Connected with the army there are eight hospitals, six of which are at Ismailia and Cairo. Of the remaining two, one is at Ramleh, and the other at Alexandria. The last is situated in the northern part of the city, near the harbor and railway station. The building used is a cotton warehouse, one story high, with a loft, and contains" four large, well lighted and ventilated rooms, which will accommodate about 300 patients, giving each some 2000 cubic feet of air space. I saw nothing particularly worth noting in the general arrangement of this hospital. The beds were clean and comfortable, and the patients appeared to have everything required. The diet is the ordinary army ration, supplemented in special cases. All water used in drinking and cooking is condensed. It is the general receiving hospital for this part of Egypt. The sick and wounded, at the front, are taken to the hospital at Ramleh, and from there brought to this one. All cases likely to be protracted are transferred as soon as possible to Malta. At the present time it contains 187 patients, nearly all being medical. The principal diseases are dysentery, ophthalmia, venereal cases, typho-malarial, typhoid and remittent fevers. Owing to the constant movement in the field, and the changes in the hospital, I have not been able to obtain the percentage of sickness or deaths, nor have I been able to get any information regarding the troops at Ismailia and Cairo.
In relation to the water used in Alexandria, I have to state that, excepting some from cisterns, it all comes from the Mahmoudieh canal, which is supplied from the Nile. About a mile from the city it is pumped into a basin or canal, strained through a coarse bag and treated with alum as it passes over. It is again filtered before it enters the pipes for use. The water has been used on board of this ship whenever she has been at Alexandria, and no ill effects have followed. It is soft and clear, and does not contain much organic matter.