18 MAY 1918, Page 16

With the R.A.M.C. in Egypt By Sergeant-Major, R.A.M.C. (Cassell and

Co. 6s. net.)--This very able and interesting book gives a full account of the work of the Royal Army Medical Corps in Egypt from the outbreak of war to the capture of El Arish, on the border of Palestine. The author shows such a comprehensive and intimate knowledge of his subject that the volume might almost serve as a text-book for these engaged in Eastern campaigns, though at the same time it is very readable. The public will learn. from the book that the triumph of our Medical Service over disease in the Sinai advance was, not less remarkable than the military successes of the Army. The chapters on " Camp Sanitation " and " Epidemic Diseases " are noteworthy. Cholera was raging in Syria, and every Turkish prisoner was a possible " contact." Yet by careful attention to every suspicious case, combined with strict quarantine for all persons crossing the Canal, the Medical_ Service kept cholera out of Egypt, and had in the whole Army only thirty eases, all caused by drinking unsterilized water. Plague. which is endemic both in India and in Egypt, was suppressed in a similar way. In the spring of 1917 there were eighty-five cases among the Indian troops and the native labourers, but after a month the epidemic was stamped out. The book emphasizes the importance of minute details in military sanitation, and shows what can be done by a zealous and efficient Medical Service working under the greatest difficulties.