We have repeatedly called attention to the entire break - down
of French medical arrangements in Tunis. A writer whose " sin- cerity and competence " are guaranteed by the Tinier, and who is now stationed at Carthage, declares that the anarchy in the hospi- tal department is frightful. The doctor may prescribe, but the stewards and attendants are independent of him, and under the commissariat, which is intent solely on economy. The men are, therefore, badly fed, neglected, and housed when sick with typhoid fever under canvas through which the rain drips on them. In the main hospital, the Khaireddin Palace, the drainage is bad ; nothing is ever cleaned thoroughly, and " the place has become a perfect sink of infection," diphtheria having settled in it. No wonder that the recruits dread African service, and that the mortality and invaliding in the French regiments are sometimes " ten times what it should be." Some ancient tradition of the French Service seems to prevent the only possi- ble reform,—that of making the doctor's written order a sufficient warranty for the Commissariat Department.
