This takes no account of the increased cost of superintendence with riding mules, bell mares, chief packer, cook, and blacksmith; nor of the transportation of men and animals from the center of the United States and across the Pacific Ocean. Nor is even an attempt of comparison made in the cost of forage, the American mule being fed on oats and hay carried half way round the world, whereas the Indian mule would thrive on a little palay and the native grass cut by his driver. The American mule can carry a considerably greater load, but his habitual load does not exceed that of the smaller mule by more than 30 per cent. These data are submitted for serious consideration; they certainly justify immediate experiment. It is believed that with a little care and good judgment an ideal transportation, both pack and wheel, for our infantry commands in the Philippines, could be devised, leaving our large teams for the supply of stations situated on fairly good roads, and our American pack trains to accompany the cavalry. The pack and harness arrangement, with simply a wider spread of arch, could also be applied to the ox or to the carabao for pack or draft purposes through the tropical morass. As a matter of fact this would not be an experiment in the true sense of the word, but simply a trial of something that has been in use for centuries under conditions closely approximating our own. It is safe to say that our present back transportation for infantry costs five times as much as it should.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS.

There seems to be no effort, not even a desire, on the part of the British staff to preserve units intact. In their orders for a march, and in their reports, we find them referring to so many rifles or lances rather than to battalions, companies, platoons, or squadrons. There may be special reason for this, making it desirable to have fragments of regiments at various points; ordinarily such a course is not a good example to be followed.

The British field force at the time of departure from Tientsin is reported as 2,920 men. On the road it is a difficult matter to make an estimate of the number of fighting men in a column on account of the large number of camp followers. What appears to be a formidable force may really be much smaller for business purposes. An official distribution statement of the British forces in Pechili for October, 1900,

REPORT ON THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENTS OF THE ALLIED FORCES IN NORTH CHINA.

BY MAJ. W. B. BANISTER, SURGEON, U. S. V.

HEADQUARTERS CHINA RELIEF EXPEDITION,
PEKIN, CHINA, November 16, 1900.

CHIEF SURGEON CHINA RELIEF EXPEDITION,

Pekin, China.

SIR: In compliance with letter from adjutant general's office, China Relief Expedition, dated October 16, 1900, I have the honor to submit the following report on the medical departments of the various nations represented. As the letter bears date of October 16, these observations were necessarily made after the close of the campaign and under somewhat different conditions than what prevailed during the campaign.

BRITISH.

The English, from the mixed character of their forces, the different customs and diet of the two factors, and peculiar caste customs of the natives of India, have two separate field establishments, one for English and one for Indian troops; in fact the entire medical departments are separate and distinct. They do not treat British and Indian soldiers in the same field hospital, but would have two field hospitals, one for each. In the British army there are six lines of medical assistance. The first line, the aid rendered on the field of battle by the medical officer of each unit and his hospital assistant, and they use the "first field dressing," which corresponds to our "first-aid package." Each soldier is provided with a first-field dressing, which is carried in an inner pocket on the right breast of the field-service khaki coat, the pocket being provided with a flap and buttons. It consists of, first, an outer cover of millerained khaki drill, sewn; second, an inner cover of thin waterproof (mackintosh), size 12 by 6 inches; third, a gauze bandage, 4 yards long; fourth, compress of compressed charpie, of flax between layers of gauze; fifth, antiseptic agent used is corrosive sublimate, 1 to 1,000. It will be observed that but one compress and but one bandage are provided, the triangular bandage being

omitted. The package examined by me belonged to the British service; another one I examined belonged to the Indian service and contained a triangular bandage, but the rest of the material was very coarse and rough. The first-aid package is inferior to the one in use in our service. Three trained stretcher bearers to a company and four to a squadron are allowed. Each hospital assistant carries a first medical companion, corresponding to our orderly pouch; and one set of stretcher bearers carries a field-surgical haversack, corresponding to our hospital-corps pouch; but in both instances. are inferior to ours and it would not be to our advantage to copy them. So with each regiment or unit, there would be on the battle line one medical officer, one hospital assistant, and three stretcher bearers to each company. This is exclusive of the personnel at the dressing station, which is supplied from the bearer company. The basis of the British medical field service is the field hospital which is equipped for 100 beds, and is made up of four sections of 25 beds, each section distinct and complete in itself in equipment and personnel. The sections are designated as A, B, C, and D, and each section of medical and surgical stores is made up of five pairs of boxes, twenty pairs for each field hospital; each box is marked so as to indicate the number of the field hospital to which it belongs, the section, and the number of the box in each section. Two of these boxes are medical panniers, and one contains a case of instruments for amputation, etc., and they correspond to our medical and surgical chests, but the comparison is in our favor. Each box is limited not to exceed 80 pounds in weight, so that it can be carried by either coolies, mules, camels, or carts.

The field hospital can equip one bearer company, composed as follows:

2 medical officers.

4 assistant surgeons or hospital assistants, carrying field surgical haversacks.

5 ward servants or ward orderlies, carrying field medical companions. 2 cooks.

2 water carriers.

2 sweepers.

2 pairs field medical panniers for dressing station.

5 medical companions; one for collecting station and four for dressing station.

22192-27

24 field surgical haversacks.

2 field hospital boxes (Nos. 6 and 7) containing spare splints, etc.

1 surgeon tent for dressing station.

1 Ford's lamp for dressing station. 24 tally books.

50 blankets for dressing station.

20 pillows carried in dandies.

12 towels.

6 wash basins.

1 pair of kajawales carrying kitchen utensils, brandy, essence of mutton, etc.

2 hospital distinguishing flags, 8 directing flags, 4 lanterns (bull's-eye) for searching for wounded after dark. Tents for wounded as required.

The bearer company carries the wounded from the collecting station to the dressing station, and then to the field hospital. We have nothing to correspond to the varied character of the British bearer company. Its personnel consists of but 15.

A British field hospital is composed, when packed, of twentyeight packages, a native field hospital of twenty-three packages. On the advance from Tientsin to Pekin the medical department of the British force, consisting of the Welsh Fusiliers, marines, and naval brigade, brought one section, but without tents, and one field hospital for Indian troops consisting of First Sikhs, Twenty-fourth Punjab Infantry, Seventh Rajputs, and First Bengal Lancers, but no tentage. As their losses were very slight this proved sufficient. The second line of medical assistance is the bearer company above described; the third, the field hospital; the fourth, the field hospitals along the line of communication with the base; the fifth, general hospitals, which are limited to a maximum of 500 beds; the sixth, hospital ships.

With the field hospital a medical-supply depot goes. On the march to Pekin no regular system could be employed, as is generally the case with a flying column. The medical-supply depot was left back at Tientsin, and no tentage could be brought. The four sections containing the field hospital were incomplete. The wounded were removed from the fields to boats, and wherever transported, by dhoolies, which consist of litter beds suspended from long bamboo poles and closed in by green curtains, which protect the patient from the sun and public gaze. The British troops had eight of the dhoolies,

though the usual allowance is five to a section. As the Indian troops had four sections, this entitled them to 20 dhoolies, but they had 28. It requires four bearers to carry a dhooli, two at each end, and even then it looks like a heavy load. The wounded, after being collected, were carried to the hospital junks and by them conveyed to Tientsin and thence by boat to the general hospital at Weihaiwei. There was no transportation employed by any of the armies on the expedition that could compare with our hospital ambulances. In each section are two medicine panniers, one of the two containing a case of instruments similar to the capital operating case in our service.

In the British service the arms and accouterments are brought to the hospital with the patient and taken charge of by the pack store sergeant.

The

TRANSPORTATION.-On the Pekin expedition no other transportation seemed to be provided for the wounded than the dhoolies, and stretchers for use on the battle-field. stretcher in use in the Indian service is composed of two bamboo poles with canvas stretched between, and an iron bar, to hold the poles apart, at each end. It has no legs, and so, when placed on the ground loaded, the patient would only have the thickness of the canvas between him and the ground.

The packages of the field hospital can be transported by coolies, pack mules, camels, etc. They have no transportation equal to our escort wagons for their supplies or equip

ments.

SANITATION.-In camps on the march the excreta, kitchen refuse, etc., are received in trenches and covered with dry earth several times a day. Latrine screens are provided, which consist of wide pieces of canvas and are very effective for the purpose. On the march from Tientsin orders were issued to boil all water used for drinking purpose, but in two days was revoked, as it was found impracticable to carry out the order. The British field hospital is located at the Chefoo Palace, is large and airy, and kept quite clean. The buildings on one side of the courtyard are used as wards for British troops, those on the other for native troops (Indian), but the two are separate in every respect, and both seem to be in good sanitary condition.