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FEVER IN TRANSPORT SHIPS.
3, Mincing Lane, 4th April 1865.
SIR—Fever of a malignant character having broken out in some of the transports at Balaklava, I would feel obliged if you would again give pub- licity to the means so successfully used on board my screw-steamer Pleiad, in her late exploring expedition to the rivers Niger and Chadda ; so that the experience gained in the Delta of the Niger may be utilized in our opera- tions in the East.
Mr. Hutchinson, the surgeon of the Pleiad, had the medical charge of her crew, and his remarks in the accompanying letter I commend to the attention of all owners of transports employed in the Black Sea. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, MACGREGOR LAIRD. " 3, Mincing Lane, London, 29th March 1855. "Sir—In accordance with your request, I beg leave to submit to you the
following suggestions for the preservation of health on board your steam transports in the Black Sea.
"Half a wineglassful of the medicated wine (containing four grains of sulphate of quinine) should be given to each member of the crew every morn- ing, as soon as they come within sight of land either near Balaklava or Con- stantinople. Its administration ought to be continued as long as they are within range of the miasma generated there, and for three weeks after the ships leaving.
"The men on watch at night should have another half glassful when they are going on deck; and if any unpleasant odours from the shore are perceptible to the sense of smell, the dose should be given twice or thrice a day. Should accession of fever come on, and the service of no medical man can be procured, the sick men's heads should be shaved, and the dose of quinine increased to a wineglassful every fourth hour. Whenever it is passible, the health of all on board is sure to be strengthened by giving them fresh meat and vegetables. I think the daily washing of decks is anything but conducive to the comfort and health of those who are on board ; I there- fore recommend that dry scraping the decks every day, and washing them once a week, be substituted instead.
"Sir William Burnett's chloride of zinc solution must be passed through the bilge-water once a week, and pumped out in the following manner- half-a-pint of the solution to be put down in a gallon of water a few hours previous to the operation of pumping, and a pint in two gallons of water after the pumping. This latter will serve as a corrective to the generation of foul smells in the bilge. If fever break out on board the ship, this ought to be done every day, and the deck sprinkled with the chloride of zinc solu- tion after the weekly washing.
"By attention to these remedies and precautions, the health of the Pleiad's crew was preserved on her late exploring expedition of the rivers Niger, Tshadda, and BinuE, during a period of four months, in what has hitherto been considered the most unhealthy portion of the globe ; and I have no doubt equal success will result from their application in the trans- port service in the East.
"I have the honour to remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
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