Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the sanitary state of the army in India : with précis evidence.

  • Great Britain. Parliament.
Date:
1863
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the sanitary state of the army in India : with précis evidence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. May it please Your Majesty, We, the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the sanitary state of Your Majesty's Army serving in India, humbly present to Your Majesty the results of our investigation, which we do in this our Report, as follows:—. The inquiry in which we have been engaged has been one of unusual extent and duration, and from its nature has led to considerable delay in preparing our Report. We had, in the first place, to lay the foundation for our inquiry by an elaborate examination of the available statistical and sanitary documents in the India House. In doing so it was perceived at the very beginning that we could not arrive at our object by taking oral evidence only, and that it would be necessary to carry out a pre- liminary local inquiry at all the Indian stations before a true estimate could be formed of what were the real conditions of the problem with which we had to deal. With this view a series of printed questions was drawn up and sent to all the stations to be there replied to and signed concurrently by the commanding, engineering, and medical officers. We had to await the results of this part of the inquiry ; and as on some important statistical points the replies from two Presidencies were incomplete, we called for further information, which has not yet been received by us. This, together with other engagements of members of the Commission, has led to considerable but unavoidable delay, which we are grieved to say has been increased by the losses which the Commission has sustained since its first meeting. The late Lord Herbert, who was our first Chairman, was compelled by official occupation, and latterly by declining health, to suspend the meetings for some time. Previous to that period, Sir Robert Vivian had been obliged by his other duties to resign as member of the Commission, and we had further to deplore the death of Mr. Alexander, the late Director-General of the Army Medical Department. To supply these losses, Dr. Gibson, the present Director-