porosus and C. biporcatus) and the garial (Gavialis gangeticus). Scorpions also abound. All the waters of India-the sea, the rivers, and the tanks- Fishes. swarm with a great variety of fishes,' which are caught in every conceivable way, and furnish a considerable proportion of the food of the poorer classes. They are eaten fresh, or as nearly fresh as may be; for the art of curing them is not generally. practised, owing to the exigencies of the salt monopoly. In Burma, the favourite relish of nga-pi is prepared from fish. At Goálandá, at the junction of the Brahmaputra with the Ganges, and along the Madras coast, establishments have been established for salting fish in bond. The indiscriminate slaughter of fry, and the obstacles opposed by irrigation dams to breeding fish, are said to be causing a sensible diminution in the supply in certain rivers. Measures of conservancy have been suggested; but their execution is attended with great difficulty, owing to the habits and the necessities of the poorer population. Among Indian fishes, the Cyprinidæ or carp family and the Siluridae or cat-fishes are best represented. From the angler's point of view, by far the finest fish is the mahsir, found in all hill streams, whether in Assam, the Punjab, or the south. One has been caught weighing 60 lbs., which gave play for more than seven hours. Though called the salmon of India, the mahsir is really a species of barbel. One of the richest and most delicious of Indian fishes is the hilsá, which tastes and looks like a sort of fat white salmon. It is caught in immense quantities in the rivers of the Bengal delta, and forms a staple article of food in Calcutta. The Bombay and Madras markets are still better supplied by a variety of delicate fishes. But the enhanced price of this important article of native diet throughout the country, the decreased supply, and the ever-increasing fineness of the meshes of the nets employed in catching the fry, are matters of grave concern alike to the Government and to the poorer classes of the population. In this connection may be mentioned the susu or Gangetic Dolphin. dolphin (Platanista gangetica); a mammal often erroneously called a porpoise. Both the structure and habits of this animal are very singular. It measures from 6 to 12 feet in 1 The latest standard works on Indian fishes and their economic aspects are the Reports and official volume by Dr. Francis Day, late InspectorGeneral of Fisheries to the Government of India; available to all inquirers, at the India Office, London. Insects. length, and in colour is sooty-black. Its head is globular, with a long, narrow, spoon-shaped snout. Its eyes are rudimentary, like those of the mole; and its ear-orifices are no bigger than pin-holes. Its dentition, also, is altogether abnormal. It frequents the Ganges and Indus from their mouths right up to their tributaries within the hills. A specimen has been taken at least 1000 miles above Calcutta. Ordinarily its movements are slow, for it wallows in the muddy bed of the river, and only at intervals comes to the surface to blow. The susu belongs to the order Cetacea; and inquiries have recently been directed to the point whether its blubber might not be utilized in commerce. The insect tribes in India may be truly said to be innumerable; nor has anything like a complete classification been given of them in the most scientific treatises. The heat and the rains give incredible activity to noxious or troublesome insects, and to others of a more showy class, whose large wings surpass in brilliancy the most splendid colours of art. Stinging musquitoes are innumerable, with moths and ants of the most destructive habits, and other insects equally noxious and disagreeable. Amongst those which are useful are the Locusts. bee, the silkworm, and the insect that produces lac. Clouds of locusts occasionally appear, which leave no trace of green behind them, and give the country over which they pass the appearance of a desert. Dr. Buchanan saw a mass of these insects in his journey from Madras to the Mysore territory, about 3 miles in length, like a long narrow red cloud near the horizon, and making a noise somewhat resembling that of a cataract. Their size was about that of a man's finger, and their colour reddish. They are swept north by the wind till they strike upon the outer ranges of the Himalayas. Indian flora. FLORA. Unlike other large geographical areas, India is remarkable for having no distinctive botanical features peculiar to itself. It differs conspicuously in this respect 1 For a general sketch of the flora of India, recourse must still be had to the introductory essay to the Flora Indica, published by Hooker & Thomson in 1855. The Flora of British India, the preparation of which is in progress at Kew, will comprise descriptions of all the species known to science up to the date of publication. It will form a great national work on the botany of India. For the following paragraphs on the flora, written by Mr. W. T. T. Dyer of Kew, the author is indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. A. & C. Black, publishers of the Encyclopædia Britannica. from such countries as Australia or South Africa. Its vegetation is in point of fact of a composite character, and is constituted by the meeting and blending of the various floras adjoining,-of those of Persia and the south-eastern Mediterranean area to the north-west, of Siberia to the north, of China to the east, and of Malaya to the south-east. Space does not admit of a minute discussion of the local features peculiar to separate districts; but regarded broadly, four tolerably distinct types present themselves: namely, the Himálayan, the North-Western, the Assamese or Malayan, and the Western India type. layas. The upper levels of the Himalayas slope northwards Upper gradually to the Tibetan uplands, over which the Siberian Himá temperate vegetation ranges. This is part of the great temperate flora which, with locally individualized species but often with identical genera, extends over the whole of the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In the Western Himalayas, this upland flora is marked by a strong admixture of European species, such as the columbine (Aquilegia) and hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha). These disappear rapidly eastward, and are scarcely found beyond Kumáun. Himá layas. The base of the Himalayas is occupied by a narrow belt Lower forming an extreme north-western extension of the Malayan type described below. Above that, there is a rich temperate flora which in the eastern chain may be regarded as forming an extension of that of Northern China, gradually assuming westwards more and more of a European type. Magnolia, Aucuba, Abelia, and Skimmia may be mentioned as examples of Chinese genera found in the Eastern Himálayas, and the tea-tree grows wild in Assam. The same coniferous trees are common to both parts of the range. Pinus longifolia extends to the Hindu-Kush; P. excelsa is found universally except in Sikkim, and has its European analogue in P. Peuce, found in the mountains of Greece. Abies Smithiana extends into Afghánistán; Abies Webbiana forms dense forests at altitudes of 8000 to 12,000 feet, and ranges from Bhután to Kashmir; several junipers and the common yew (Taxus baccata) also The deodar (Cedrus Deodara), which is indigenous to the mountains of Afghánistán and the north-west Himalayas, is nearly allied to the Atlantic cedar and to the cedar of Lebanon, a variety of which has recently been found in Cyprus. Another instance of the connection of the Western Himalayan flora with that of Europe is the holm oak (Quercus Ilex), so characteristic of the Mediterranean region. occur. Northwest. Assam and Malayan peninsula. Western The north-western area is best marked in Sind and the Punjab, where the climate is very dry (rainfall under 15 inches), and where the soil, though fertile, is wholly dependent on irrigation for its cultivation. The low-scattered jungle contains such characteristic species as Capparis aphylla, Acacia arabica (babúl), Populus euphratica (the 'willows' of Ps. cxxxvii. 2), Salvadora persica (erroneously identified by Royle with the mustard of Matt. xiii. 31), tamarisk, Zizyphus, Lotus, etc. The dry flora extends somewhat in a south-east direction, and then blends insensibly with that of the western peninsula ; some species representing it are found in the upper Gangetic plain, and a few are widely distributed in dry parts of the country. This area is described by Sir Joseph Hooker as comprising the flora of the perennially humid regions of India, as of the whole Malayan peninsula, the upper Assam valley, the Khási mountains, the forests of the base of the Himalayas from the Brahmaputra to Nepál, of the Malabar coast, and of Ceylon.' The Western India type is difficult to characterize, and is intermediate between the two just preceding. It occupies a comparatively dry area, with a rainfall under 75 inches. In respect to positive affinities, Sir Joseph Hooker has pointed out some relations with the flora of tropical Africa as evidenced by the prevalence of such genera as Grewia and Impatiens, and the absence, common to both countries, of oaks and pines which abound in the Malayan archipelago. The annual vegetation which springs up in the rainy season includes numerous genera, such as Sida and Indigofera, which are largely represented both in Africa and Hindustán. Palms also in both countries are scanty, the most notable in Southern India being the wild date (Phoenix sylvestris); Borassus and the cocoa-nut are cultivated. The forests, although occasionally very dense, as in the Western Gháts, are usually drier and more open than those of the Malayan type, and are often scrubby. The most important timber-trees are the tún (Cedrela Toona), sál (Shorea robusta), the present area of which forms two belts separated by the Gangetic plain; satin - wood (Chloroxylon Swietenia), common in the drier parts of the peninsula; sandal-wood, especially characteristic of Mysore; iron-wood (Mesua ferrea), and teak (Tectona grandis). CHAPTER XXV. VITAL STATISTICS OF INDIA. sources of THE vital statistics of India1 are derived from five chief Five sources. Of these, the first or European army consists of health foreigners under special medical conditions, and subject to returns. the disturbing influence of 'invaliding.' The second, or native army; the third, or jail population; and the fourth, or police; are all composed of natives, but of natives under special conditions as regards food, discipline, or labour. It is dangerous to generalize from returns thus obtained, with regard to the health statistics of the ordinary population of India. For that The literature of Indian health statistics and medical aid may be divided into eight chief classes :-(1) Separate treatises by a series of medical observers, dating from the latter part of the 18th century and continuing up to the present time. (2) Official special Reports of the Medical Boards of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay on the great outbreak of cholera in 1817; the Medico-Topographical Reports (1825-40) of the chief stations of the Madras Presidency, by the Medical Board of that Presidency. (3) The Transactions of the Medical Physical Society of Calcutta (1823-39), and of Bombay (1837-76); the Indian Annals of Medical Science (Calcutta) from 1853-80; other medical journals at different periods in the three Presidencies. (4) Reports on the Medical Education of the Natives of India, commencing with vernacular medical schools in Calcutta and Bombay (1820-30), developing (1835-57) into the Medical Colleges of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay, and extending into medical schools at Haidarábád (Deccan), Nágpur, Agra, Lahore, Balrampur (Oudh), Patná, Dacca, Poona, Ahmadábád. (5) Reports on Vital Statistics by the various Medical Boards, Medical Departments, and Inspectors-General of Hospitals; since 1827 these assume a prominent place. (6) The Annual Reports of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India, since 1874, and of the Sanitary Commissioners to the local Governments; the Annual Reports of the Inspectors-General of Jails, of the Inspectors-General of Police, and of the health officers to municipal bodies in the various Presidencies and Provinces. (7) Reports by special Committees or Commissions, such as those on the Bardwán fever, on the cattle-plague in Bengal, the Orissa famine of 1866, the Madras famine of 1878, etc. (8) Annual Reports of the public hospitals, dispensaries, and other medical charities. The author has been unable to test all the dates in this footnote; but he reproduces some of them, unverified, from a memorandum supplied to him Ly Dr. Morehead, formerly of Bombay. |