number of localities throughout the two districts, to authorise a fair inference as to their sanitary state in general, and I am happy to be able to add, with results of the most satisfactory character. In Mairwara, where irrigation has been so largely extended, out of 175 children examined, three only were found to have enlarged spleens; and of 237 adults of all castes and classes, there were but twelve in the same condition. Of the five degrees of the test scale, the two higher, which indicate intensity of disease, are blank: the medium degree includes only one case, the ordinary ten, and the small four, making a total of fifteen out of 412 individuals, taken indiscriminately from among the inhabitants of twelve of the most highly irrigated villages in the district. In such regions as Mairwara, there is always a certain prevalence of fever, after the close of the rainy season, due to natural causes, which can easily be understood. The proportion of enlarged spleens in the highly irrigated villages of Mairwara, indicates a sanitary state equal to the entirely unirrigated districts in Northern India. Hence the conclusion arrived at by Dr Collyer, that hitherto irrigation has produced no deleterious effects whatever on the health of the people, may safely be accepted as correct. From Table No. III. it appears that, in Mairwara, 14,826 acres have been brought under the direct influence of irrigation-that is to say, actually watered each year from tanks only-excluding the increase from wells, which is not specified, but which cannot be less than from 20,000 to 25,000 acres, as upwards of 3900 of these works have been added since 1835-6, each of which would, I presume, be sufficient for the watering of from five to six acres at least. In Ajmeer, the area of tank-irrigation amounts only to 9794 acres, and the well-irrigation is proportionally limited; yet the sanitary condition of the irrigated portions of the latter district is inferior to that of the former. Mere extent of irrigation, therefore, cannot be the cause of such difference, and there must be local sources of disease independent of the use of water in agriculture. What these may be Dr Kier does not specially indicate in his Report, but he refers to the season preceding that during which his investigations were made, as having been generally an unhealthy one over the entire district; and to this possibly the larger proportion of spleen disease may be attributed. Of 280 children examined personally by Dr Kier, in fourteen separate villages, forty-seven were found to have enlargement of the spleen; and of the same number of adults of all classes, forty-three were in the like condition. In Mairwara we had about 1-27th of the total number examined, showing in their persons the proofs of past disease, while in Ajmeer this ratio rises to between onesixth and one-seventh. To interpret correctly these facts would require an amount of local information not now at command, and the only inference I feel warranted in drawing from them is, that it is possible to employ irrigation extensively, as in Mairwara, without producing any bad effects on the general health, provided always the same conditions are maintained. The chief of these conditions appears to be perfectly unimpeded drainage. In Mairwara this is produced by the natural features of the country, but there are very few localities in which the same end could not be obtained by judicious artificial means. A light absorbent soil also characterises this tract, as it does those in Northern India, where irrigation has been found innocuous. While, however, Ajmeer, relatively to Mairwara, exhibits an inferior sanitary state, it is far superior to the tracts irrigated from the canals in Northern India, and is equal to some, though not to the most salubrious, of the high-lying and wholly unirrigated districts between the Ganges and the Sutlej. Of the ninety cases of spleen disease recorded, no less than sixty-eight belong to the lowest degree of the test scale-that is, the enlargement was discernible, but small. The sweeping of an epidemic fever, such as that before referred to, over the entire district, might easily leave such indications of its effects as the above; and I would be unwilling, without further proof, to attribute these to the influence of irrigation. Of the remaining twenty-two cases, seventeen were ordinary and five medium, the two higher degrees of the scale being blank. Dr Kier's own views are clearly and decidedly expressed. "To form a judgment," he says, "as to the health of the inhabitants from their looks and appearance, there was the best evidence everywhere that they were far from being an unhealthy race. Indeed, in few of the villages visited could I make out any considerable amount of disease." The general healthiness is attributed to VOL. I. 2 E the same circumstances as in Mairwara-an absorbent soil, perfectly free drainage, and the position of the villages themselves on high, dry spots. To the latter point, perhaps, too much importance is attached both by Drs Collyer and Kier; for when it is borne in mind that the whole working life of the cultivators of irrigated districts is spent in the fields themselves, it is tolerably certain that, if malarious influence is developed, the mere position of the habitations will not protect them much from its effects. If the vitiated atmosphere has to be inhaled all day, and every day, the mischief will be done in spite of the favourable circumstances of the dwelling-places. To be able to sleep, however, beyond the influence of noxious exhalations, would doubtless be beneficial in some degree. In the tracts under notice, however, I am disposed to think the evidence proves that irrigation, as practised there, generates no malaria to avoid, and that to this fact the healthiness of the cultivators is attributable. I have to apologise for the length to which this Appendix has extended. I have been carried on by the interest of the subject; for it is the rare charm of such works as I have been describing, that those engaged in them can see with their own eyes, and feel, in their own pleasant experience, the physical and moral results their labours have produced. We are all, accordingly, somewhat prone to become enthusiasts, and to draw, perhaps, too largely on the sympathies of others less personally interested than ourselves. But I will still hope that the details given of the inner machinery, and the visible results of one of the most important and most extensively applicable of the agencies for good to the State and the People which we possess in India, may be held of sufficient interest to justify the length at which they have been dwelt upon. END OF VOL. I. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. INSTITUTES OF METAPHYSIC; BY JAMES F. FERRIER, A.B. OXON., In crown 8vo, 10s. 6d. "This is no ordinary book. If we mistake not, its publication will mark an epoch in the history of speculation in this country. The author is familiar with what has been done in this field by ancients and moderns; and his acuteness and independence of thinking are as conspicuous as his learning. The author himself knows that his case so stands, and he does not affect to conceal from you the fact of his knowing it.. We have said enough, we hope, concerning Mr Ferrier's book, to commend it effectually to such of our readers as are wont to be interested in publications of this nature. The concluding paragraph of the volume indicates the calm but severe temper in which the writer has aimed to acquit himself, and his estimate of the interest and worth of metaphysical science."-British Quarterly Review. A New and Enlarged Edition of THE PHYSICAL ATLAS OF NATURAL PHENOMENA. By ALEX. KEITH JOHNSTON, F.R.S.E., F.R.G.S., &c., To be completed in Twelve Parts, of which I. to VI. are Published. PART VI., FOR FEBRUARY, CONTAINS: I. GEOLOGICAL MAP OF EUROPE. By SIR R. I. MURCHISON, D.C.L., M.A., F.R.S., &c.; II. ETHNOGRAPHIC MAP OF GREAT BRITAIN. By DR GUSTAF KOMBST, F.R.N.S.C., III. MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE PHENOMENA OF VOLCANIC ACTION. By A. "There is no map in this noble Atlas upon which we might not be tempted to write largely. Almost every one suggests a volume of reflection, and suggests it by presenting, in a few hours, accurate truths which it would be the labour of a volume to enforce in words, and by imprinting them, at the same time, upon the memory, with such distinctness that their outlines are not likely afterwards to be effaced. The Physical Atlas' is a somewhat costly work, reckoning it only by its paper; but upon its paper is stamped an amount of knowledge that could scarcely be acquired without the reading of as many books as would cost seven times the price."-Examiner, August 12, 1854. 2 Messrs Blackwood and Sons' Publications. HISTORY OF THE BYZANTINE AND GREEK EMPIRES, 716-1453. BY GEORGE FINLAY, Esq., Athens. Two Volumes, price £1, 8s. 6d. "We regret that we have not time nor space to devote to a more lengthened account of Mr Finlay's book. We can sum up our criticism in a few words. It is the most complete and elaborate history of the Byzantine and Greek Empires that has appeared in an English form."-Leader. At a time when so much attention is being devoted to the modern history of the Greek race, and to the constitution and history of the Greek Church, and when even our scholars are catching the enthusiasm, and insisting on the necessity of studying the modern Greek language and literature, Mr Finlay's solid and careful works will be welcomed by all who read to be informed."-Athenæum. "Mr Finlay's work deserves warm praise as a careful and conscientious performance. General readers might desire that their taste for interesting' details should have been provided for by the author. But the judicious and the schclarly will admire the severe abstinence that imparts a Doric severity to this manly and most creditable historical performance, which must confer no small distinetion on its author's name."-Press. By the same Author. I. GREECE UNDER THE ROMANS, B.C. 146 TO A.D. 717. 8vo, 168. Elegantly printed in small 8vo, price 5s. FIRMILIAN; OR, THE STUDENT OF BADAJOZ. A SPASMODIC TRAGEDY. BY T. PERCY JONES. "Humour of a kind most rare at all times, and especially in the present day, runs through every page, and passages of true poetry and delicious versification prevent the continual play of sarcasm from becoming tedious."-Literary Gazette. "There runs throughout such a happy vein of humour, and the harmony of the verse is so full and flowing, that the reader's interest is never allowed to flag."-Westminster Review. "But we must leave our readers to unravel this mystery for themselves. Enough has been said and sung to make them acquainted with the claims of Firmilian,' to be deemed the finest poem of the age.' !"-Dublin University Magazine. This is not merely a very clever and very amusing, but remarkably original work, and one which is much required, and which is calculated to do good. From the title to the tail, the whole work is excellent; its description as a Spasmodic Tragedy' is admirable."—Northern Whig. The Eighth Edition, in fcap. 8vo, price 7s. 6d. LAYS OF THE SCOTTISH CAVALIERS, AND OTHER POEMS. BY W. EDMONDSTOUNE AYTOUN, D.C.L., PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND BELLES LETTRES IN THE "Professor Aytoun's 'Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers '-a volume of verse which shows that Scotland has yet a poet. Full of the true fire, it now stirs and swells like a trumpet-note-now sinks in cadences sad and wild as the wail of a Highland dirge."-Quarterly Review. "Finer ballads than these, we are bold to say, are not to be found in the language. The ballads of Professor Aytoun have the life-like reality of the old pictures, and much of the warmth and fulness of their colouring. They take up an inspiriting event, narrate it, and by the mere force of the narrative excite in you ennobling passion and a love of human greatness, together with deep sympathy in its sufferings. Such is the aim and scope of ballad poetry. Such lines fix them selves in the memory as the first-loved melodies of childhood. We have read them with great enjoyment, and now heartily thank the author for his delightful volume: the prose notes and illustrations of which are as interesting as the verse is admirable."-The Times. "Mr Aytoun's Lays' are truly beautiful, and are perfect poems of their class, pregnant with fire, with patriotic ardour, with loyal zeal, with exquisite pathos, with noble passion. Who can hear the opening lines, descriptive of Edinburgh after the great battle of Flodden, and not feel that the minstrel's soul has caught the genuine inspiration?"-Morning Post. |