THE MEDICAL SERVICE OF INDIA.

AN Assistant- surgeoncy is a desirable office, both on account of the immediate advantages which it offers, and the prospective benefit with which it is fraught. An assistant-surgeon becomes at once the recipient of an income of between two and three hundred pounds a-year, and if attached to a regiment where there is no full surgeon, or where the surgeon, from illness or other causes, is often absent, may soon be in the receipt of a much larger income. In former times, so little care was taken about the selection of the medical officers of the East India Company, that it was facetiously said, a man need only sleep upon a medicine chest for a single night to become perfectly qualified for the office. Now-a-days a stricter system is in force, and if a candidate for service should even pass the usual ordeals in England with success, his career in India will entirely depend upon the manner in which he may acquit himself on the spot.

The reports of every medical officer undergo a severe scrutiny by the supertending surgeon of the division in which he may serve, and afterwards by the Medical Board at the Presidency; and on these evidences of his professional capacity will depend his selection for office, involving higher responsibility, and its usual accompaniment-higher emoluments.

Chance and interest have, of course, a share in promoting the views of a medical officer; but they will not much avail him without accompanying talent, and those personal qualities which render a man acceptable to suffering patients.

PRACTICE, independently of official employment, is the grand source of competency (irrespective of the funds), and this can only be assured by the exercise of undoubted professional skill.

The rules affecting the nomination of a medical gentleman to an assistantsurgeoncy in the Company's service are as follows:

ASSISTANT-SURGEONS.

Regulations for their Admission into the Company's Service.

"Age. The assistant-surgeon must not be under twenty-two years, in proof of which he must produce an extract from the register of the parish in which he was born, or his own declaration pursuant to the act of the 5th and 6th Gulielmi IV., cap. 62, and other certificates, agreeably to forms to be obtained in the office for cadets and assistant-surgeons.

"Qualifications in Surgery.-The assistant-surgeon, upon receiving a nomination, will be furnished with a letter to the Court of Examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons, to be examined in surgery, and their certificate will be deemed a satisfactory testimonial of his qualification: but should the assistantsurgeon be previously in possession of a diploma from the Royal College of Surgeons of London, or of the Colleges of Surgeons of Dublin or Edinburgh, or of the College and University of Glasgow, or of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, either of them will be deemed satisfactory as to his knowledge of surgery, without any further examination. He is also required to produce a certificate from the cupper of a public hospital in London of having acquired and being capable of practising, with proper dexterity, the art of cupping.

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Qualifications in Physic.-The assistant-surgeon will also be required to pass

an examination by the Company's examining physician in the practice of physic, in which examination will be included as much anatomy and physiology as is necessary for understanding the causes and treatment of internal diseases, as well as the art of prescribing and compounding medicines; and Dr. Scott will then require him to produce satisfactory proof of his having attended at least two courses of lectures on the practice of physic, and, above all, that he should produce a certificate of having attended diligently the practice of the physicians at some general hospital in London for six months; or at some general hospital in the country (within the United Kingdom) for six months, provided such provincial hospital contain at least, on an average, one hundred in-patients, and have attached to it a regular establishment of physicians as well as surgeons. No attendance on the practice of a physician at any dispensary will be admitted,

"The assistant-surgeon is also required, as a condition to his appointment, to subscribe to the Military or Medical Retiring Fund at his respective Presidency, and also to the Military Orphan Society, if appointed to Bengal.

"The assistant-surgeon is required, by resolution of Court of the 21st of May, 1828, to apply at the Cadet Office, and actually proceed within three months from the date of being passed and sworn before the Military Committee; he will then be furnished with an order to obtain the certificate of his appointment, signed by the Secretary, for which he will pay a fee of 51. in the Secretary's office."

[For certain additional Regulations regarding Rank and Retiring Pension, see pages 292 and 293.]

THE INDIAN NAVY.

THE INDIAN NAVY is by no means so desirable a service as either of those enumerated above, but it has its advantages, which become the more apparent as its members advance up the ladder of preferment. The officers of this service are employed in the steamers which ply between the Red Sea and the island of Bombay; in the Company's schooners and small frigates employed in the Persian Gulf, China, and the straits of Malacca, and in the surveys of the seas and coasts in the East. Entering as midshipmen, they rise to the rank of captain, and have comfortable retiring allowances on quitting the service. There are certain valuable shore appointments distributed among the senior officers, but the entire command or superintendence of the Indian navy is intrusted to a Captain of Her Majesty's navy. The following are the rules regulating admission to the service :

Regulations for Appointment.

"That nominees shall not be under fifteen years, or above eighteen years of age, unless they shall have served on board a steam-vessel, or under an engineer in a factory or foundry from the completion of their eighteenth year up to the time of their being put in nomination; and that in such case the nominees shall not exceed nineteen years.

"That no person who has been dismissed the army or navy, or who has been obliged to quit any school or institution for immoral or ungentlemanly conduct, will be appointed to the Indian navy.

"That volunteers for the Indian navy be required to proceed to India within three months after their appointment shall be completed, or their appointment will be considered as forfeited; and that they be ranked from the date of sailing from Gravesend.

"That all volunteers appointed to the Indian navy subscribe to the Indian Navy Fund.

Regulations respecting Retirement and Furlough.

"Retirement.-Every officer who has actually served twenty-two years or upwards in India, is permitted to retire from the service with the following pay::

"A captain, 360l.; commander, 2907.; lieutenant, 1907.; purser, 1907. "Every officer retiring from ill health, after ten years' service, and before they have completed that of twenty-two years, is granted the following retiring allowance:

"A captain, 2007.; commander, 170l.; lieutenant, 125l; purser, 125l.

"Furlough.-A certain proportion of the officers (to be determined by the Government, with a due regard to the exigencies of the service) are allowed to come home on furlough for three years, with the pay only of their rank.

"No officer under the rank of captain who has not actually served ten years, can be permitted to come home on furlough, unless in cases of ill health, under the like certificates as required from military officers.

"The regulations for drawing pay on furlough and retirement by the officers are, as far as circumstances will admit, the same as those for the military officers."

ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENT OF INDIA.

THE Chaplaincies in India are far better paid than three-fourths of the curacies in England, and equal many livings; the lowest salary for the "assistant chaplains," the title of the junior ministers-being five hundred rupees per mensem. The rise to the higher appointment is by seniority, but the selection of stations is in the discretion of the archdeacon, under the sanction of the bishop. Partiality and interest have, of course, their influence in obtaining the largest stations for certain chaplains, but in these the advantage of extra fees is more than counterbalanced by the heavier duties devolving on the incumbent, and the severer tax imposed upon his charitable inclinations. At every station there are schools, institutions, religious and charitable societies, hospitals, &c., and to the support of these the minister is invariably expected to contribute. The private demands upon his benevolence are likewise considerable.

Regulations for the Admission of Chaplains into the Company's Service. "Candidates for appointments as assistant chaplains must have been two years in orders, and must not exceed forty years of age; and at the time of appointment are required to produce their letters of orders, deacon and priest, as well as a testimonial, signed by three beneficed clergymen, and a medical certificate; the appointments are made subject to the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London.

"Chaplains are required to enter into covenant, and to give a bond of 500l. jointly with two sureties, for the due fulfilment of the same.

"Under the deed of covenant, chaplains are required to subscribe to the Military Fund of the Presidency to which they may be attached.

Chaplains must proceed to their destination within six months from the date of the Court's resolution by which they were nominated; and in failure thereof, without leave obtained from the Court, their appointments will lapse."

REGULATIONS REGARDING CHAPLAINS.

A chaplain (appointed previously to the 1st September, 1836), after eighteen years' service in India, including three years for one furlough, is allowed to retire on the pay of lieutenant-colonel, 365l. per annum; after ten years (if compelled by ill-health to quit the service), on the half-pay of lieutenant-colonel, 2001. 158. per annum; after seven years, on the half-pay of major, 173l. 7s. 6d. per annum.

If appointed subsequently to that date, according to the following scale, viz.: after eighteen years' service, including three years for one furlough, the pay of major, viz., 2921. per annum; after ten years' service (if compelled by ill-health to quit the service), on the half-pay of major, viz., 173l. 7s. 6d. per annum; after seven years, the half-pay of captain, viz., 1277. 15s. per annum.

A chaplain (appointed previously to the 1st September, 1836), after seven years' residence in India, is allowed to come home home on furlough and receive the pay of major, 2927. per annum. Should he come home from sickness prior to this period of service, he is allowed the pay of captain only, viz., 1914. 12s. 6d. per annum.

If appointed subsequently to that date, after seven years' residence in India, the pay of captain, viz., 1917. 12s. 6d. per annum; and if compelled by ill-health to come home prior to this period of service, the half-pay of captain, or 1277. 15s. per annum.

THE CHOICE OF ROUTES TO INDIA.

THE number of routes by which an individual may proceed from England to India are three, not taking into account the digressions that may be made ad libitum on the European half of the trip. These-the routes throughout-are as follow, viz. :

1. Round the Cape of Good Hope.

2. Viâ the Red Sea.

3. Viâ the Persian Gulf.

The first involves a voyage of from three to four months' duration. The second may be accomplished (according to the Presidency to be reached) in thirty-five to fifty days. The third may be achieved in three months, and has been known to occupy seven or eight.

The route round the Cape is commended by its comparative economy and its great comfort. The passage-money of two persons in one of the best of Messrs. Smith's, or Wigram's, or Green's ships, does not amount to more than the charge for a single individual in one of the steamers of the Peninsular Company. The intimacy of the several captains of the free-traders with the navigation of

the seas to be traversed, the beauty of the weather while the trade-winds prevail, the general serenity of the tropics, the excellence of the arrangements for the accommodation and luxurious entertainment of the passengers, altogether make a voyage to India a perfect pleasure-trip. It is by no means uncommon to find the termination of a voyage a subject of regret with every body on board. For four months there has been a continual round of social intercourse altogether divested of care. Regular and abundant meals, opportunities of uninterrupted study, rational and instructive conversation, with such recreations as walking, music, dancing, card-playing, chess, backgammon, sea-bird shooting, shark-catching, and dolphin-harpooning, afford, have contributed to beguile the time and cheat the passengers of all the cares arising from homesickness, sea-sickness, and the vague fears which beset the stranger to a ship. It is not often that outward-bound vessels touch at any port, or even make the land during the whole voyage. Sometimes, however, a stay of a day or so is made at Madeira; and occasionally an unexpected deficiency of provisions or water, an injury to the ship of a character not to be repaired at sea, the hope of getting passengers, or the obligation to land them, and, possibly, a portion of the cargo, will carry a vessel to the Cape of Good Hope, and these incidents serve to break and to vary the voyage agreeably.

The great advantage of the Red Sea route-commonly and erroneously called the Overland route-to India, consists in the comparatively brief duration of the trip. Transported in twelve or thirteen days to Alexandria, in Egypt, touching at Gibraltar, Malta, and, possibly, one or two places on the Spanish coast, the outward-bound traveller will have an opportunity of seeing Cairo, the Pyramids, and other objects of interest. His baggage being carried across the Suez desert on the backs of camels, he follows in a small omnibus, and in ten or twelve hours reaches Suez, where another steamer waits to convey him to Bombay, Ceylon, Madras, or Calcutta. If he goes to the last-named place, he has the advantage of touching at the two preceding ones, together with the little port and town of Aden in the Red Sea. The table on board the steamers is as excellent and liberal as any round-the-Cape free-trader can boast; but in other respects, of course, the accommodation is very inferior to that of the sailing vessels. From the immense space occupied by machinery, fuel, baggage, cargo, provisions, &c., it necessarily follows that the cabins of the steamers must be of very confined dimensions.

Few persons, unless they be of a peculiarly adventurous or inquiring temperament, care to attempt the Persian Gulf route. It is all very easy and pleasant to get to Trebisond, on the Black Sea, or to St. Petersburg, in Russia, for the steamers and the railway will assist the traveller to those points: thenceforward, whether the route be taken through Armenia, or through the Caucasus to Tabreez, in Persia, and thence to Bushire, in the Persian Gulf, the journey is tedious, not particularly interesting, nor always safe; and when Bushire is reached, the chances are at least five to one against any vessel being found prepared to return to India.

ADDITIONAL ROUTES TO INDIA.

We have said that there are three ways of getting to India; but we took the precaution of adding that the route by the Red Sea admitted of a variety of