Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/261

 with the responsibility of his position, viz., his duty to the State on the one hand, and his duty to his patient on the other. There is no denying that Medical certificates have been abused; that the confidence of the surgeon has been abused; and that certificates have been obtained by plausible pretences, or by exaggerated statements, or by id-founded apprehensions, when in reality there was no occasion for the patient to leave his station. Still, when the public service does not suffer, indulgence is commendable rather than too strict an interpretation of general orders. Government are most liberal upon this point;nor is this inconsistent with the good of the service; for an officer returning from sick leave is,in nine cases out of ten, a more efficient man than if he had remained lingering off and on the sick list in the plains with his regiment, where his duty was merely nominal.

When an officer is at an outpost, a trip on the river, a month or two's sojourn at a large station, or a visit to the Sand-heads, will often set him on his legs again;the sequestered life he led being the origin of the disease, and the pleasures of society being the best remedy for the effects of monotony. In more severe cases a residence during the hot season in some ill Station; or a short voyage to Singapore, or China, or Ceylon or the Mauritius may be advisable. In cases still