552 
APPENiJIX. 
tary discipline during our long passage across the Indian and Pacific 
.Oceans, materially contributed ; to which should be added the judicious 
police enforced on board ship during our visits to the most insalubrious 
ports on the globe. About one third of the crew had the spirituous por- 
tion of their ration stopped during the cruise, and it was found they were 
more frequently on the sick-list than those who drank their grog. This 
was owing to their being mostly boys and landsmen, who had never been 
to sea before, and would consequently not enjoy as good health as old 
sailors. A reduction in the quantity of grog issued would contribute 
much to the health of our ships' crews ; and giving it to them after, 
instead of 5e/bre meals, would prevent intoxication (which usually follows 
from taking a gill of spirits on an empty stomach), and preserve the health 
and lives of our sailors. This subject has been repeatedly urged by our 
.ablest surgeons, yet it is unattended to. 
During more than five hundred days at sea we never lost a man by a 
fall from aloft or overboard ; and as the latter is an accident of very fre- 
quent occurrence, a few brief hints on the mode of treatment may not be 
out of place. So soon as out of water, hold the head in such a position 
as to permit the water in the mouth to discharge ; then apply your mouth 
to that of the patient and inflate the lungs, at the same time press upon the 
ribs so as to imitate respiration, and continue this as long as there is a 
possibility of restoration ; while the attendants are rubbing the body and 
'extremities with coarse woollens, put the feet in warm water, or, if con- 
venient, lay the patient in a warm bed> Drowned persons die from suffo- 
cation ; the indications therefore are, to supply the lungs with air, and 
restore the natural temperature of the body. Many lives have been lost 
in fruitless attempts to evacuate the water frpm the chest, where it cannot 
enter until after death ; and, when once there, all attempts at respiration 
^will be fruitless. 
When we compare the state of the health of our crew with that of early 
navigators, the improvements in modern navigation are found to be truly 
great. Lord Anson sailed from England with eight vessels, and one 
thousand nine hundred and eighty souls ; out of which only a single ship's 
company, the Centurion, performed her voyage of circumnavigation. The 
early Spanish and Dutch navigators were equally unfortunate. 
The great improvements in the marine police adopted by Captain 
Cooke during his voyages round the world, have benefited navigators as 
jnuch as his geographical discoveries ; but it must be borne in mind that 
his ships were small, and small vessels are more healthy than larger ones ; 
at the same time, that his crews were in a constant state of excitement, 
anxiously looking forward to the discoveries they were almost daily 
making, being satisfied they would receive a proper reward upon their 
return home. In this, cheerfulness and cleanliness, consist the only 
good prophylactics on board ship. 
Medical Bureau, Washington, 1835. 
