PART II. ] The Water-supply at Delhi. 411 



of the 79th,— 57 cases and 9 suspicious cases having occurred between December 1867 

 and February 1869, according to Dr. A. Smith. These would appear to have chiefly 

 occurred towards the latter part of the year, as in February 1868 the Quarter Master 

 General reported that Delhi boils seemed to have left the garrison. The water for 

 ablution supplied to the Europeans was up to this date obtained from the wells in the 

 Fort. During the same year, 1868, the Medical Officer of the 17th Native Infantry 

 reported that "the supply of water was irregularly given to the 17th Regiment, and 

 sometimes altogether stopped. As the wells in the lines supply water only fit for 

 ablution, the men are obliged to go to the river for drinking water ; " and that " at 

 all times the water-supply of the regiment is precarious." The admission rates from 

 abscess and ulcer in all three bodies of troops were very small for 1868, that of the 

 17th Native Infantry, which had arrived in the station that year, being exceptionally so. 

 During the course of 1869 cases of Delhi boil continued to occur among the wing 

 of the 79th. The precise number of cases is not mentioned in any of the reports to 

 which we have had access, but the admission rate from abscess and ulcer is considerably 

 higher than it had been during the two previous years. The admission rate of the 

 Artillery was also high. No special information regarding the water-supply for the year 

 is given, so that it may be presumed to have remained in the same state as before. 

 With regard to the natives, the complaints regarding the water-supply are repeated ; 

 the scanty and irregular supply derived from the canal and the brackish nature of the 

 wells in the lines being again commented upon. The supply from the canal is stated 

 to have been regular and abundant for some months, but it is pointed out that this 

 improvement is necessarily only of a temporary nature, as the demand on the canal 

 for agricultural purposes during the hot weather must put an end to it. No special 

 reference is made to Delhi sores, but the admission rate of the regiment from abscess 

 and ulcer is high, being nearly three times as great as during the previous year. 



In 1870 the admissions from abscess and ulcer in the wing of the J 03rd were 

 very few, and those of the Artillery, a new battery, much lower than they had been 

 in 1869. In the medical report regarding the 17th Native Infantry various points 

 in connection with the state of the lines are noticed. The advantage of the shade 

 afforded by the numerous jpipul and neem trees in shading the lines is noted, but 

 there are again complaints regarding the water-supply. The distance of the Jumna 

 is said to form the great drawback to its being generally employed by the men, and 

 it is mentioned that the wells are used "readily enough for some time after canal 

 water has been let into them." Thirty-eight cases of Delhi boil were treated during 

 the year, " about as many as in the preceding year, but there are double that number 

 of men doing their duty in the lines who have these sores, chronic and painless." The 

 admission rate from abscess and ulcer was again high, considerably in excess of that 

 for the previous year. 



In regard to the European troops, we have been ajDle to obtain no further definite 

 information with reference to the occurrence of Delhi sores, beyond the fact that at 



