930

free of verfree of vermin and sent to isolation barracks for a fortnight ; I

they are washed and disinfected every fourth day, and when n

thoroughly clean are admitted to a prison camp of large sheds arranged on either side of camp streets. Separate nationalities iiare lodged together, for the English want much fresh air, CFrench prisoners less, and Russians none at all. There have n

been epidemics of typhus, but there is none now, while a

more than half the deaths are due to tuberculosis. Insanity dis very rare. The food, though good, appears insufficient ;stew or soup is given to avoid the use of knives and forks.It is on their kitchen the commandants chiefly pride themselves, and next on their laundries and bath-houses.Individual prisoners are considered. Two orthodox Jews a

amongst some Russians were becoming emaciated, and it was found that their religion prevented them from eating the food provided, so they were given spirit lamps to prepare their own food. Farms are a part of the camp equipment, and here many prisoners are employed ; some work in neighbour- ing mines or factories. Sanitation is carefully watched and tfires prevented. Playgrounds, schools, and means of amuse-

"

ment are always provided. *

Victoria, B.C., April 12th. t

NOTES FROM INDIA. I

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.) - u

Women’s Medical College at Delhi. a

His Excellency the Viceroy on Feb. 17th opened, in the i presence of a large and distinguished gathering, the Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital for Women in the karea of the new city of the Imperial capital. The Hon. aSurgeon-General Sir Pardey Lukis, K.C.S.I, K.H.S., V.D., ’

t

Director-General of the Indian Medical Service, chairman of the Hospital Committee, in an opening speech gave the thistory of the hospital and enumerated the list of Ruling Princes and others who had so generously supported it. In 1912 Her Excellency the late Lady Hardinge was impressed by the fact that no medical college existed in India fexclusively for women, and that consequently the higher

f

medical education of women was conducted by male

professors in mixed classes at men’s colleges. Accordingly, it was proposed to establish at Delhi a college for 100students with its attached hospital of 150 beds, in whichwomen would be taught by women to attend on women, anda separate institution as a training school for nurses.

1Owing to the generous help forthcoming it was possible for fHer Excellency to lay the foundation-stone of the new

fMedical College on March 17th, 1914, a few days before herdeparture for England, from which country, alas, she never 1returned. Further subscripticns and endowments are, how-

"

ever, urgently required for this college, which Her Excellencyregarded as a pioneer institution ultimately leading to thewide diffusion of medical and sanitary knowledge by trainingIndian women of the proper class as doctors, health officers, and nurses. The college buildings and hostels are nowcomplete, whilst the out-patient department and one of thehospital blocks are far advanced. No difficnltyis anticipated,therefore, as regards the commencement of tutorial work inSeptember next, affiliation to the Punjab University havingbeen sanctioned.

The United Provinces Medical Budget.Speaking on the Medical Budget at Lucknow. Colonel C.

McTaggart, 1. M.S., said plague had declined to the minimum.The dispensaries did good work during the cholera epidemiclast year, the peculiar feature of which was that it persistedinto the winter. Blood examinations had shown that Lucknowwas remarkably free from malaria. Colonel McTaggart alsoalluded to the good work done in tuberculosis by Major C. A.Sprawson, I. M.S., and wished wealthy Indians would endowanother hospital in the city and district.

The Bombay Bacteriologioal Laboratory.The last report of Major Glen Liston, I.M.S., on the

work of the Bombay Bacteriological Laboratory containsexact statistics on the eifect of anti-plague inoculationin the Dharwar district. In preparing the statistics, onlythose houses were taken into account in which inoculatedpersons were living besides uninoculated and in which

plague cases occurred at some date subsequent to the lastinoculation ; every relevant fact being carefully weighed.

It appears that the uninoculated were attacked three timesmore frequently than the inoculated, and that the latter hadnearly ten tivne,,4 fewer deaths. The report testifies to theimportance of the work done at the laboratory under MajorGlen Liston’s direction, not only as to plague and themaking of all the anti-plague vaccine used in India, butalso as regards preventive medicine and pathologicaldiagnosis for the Bombay Presidency.

Tile Lady Minto N?tr8ing Association.The annual report of the Lady Minto Indian Nursing

Association for last year shows that the subscribers decreasedand the nursing staff was depleted. But despite thesedifficulties the work of the association appears to have beencarried out without interruption, while new responsibilitieswere undertaken. For instance, considerable assistancewas lent to Queen Alexandra’s Military Nursing Service,Another excellent piece of work undertaken by the associa.tion was the reopening of the Lady Roberts Home at Murree,Special arrangements were made by which Territorialregiments were enabled to participate in the benefits ofthe association.

Tuberoulosis in India.Dr. Arthur Lankester was entrusted some time ago by the

Indian Research Fund with the important task of investi.gating throughout India, including Burma, the cause andprevalence of tuberculosis in its various forms. In a recentlecture at Rangoon College Dr. Lankester said that in India itsannual victims equal the population of Calcutta. In Calcuttaitself it causes a rapidly increasing mortality. It is, indeed,the great commercial and educational cities, as well as thebig pilgrim centres, particularly of Northern India, whichare the foci of the disease in this country. He attributesthe fact to a group of causes, some climatic, but far moredepending on social customs. The Indian houses, with1thick walls and roofs, with little or no space for theingress or egress of fresh air, are perfect incubatingchambers for the phthisis microbe. The disease thriveschiefly, however, because social customs-prominent amongthem the purdah system-encourage its spread in the

family. By far the greatest prevalence of consumption is

among middle-class women in the zenanas, irrespective ofrace or religion. In a crowded Mahomedan ward inCalcutta the deaths from consumption among women lastyear were six times as numerous as among the ordinarypopulation. In Peshawar the Hindu women, who live inseclusion, suffer quite as much as the Moslem women. The

prevalence of the disease under these conditions is due to thefact that girls who, during childhood, have been accustomedto freedom in the open air suddenly find themselves, at aperiod when their physical resources are subjected to greatstrain, restricted to the confines often of a single ill-ventilated apartment in which they are compelled to spendthe bulk of their existence. The effects of the joint familysystem superimpose on the purdah system a tendency toovercrowding that places all the members of a middle-classfamily within reach of infection. Closed-up offices andill-ventilated schools have the same effect on the male

population. Improvement depends on a spread of the

knowledge of sound hygienic and sanitary principles, espe-cially among the female population, and this is difficult toattain.

THE SERVICES.

ROYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.To be temporary Surgeons :—E. A. Fiddian and R. P.

Langford-Jones.ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Temporary Captain J. C. Webb to be temporary Major.T. M. Hum-Murdoch to be temporary Honorary Major

whilst employed at the Smithston War Hospital, Greenock.The following are granted temporary rank whilst com.

manding Field Ambulances : Majors to be Lieutenant-Colonels : T. E. Fielding, D.S.O., H. St. M. Carter, D.S.O.,C. H. Turner, D.S.O., G. E. Ferguson, and F. E.Roberts, D.S.O.Captain J. W. Lane to be temporary Major whilst com.

manding a Field Ambulance. Captains to be Majors:H. St. M. Carter, D.S.O., F. E. Roberts, D.S.O., G. E.Ferguson, A. R. Wright, E. C. Phelan, T. D. H. Robinson,A. S. Littlejohns, A. S. Williams, and V. C. Honeybourne.W. L. Griffiths (late Captain, R.A.M.C., T.F.) to be Captain.