1 Further re-
2 marks on the
3 subject.
4 192 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
5 satisfied if the observations here made shall render
6 future arrangements in the medical department ot
7 armies in India more efficient than they were in
8 the campaign against the Sikhs,
9 Instead of a medical board and superintending
10 surgeons being left to make the arrangements on
11 which we here dwelt, a director-general on the
12 field might be more useful in time of war and full
13 power given to him to act according to circum-
14 stances in everything relating to the medical
15 operations. In time of peace the appointment
16 might cease, though to ensure efficiency and be
17 prepared for sudden emergencies, it is worth the
18 attention of a powerful government, like that of the
19 British in India, to overlook a small outlay in order
20 to secure a permanent benefit. Such an officer
21 ’ should be entirely untrammelled by any board, and
22 Apology for
23 introducing it.
24 communicate directly with the Commander-in-
25 chief of the force, since much time is lost when the
26 details of an important duty have to travel through
27 various offices. Energy, dispatch, and efficiency
28 are great requisites in everything connected with
29 war, and they are just as essential in the medical
30 as in the military department of an army. It will
31 not do for one man to trust to another: he must
32 have power to act for himself, and meet every
33 emergency without loss of time.
34 We have by no means exhausted the subject,
35 but the general reader may think he has had a
36 sufficient share of medical tactics, and we shall there-
37 fore not again trouble him with any such details.