24
STATISTICS OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA FROM 1871 TO 1876.
[Section I.
The results for 1876 are closely assimilated to this standard :
Army of India.—Invaliding of 1876.
Length of Indian service.
Invalided per cent of total.
Ages.
Number
Invalided.
1 to 4
years.
5 to 7
years.
8to 10
years.
11 and
upwards.
1 to 4 years.
5 to 7 years.
Above 7 years.
Under 25 . . .
448
401
43
3
1
37.69
6.74
.68
25 to 29 . . .
694
322 289
82
1
30.26 76.60 45.29 68.03 14.44
38.08
30 " 34 . . .
326
92 102
87
45
8.65
16.00
22.96
35 " 39 . . .
519
161 139
87
132
23.40
31.97
61.92
40 & upwards 290
88
65
40
97
2,277
1,064 638
299
276
100.00
100.00
100.00
TOTAL=100
46.73 28.02
25.25
74.75
The ratio in which the men of the Army of India are invalided does not increase by length
of service as much as might be expected. It seems as if the survivors were the better lives,
and that the phenomenon is in accordance with the fact that so many bad lives are eliminated
from the Army in the earlier years of service.
These were the ratios per 1,000 of strength for the Army of India of 1876 :
1 to 4 years.
5 to 7 years.
Above 7 years.
39.07
39.20
39.78
But this exaggerates the fact ; it is not the case that the invaliding ratio is as high at one
period of service as at another.
The standard of 1871-75 shows this clearly, and the truth of the average is shown by the
beautiful consistency of the ratios year by year, as exhibited in the table on the following
page.
1 to 4 years.
5 to 7 years.
Above 7 years.
36.19
39.41
55.85
The invaliding ratio seems to keep very constant up to 35 and up to 10 years of service.
These, for example, are the figures for the Army of Bengal of 1876 :
1 to 4 years.
5 to 7 years.
8 to 10 years.
Above 10 years.
34.93
36.65
36.68
44.07
Under 25.
25 to 29 years.
30 to 34 years.
35 to 39 years.
40 and upwards.
22.70
30.63
32.58
63.12
135.66
The details in which the ratio at the different periods of service differs may be studied in
the series of tables which follows. In these the chief causes of invaliding in the different,
years of service in the Army of India and in the Armies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay are set
forth, and the ratio of loss and liability to succumb to the different diseases delineated, as shaped
o u t b y t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e A r m y i n t h e s e s i x y e a r s .
Here I need only call attention to the contents of these tables. What they teach cannot
be satisfactorily considered apart from the question of the
influence of age on the death-rate and invaliding-rate, which
is taken up in the next paragraph.
The first table of the series shows the number invalided
per 1,000 of strength in each year in the Three Armies, and in the Army of India, and shows
the proportion invalided among young soldiers, mature soldiers, and old soldiers respectively.
The second table shows the ages of 11,911 men, the total invalided from 1871 to 1875, and
the length of service in India of each man invalided, dividing Indian service into seven periods,—
namely, the first, second, third, and. fourth years ; the fifth, sixth and seventh years taken together ;
the eighth, ninth, and tenth years as a separate period, and all residence above ten years as the
last sub-division.
The third table shows the diseases to which invaliding was attributable, distributed in four
periods of Indian service—namely, 1 to 4 years, 5 to 7 years, 8 to 10 years, and above 10 years.
The fourth table takes up the same in detail, and gives the loss per 1,000 from the chief
causes of invaliding at the different periods of residence in India, and the ratio of liability to
invaliding for special diseases in relation to length of exposure to the influences of the Indian
climate.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh tables show in what respects the same details have differed
in the Armies of the Three Presidencies.
The eighth table contains the same results as shown in the history of 1876; and it is the
first of a series which it is proposed to continue year by year for comparison with the
standard of 1871—75.
Contents of the series of eight
tables illustrating the relation of the
Invaliding of the Army of India to
Length of Residence.