Chapter I.] GENERAL STATISTICS OF THE EIGHTEEN YEARS FROM 1859 TO 1876.
161
Bengal Proper.
Oudh. N.-W. Provinces. Central Provinces. Punjab.
Dysentery and Diarrhœa
51.4
39.2
49.9
48.1
25.6
Respiratory Diseases.
9.7
9.8
14.3
10.9
24.9
Non-contagious Fevers
8.1
7.1
9.6
9.7
20.2
Spleen Disease and Anæmia 12.5
10.2
9.0
14.7
4.4
Phthisis Pulmonalis.
8.8
11.0
5.1
2.1
2.9
Contagious Fevers
None
6.6
None
None
9.7
Apoplexy
1.0
2.3
2.0
1.0
2.2
Heart Diseases
.9
.9
.6
1.2
.7
Hepatitis
.5
.8
.4
1.0
. 4
All other Causes
7.1
12.1
9.1
11.3
9.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Above I have suggested, that the same influences for evil will in different localities pro
-duce different manifestations of disease. In the case of the
Native troops in Northern India, I have in a typical exam
-ple traced decay to pneumonic disease following the epidemic
malarious fever of 1869, which rendered this year so singularly
unhealthy as compared with other years, and above all with
1 8 6 8 . T h e f o l l o w i n g i s a t y p i c a l e x a m p l e o f d y s e n t e r i c d i s e a s e f o l l o w i n g t h e i n f l u e n c e s o f t h e
v e r y s a m e b a d m o n t h s — a t r u e h o m o l o g u e o f t h e p n e u m o n i c d i s e a s e o f t h e 3 5 t h N a t i v e I n f a n t r y .
O u t o f 1 , 1 0 0 , t h e a v e r a g e s t r e n g t h o f t h e p r i s o n e r s o f t h e M e e r u t C e n t r a l J a i l , 9 o n l y d i e d i n
1 8 6 8 f r o m d y s e n t e r y a n d d i a r r h œ a ; a n d 7 o f t h e s e d e a t h s t o o k p l a c e i n J a n u a r y , w i n d i n g u p
t h e s i c k l y c o l d s e a s o n o f 1 8 6 7 . I n t h e 1 8 m o n t h s f r o m F e b r u a r y 1 8 6 8 t o J u l y 1 8 6 9 , 3 d e a t h s
i n a l l o c c u r r e d i n t h i s l a r g e j a i l w h i c h w e r e a t t r i b u t e d t o b o w e l a f f e c t i o n s . I n O c t o b e r 1 8 0 9 ,
t h e p r i s o n e r s b e g a n t o d i e ; a n d w i t h p r e c i s e l y t h e s a m e m o n t h l y i n t e r v a l s n o t e d i n t h e c a s e
o f t h e 3 5 t h , t h e m o r t a l i t y w a s r e n e w e d i n 1 8 7 0 a n d 1 8 7 1 , a n d h a s b e e n c o n t i n u e d i n a t y p i c a l
f o r m u p t o t h e p r e s e n t t i m e , r i s i n g o r f a l l i n g w i t h t h e i n f l u e n c e s o f g o o d o r b a d y e a r s . I n
Northern India this might have been pneumonia; in Meerut the disease fell by preference on
;he abdominal system. I give the deaths of this jail for dysentery month by month for the
l a s t t e n y e a r s , r e g a r d i n g t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n a s p e r f e c t a n d t y p i c a l : —
Deaths from Dysentery and Diarrhœa in the Meerut Central Jail, 1867-76.
Feb. March. April. May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Total.
1867
1
2
4
7
5
3
22
1868
1
1.
7
9
1869
1
1
2
6 19 15
44
1870
2
1
1
2
3
3
2 10
6 20 24
8
82
1871.
2
1
3 16 25 24 18 14 103
1872
3
1
2
1
1
6 19 13
7 10
63
1873
1
1
1
3
4
6 21
1
38
1874
3
1
1
1 18 19 21
5 16
85
1875
1
1
1
4
5
1
6
19
1876
3
1
1
7
39 10 10
3
74
14
6
5
4
4
5 11
6 8 122 125 107 68 539
3 8
5 0 1
In this case, ninety-three per cent. of the mortality is comprehended in the months from
August to January, and seven per cent, in the six months from February to July; and this is the
perfection of demonstration. It is not to be expected that the same relative liability will appear
in all examples. In Upper India the generalisation holds good; and for any province beyond
the limits of Bengal Proper the parallel is evident. These are the ratios:
February to July.
August to January.
.
•
Punjab
1 9 . 1
80.9
= 100
Central Provinces
22.9
77.1
= 100
District Jails of North-WesternProvinces
—
Western Division
16.7
83.3
= 100
Eastern Division
22.0
78.0
= 100
Oudh
31.0
69.0
= 100
Behar
25.4
74.6
= 100
In Bengal Proper we deal with a disease much more equally distributed over the year;
prisoners begin to die from bowel affections much earlier than in Upper India, and even in
June an increase in the mortality is apparent:
February to July.
August to January.
Eastern and Northern Bengal
39.1
60.9
= 100
South-Western Bengal
39.9
60.1
= 100
Assam and Cachar
40.5
59.5
= 100
In the distribution of fever deaths the proportion is much the same. In 100 deaths from
fever, taking the administration of Bengal Proper as a whole, 41 fell between February and
2 it
The mortality from bowel com
- p l a i n t s a s e x h i b i t e d i n r e l a t i o n t o season, illustrated by a typical exam
- p l e a n d b y t h e g e n e r a l p r o v i n c i a l r a ' t i o s .