First and only edition, printed in Pondicherry (now Puducherry) during the French colonial time, of a medical study of the various populations of Puducherry, by N. Huillet, a medical doctor in service of the French navy and a Chevalier de la Legion dHonneur. It describes for the first time the different populations coexisting in the city of Pondicherry from the point of view of hygiene: food, homes, clothes, games, sports, various exercises, etc. As one would expect in a European report at this date, it classifies the population according to three racial categories: "white", "mixed" and "Indian".
The present work provides a great deal of detailed information on daily life in French India. It describes the city and climate of Pondichery, which was divided in three sectors based on race. Many different diseases that the different population groups suffered are described at length and in detail. Furthermore Huillet goes into the housing standards, hygienic conditions, diets and exercise of the inhabitants. Lastly he adds a similar survey of the population of the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu.
A very rare publication found only in five French libraries and the University of California (WorldCat records this last only in the entry for the electronic version).
Owner's inscription on half-title and title-page, stamp on title-page: "Docteur Cordes, Geneve 1891". Half-title slightly damaged, a piece off a corner of the last page. Otherwise in very good condition. WorldCat 489979586 (5 copies); cf. JIPMER golden jubilee report, 2014.