H.—l9b

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ships, informed me that in consequence of these there had been a marked improvement in the health of his men. I therefore, on my return to Egypt towards the end of November, cabled to you for a supply of oatmeal, and you promptly informed me that you would ship 20 tons in the course of a few days, and that a further supply of 20 tons would follow by a January transport In addition to this, and in order to obtain, as 1 thought, an immediate supply, 1 cabled to the High Commissioner for £100 worth, to be shipped to the front to General Russell, commanding the New Zealand and Australian Division. In consequence of the evacuation, however, our troops had returned to Egypt before the latter arrived, and, as a matter of fact, the New Zealand supply was the first, to be received. I therefore had the London shipment distributed amongst, our hospitals and convalescent homes. A canteen was established at lmbros, to which regiments occasionally had opportunities to send for stores. Unfortunately it was apparently impossible to get sufficient provisions, as those that were obtained were quickly exhausted. The V.M.C.A. established a small store at Anzac, but being dependent on the canteen for its supplies it was - quickly sold out of anything it secured. Owing to the plague of flies and to other reasons, the difficulty of keeping the trenches at Gallipoli in a sanitary condition was very great, and it was necessary for all officers to be particularly alert. I found that our trenches were as well kept as those of others, and in Major Carbery we had an active sanitary officer, who seemed never satisfied that something better could not, be accomplished. Imperial Advisory Committee. —The Imperial authorities were also fully alive to the necessity for improving the sanitary conditions at the front, and particularly for safeguarding the health of the troops by a wider system of inoculation. They accordingly appointed an Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Epidemic Diseases in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, consisting of Colonel W. Hunter, A.M.S., Colonel Balfour, Lieut.-Colonel G. S. Buchanan, R.A.M.C, of the London Board of Health, and Lieut.-Colonel L. S. Dudgeon, R.A.M.C, Pathologist and Bacteriologist of St. Thomas's Hospital, London, who were to advise Surgeon-General Babtie on all matters connected with sanitation and the general health of the troops. The members of the Commission visited all positions in, the Mediterranean, Gallipoli, Salonika, Malta, etc., and subsequently made a report. I had many interviews with them, and on my request they submitted to me, through General Babtie, a report dealing with the various questions I had placed before them. A copy of the report is attached. I. also attach copy of correspondence with you, the High Commissioner, and Colonel Dudgeon on the subject. Enteric. —ln connection with the Commissioners' remarks upon enteric amongst our troops, I would ask your perusal of the accompanying letter, dated 15th December, 1915, from Colonel Parkes, D.D.M.S., N.Z.E.F. From this you will learn that statistics from our No. 2 General Hospital at Pont de Koubbeh, Cairo, compared favourably with the statistics of No. 21 General Hospital at Alexandria, one of the largest hospitals in Egypt, the latter showing 65 per cent, of fatal enteric cases amongst British troops, and the former only 5 per cent, amongst ours. Vaccines. —As regards the statement, in the report that inoculations had been made with vaccine prepared from a culture obtained from a bone-abscess of some fourteen years' duration, 1 could not ascertain on what evidence this statement was made, but I assured the members of the Commission that they must have been misinformed in this respect. Since my return I have ascertained that no one but Major Hurley, the New Zealand Government Bacteriologist, was in a position to give evidence as to the histor}' of the culture from which a great part of the vaccine used was made, and he informs me that, the direct statement as to the origin of the culture, and the implied statement that, the strain was unsuitable for a vaccine, are both quite contrary to fact. The Commissioners appear to have been misled, or to have had confused evidence in regard to some other vaccine with evidence about the New Zealand vaccines. That the strain of typhoid bacillus was a suitable one to prepare a vaccine from is shown by the fact that vaccines made from it proved efficient in New Zealand during epidemics of typhoid, and according to the report alreadj' referred to of Colonel Parkes the vaccine compared favourably with vaccines used to inoculate other troops in the Mediterranean. The Commissioners were also mistaken in assuming that only one make of vaccine was used, for, as a matter of fact, two other makes besides the one referred to above were used. The Commissioners have also undoubtedly been misled by the return furnished by the New Zealand Records Office, as it includes, I am informed, under the name "enteric," not, only cases of typhoid, but also cases of parat}qihoid A. fever and paratyphoid B fever. Moreover, the report does not give the number of troops exposed to infection, which is an important point in such statistics. The vaccine supplied by the New Zealand vaccine station was anti-typhoid vaccine, and was intended to protect, or at least partially protect, against typhoid fever, but not against paratyphoid A fever nor against paratyphoid B fever. Colonel Parkes in his letter called attention to the necessity of using a combined vaccine when the three fevers are prevalent. I therefore lost no time in obtaining, through Colonel Dudgeon, cultures of the paratyphoid A bacillus and the paratyphoid B bacillus that had been isolated from cases in Egypt, and these were forwarded to the vaccine station in New Zealand. I have since been informed that the cultures were received in good condition, and were being used in the preparation of a combined vaccine. Venereal Diseases. —During my stay in Egypt I communicated with you confidentially on this subject, and informed you that General Maxwell, G.O.C. (Egypt), was having a confidential .report prepared, a copy of which, at my request, he promised to forward to you. This, I understand, you have now received. Since my return I have also forwarded you a further confidential memorandum on the subject. Young Men's Christum Association. —The work done by the V.M.C.A. in the camps deserves special mention. Wherever possible this association establishes marquees or other shelters for reading, writing, and wholesome amusement, and also places where light refreshments can be obtained.