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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 4, p. 459.

xIV] AMEDICAL ADVMINISTRA TION 459 primarily a military service and its members are commissioned officers of the army. There were originally three distinct branches, corresponding to the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay armies; these were combined in I896 on the abolition of the Presidential army system. The Bengal service was created as far back as 1764, for the purpose of affording medical relief to the troops and servants of the East India Company in the Bengal Presidency, and the Madras and Bombay services had a similar origin. Candidates for the Indian Medical Service must possess degrees or diplomas qualifying them to practise medicine and surgery, and are selected in England by com- petitive examination. They then undergo a four months' special course and, after passing a second examination, join the army in India. Except under special circumstances, they must perform two years' military duty before becoming eligible for civil employment. The service is open to natives of India, and nine of them entered it during the ten years ending in 1902. The employment of a single service for military and civil duties is an economical arrangement to provide a reserve of medical officers competent to accompany the army in time of war. The present strength of the service is about 700. The military duties of the Indian Medical Service are, it should be explained, confined to the Native army. Medical duties in connexion with European troops are performed by the officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C.). Civil Assistant Surgeons form the superior branch of the subordinate medical department. In the Bengal Presidency this service came into existence in 1838, when four pupils passed out of the recently established medical college at Calcutta . Candidates are trained in the medical colleges and must possess a University degree or diploma. The Assistant Surgeons have charge of numerous minor hospitals and dis- pensaries they also fill subordinate posts in large hospitals and hold many miscellaneous appointments, while a consider- able number are lent to municipalities and local boards. Their attainments and the quality of their work have shown satisfac- tory improvement, and some minor civil surgeoncies previously held by the Indian Medical Service are now reserved for the best among them. Civil Hospital Assistants have lower profes- sional qualifications. They are usually trained in the medical schools, more than twenty of which have been established in different parts of India, and they are employed in minor dis- ' For a short account of the medical colleges and schools, see the pre- ceding chapter (Education).