Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/131

 best hospitals are open to the sick, supplied with every comfort that science or humanity could suggest for their recovery, and when these fail, the sanataria on the hills are had recourse to.

With all these, much still remains to be done to render the life of a soldier in India an agreeable one. The canteen system is, by many, looked upon as the source of many miseries, but its abolition would, I fear, be more correct in theory than in practice. Many of the men have learned intemperate habits before joining the army, and, needing more stimulus in India than at home, will get spirits somewhere; and if they cannot get good grog from the canteen they can always contrive some means of getting bad grog from natives about the lines. Even in the canteens a great improvement has been made by the introduction of wholesome beer and porter, which has greatly reduced the consumption of ardent spirits, and improved the tone of health and the conduct of the men. But the grandest field for improving the condition of the soldier remains still untilled, and that is their mind. An effective medical establishment is, no doubt, a good thing, but a prophylactic mental establishment would be a better. Exercise is valuable, but when combined with what is agreeable and interesting, it would be doubly more so. A system of recreation should be organized as regular as