Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the regulations affecting the sanitary condition of the army, the organization of military hospitals, and the treatment of the sick and wounded ; with evidence and appendix. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.

Great Britain. Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Sanitary Condition of the Army.

Date:: 1858

Credit: Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the regulations affecting the sanitary condition of the army, the organization of military hospitals, and the treatment of the sick and wounded ; with evidence and appendix. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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$liotloins for tents do not answer in priicticc, as the ■water wliieli boats tlirou(!;li a bell tent in stormy weatlier lodges and forms pools in ^ilaee of being absorbed into the earth. We have tried both these in the tents of the sick, and I have almost always heard them condemned by the medical officers, Avhereas a strip of macintosh cloth spread on the ground under the blanket answers admirably well. It was what I and many others used when compelled to sleep on the ground, so tliat I can speak of it from personal experience, and I think it might be adopted with great advantage to the health of the troops. It is a light article, and conveyance could easily be proA ided for an article of tliat kind, and they could easily be made so that the cloths of a given number of men would form both a small patrol tent and a flooring to it, and tiuis protect the men from rain and the damp ground beneath. No. 102. Dr. Smith to Dr. Hall. Army and Ordnance Medical SiK, De]iartment, 8th February 1855. As I am positively Avitliout anything like de- tailed information touching the state of the sick and wounded in the camp, and the means available for their nourishment and medical treatment, I request you will be so good as to require the senior officer of each division to supply yon weekly with a statement that will involve the above and all other information which you or they may think likely to prove useful to me, and enable me to meet the inquiries and remarks which are daily, nay hourly, l)eing addressed to me. These statements you should, I think, require the officers specified to deliver to you when you make your weekly tour of inspection, and by doing so you will be further able to enlighten me by such personal observation as you no doubt have the opportunity of making on these occasions. I am getting almost nervous from anxiety for information, and therefore beg of you to take every opportunity of supplying me. As I have already informed you no means calculated to facilitate your operations will be refused, you have simply to state what are necessary to your purpose to have them ; one or more additional clerks will be supplied you, if you require them, and you may rest assured I will engage the best I can obtain, so that you may have the ablest possible helpers to copy your communica- tions and returns. I have, &c. Dr. Hall, (Signed) A. Smith, &c. &e. Director General. No. 103. H. Roberts, Esq. to Dr. Smith. War Department, Sir, 8th February 1855. I AM directed, by the Secretary of State for this department to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the 7th instant, that no information has been re- ceived from the Commissariat Officer in charge at Malta, regarding the supply of lime juice for the use of the army in the Crimea, since that communicated to you in the letter from this department dated 13th ultimo ; but directions were given to that officer under date 25th ultimo, to forward to its destination with as little delay as possible, in periodical shipments, 20,000 gallons of lime juice when received from the con- tractor, and also to obtain and forward a further similar quantity as soon as possible after the shipment of the first 20,000 gallons, as requested in your letter of the 16th ultimo. I am, &c. (Signed) Henky Roberts. Dr. Andrew Smith, &c. &c. No. 104. 7)'. Hawcs, Esq. to the. Director General. War Office, Sir, 10th February 1855. I AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th ultimo, recommending that every soldier who leaves this country during the cold season for the Crimea should, either before he embarks or witliin twenty-four hours after embarkation, be furnished with the Avarm clothing intended to be issued generally to the troo]is, and to acquaint vou that the General Commanding in Chief does not tliink it necessary that soldiei-s eml)arking for the Crimea should be served with warm clothing on embarkation, or shortly afterwards, his Lordship considering that if it be issued to them in the Bosphorus it will he sufficient to protect them against the weather they will probably encounter in the Crimea. I have, &c. (Signed) B, Hawes. The Director General, &c. &e. No. 105. Extract of a Letter from. Dr. Hall, Inspector General of Hosjnfals, to Dr. A. Smith, Director General, Army ISledical Department, dated Before Sehastopol, \Oth Eebruury 1855. I ENCLOSE a note from Dr. Pine, recommending a supply of amorphous quinine dissolved in spirit to be sent out and used in Avine as a propliylactic in the manner pointed out by Dr. Bryson, li.N., at page 80 in the pamphlet on diseases in Turkey, and memoir on the remittent fever of the Levant. The remedy in question appears, by the report, to have been used Avith satisfactory results, and if you Avould be good enough to order out such proportion of the sohition as you think fit, Ave could institute trials of it in different regiments, and note the result for your information. No. 106. Dr. Smith to J. Wood, Esq. Army and Ordnance Medical Sir, Department, 10th February 1855. In reply to your letter, having reference to my requisition of 7th instant, for 2,000 cholera belts, to be sent to Cork for the use of detachments thence em- barking for the seat of Avar, referring also to a recent objection of mine against a specimen belt sent from your department for inspection, and further inquiring what description of cholera belt I intended should be supplied on the demand referred to, I have the honour to request you Avill be pleased to call atten- tion to the description* specified in my requisition of 9th December last for 40,000 belts for the use of the troops serving in the Crimea, Avhicli requisition Avas submitted to the Military Secretary Avitli a vieAV to its being forwarded to your department in due course. I have, &c. J. Wood, Esq. (Signed) A. S.ahtii, &c. &c. Director General. No. 107. Dr. Hall to Dr. A. Smith. Before Sehastopol, Sir, 11th February 1855. In reply to your letter of the 18th January 1855, requesting to be informed how far the locality is from the camp where the bodies of the soldiers and animals that die are interred, and Avhether they * Each 12 inches Avide, to be made of stoat flannel, and furnished Avith 3 straps and buckles.$