galleries is contained
in this volume. All the chief repositories of
•rt are visited and described; in fact, the work is
an elaborated and refined catalogue. The author's
aim and ability are clearly shown in the following
passage from the preface

Tne aim in publishing these notes has been, to supply
to the general traveller in a portlble and cheap form,
something a little fuller and fresher than the notices in
Murray's "Handbooks," a little less abstruse than
Kugler. If the at tie,tic part of Murray bad seemed as
good as the wonderfully accurate kforroation on irns,
routes, and battle.field4—if the re,tbetio element bad
seemed as well provided for as the historical, topogra-
phical, geological, antiquarian—the present notes would
not have been printed. Nor would they, i( Kugler had_