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MEDICAL SERVICE.

MEDICAL Gentlemen obtaining an appointment in the Company's service, are placed on the same footing as Cadets, but take rank on their landing in India with Lieutenants. On their appointment, they will be required to undergo an examination and furnish the necessary certificates, &c. &c. (Vide APPENDIX.) The uniform of the AssistantSurgeon differs from the Regimental Officer; but all other matters relating to his passage, outfit, &c., will be the same as the Cadet, excepting in certain cases where he engages to perform the medical duties of the ship, in payment of the whole or two-thirds of the regulated passagemoney. It is not very frequent that such opportunities occur, as shipowners have generally their own friends or acquaintances, who of course obtain the preference.

Promotion is regulated by seniority alone, therefore, if he lives, the youngest Assistant-Surgeon must arrive at the head of the list.

The highest grade in the Medical Service is the Medical Board, composed of three surgeons on the list.

In India, no distinction is made between the

practice of medicine and surgery; every officer must act in either capacity, as circumstances demand; in fact, the medical man, in India, must exercise his profession in the most comprehensive sense of the word.

The study of the native language is of still greater moment to the medical officer of the Indian army than its regimental one; and that man who cannot converse familiarly in the native tongue, is surely totally unfit to be placed in the medical charge of a native regiment. For his own sake I should conceive he would use his utmost exertions to obtain an accurate knowledge of the native names of each particular drug, an ignorance of which has, no doubt, and must continue to lead to many fatal mistakes, where the lives of hundreds depend upon the correct translation in language of their feelings and complaints, that man must be dead to every feeling of humanity, who would still continue wilfully ignorant of this most necessary adjunct to a correct knowledge of what should or should not be administered.

The Assistant-Surgeon, on his arrival, reports his arrival at the Adjutant-General's Office; and to the Secretary to the Medical Board Office, to whom he presents the certificate which he received at the India House. He is immediately directed to do duty at the General Hospital; and, during his stay at the Presidency, he may render himself,

in a few months, by an unremitting perseverance, fully capable of undertaking a native practice; and thus not only gratify his own feelings, but he will also, in all probability, be much sooner placed in a situation which gives him a much higher salary. His pay, &c., in the General Hospital, is about 230 rupees per mensem, with quarters. So soon as he is qualified, and receives charge of a regiment, his allowances will amount to 450 rupees and upwards. Surgical instruments are, I believe, furnished by Government; I should certainly recommend the medical gentleman to possess a complete set of his own.

The Assistant-Surgeon's life in India should be one of continued action; his professional duties will, no doubt, occupy a great portion of his time, the remainder cannot be better employed than studying all subjects connected in any shape with the science of medicine. Botany opens a wide field for the medical student's operations. The investigation of the properties of drugs totally new to the English practitioner, but in common use by the natives, will be of the greatest utility. Chemistry, with its thousand experiments, must ever afford unwearied amusement to the inquiring mind; and doubly so to a man whose profession should give him a zest for such knowledge. In fact, the varied products of an Eastern clime, in its vegetable and mineral king

dom, may be turned to the most beneficial results, if scientifically and perseveringly studied by an enterprising enquirer.

Native doctors are attached to all the hospitals, general as well as regimental; and I understand there is now established in India a native medical institution, where Musselmen and Hindoos of the higher class are instructed in all branches of this science.

There is but little private practice in the interior; but, at the presidencies, if the Surgeon, or Assistant-Surgeon, is fortunate enough to obtain the most insignificant appointment, he has but to convince a few that he possesses a practical fund of medical knowledge, and he may consider his fortune sure.

For the term of service, furlough, &c. Vide APPENDIX.

STANDING ORDERS FOR THE SURGEON.

1. This officer should bear in mind, that he is not less amenable to the orders of the Officer commanding the corps, than any Officer in it; and that, although any interference in his medical treatment of the sick would be improper, and is unauthorised, yet, all other points connected with the rules already laid down by the regulations of the Service, for the management of the hospitals of the native corps, are cognizable by the Officer

at the head of the regiment, who is responsible for their due observance, by all placed under his orders.

2. The readiness of the men, when sick, to resort to a well-regulated hospital, will afford satisfactory proof of the attention paid to the patients. On the other hand, to an hospital badly managed, or indifferently attended to, the men will never willingly go. It is not the use of European medicine that the Sepoys have any objection to; but they are shrew and observant, and soon discover whether they are properly treated, and whether the Surgeon is interested in their recovery.

3. The Establishments, which are ample, are to be confined to the hospital duties, and are not to be used for private purposes.

4. "Fort William, 29th March 1823.-1. The Government having, with reference to general orders, June 21, 1822, sanctioned and adopted the recommendation of the Medical Board, as to the propriety of a previous examination in the native languages of the medical Officer selected for the situation of Superintendent of the school for native doctors, it is hereby directed, that previous to confirmation in that office, the person so selected shall undergo a regular examination in the Persian and Hindoostanee languages by the Officers of the College of Fort William.

2. "No candidate shall be considered entitled to

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