Russians 109 Persians 18 British Indian subjects 38 Jews 543 Tartars 420 Kirghiz 378 Sarts 128,406 Afghans 10 In the native area there were: Houses (private) 17,164 Shops 45,000 Mosques 328 Mektebs 242 Medresses 24 Russian native schools 6 Although the importance of Merv, as a military district, has increased since the Orenburg-Tashkent railway was opened the numbers of the resident population continue to decline. This proceeds from the unhealthy conditions that obtain locally. Malaria, the most prevalent complaint, runs a very level course throughout the year. Between July and November it becomes exceptionally virulent; and a recent Medical Commission returned the causes of the sickness in Merv as due solely to the presence of a specific organism which, passing from the soil into the water, was absorbed by the inhabitants. So rife is the disease that it is estimated that not one person escapes its attacks in the course of the year. The highest sick-rate occurs between the months of July and November, when it is responsible for 80 per cent. of the “Daily State” in the garrison and district hospitals. Merv malaria generally attacks the liver and kidneys, rapidly affecting the spleen. Every effort has been made to cope with its ravages. Among the attempts was a scheme for the introduction of a new system of irrigation and the purification of the water system, to which the Minister of War assigned 63,000 roubles. Hitherto the drinking-water, derived from the Murghab, has been altogether unfit for consumption. Apart from possible contamination in the sources of the water-supply, there is no doubt that much of the malaria in Merv arises from constant displacement of soil in the oasis; similar conditions prevail, usually for three or four years, in all tropical and semi-tropical countries whenever agricultural or other development requires the breaking of ground. [Illustration: BAZAAR SCENE]