176 STATISTICS OF THE JAIL POPULATION OF BENGAL FROM 1859 TO 1876. [Section III.
Central Jail at Lahore—Deaths from 1859 to 1876.
CAUSES OF DEATHS.
YEAR.
S t r e n g t h .
C h o l e r a .
F e v e r .
C o n t a g i o u s F e v e r .
A p o p l e x y .
D y s e n t e r y .
H o p a t i t i s .
R e s p i r a t o r y D i s e a s e s .
H e a r t D i s e a s e .
P h t h i s i s .
S p l e e n D i s e a s e s , D r o p s y a n d A t r o - p h y
I n j u r i e s
.
A l l o t h e r C a u s e s .
T o t a l D e a t h s .
D i e d p e r 1 , 0 0 0 .
1859
1,616
11
9
3
2
5
2 32 19.80
1860
1,567
7
1
6
1 8
4 5
3 35 22.34
1861
2,101
20
13
13 3
13
5 67 31.89
1862
2,109 41 24
1 18
1
7
1
9
1
4 107 50.74
1863
2,027
196
5 24
6 2
38
11 282 139.12
1864
1,644
144
1 10
8
3 13
2
1 182 110.71
1865
1,964
74
3 1
2
1
4
2
3 90 45.82
1866
1,883
12
1
1
2
1
2 19 10.09
1867
1,917
9
2
10
1
22 11.48
1868
1,849
9
1
1
8
1
1
1
5 27 14.59
1869
2,089
33
10
11
1
2 57 27.29
1870
2,190
43
1 17
20
4 2
5 92 42.01
1871
2,456
3
10
1 14
4 3
2 37 15.07
1872
2,344 22 31
45
1 17
4
1
1 122 52.05
1873
2,224
38
36
74
5
1
13 167 75.09
1874
2,393
13
1 20
58
4
31 127 53.07
1875
2,203 14 18
1 36
35
2
4 3
17 130 59.01
1876
2,048
2
1 34
36
9
2
3 8 95 46.39
The medical history of the Lahore Central Jail (Table XLIX) is in many respects that
of several others of the large jails of Northern India.
In the first years, from 1859 up to 1862, the jail was very
healthy. It escaped entirely the great cholera of 1861, from
which Meean Meer, the adjoining cantonment, suffered so
much; and although 41 prisoners were lost in the second year of the epidemic, the general
mortality was small, taking into account that both 1861 and 1862 were unhealthy years
in the North of India.
In the three years following, contagious fever raged in the jail, originated by the epi
- d e m i c o f t h e N o r t h - W e s t e r n P r o v i n c e s w h i c h c o m m e n c e d i n N o v e m b e r 1 8 5 9 .
Three wonderfully healthy years succeeded, and the death-rate fell to 10, 11 and 14 per
1,000.
With the unhealthy influences of 1869 the mortality of 1868 was doubled; but both in
1867 and 1869 the epidemic cholera failed to effect its entrance into this large prison com
- m u n i t y . A s a b o v e n o t i c e d ,c
o n t a g i o u s
f e v e r , c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y p l e u r o - p n e u m o n i a , c a m e f o r w a r d
in this jail, as in others, in 1870.
In December 1873, erysipelas and diphtheria appeared in connection with pneumonic
disease; and in 1871, 58 prisoners died from pneumonia, 16 from diphtheria and 10 from
erysipelas.
In the cholera epidemic of 1872, 22 prisoners were lost; and 14 died in the epidemic of
1875. In the seven cholera years of the period, the jail escaped in four and was attacked
in three.
In the same epidemic years from 1859 to 1876, the Rawalpindi Jail, so severely tried by
contagious epidemics, lost only 10 prisoners from
cholera.
The medical history of the Rawalpindi Jail (Table LI) is full of interest. From 1859 up
to December 1862, it was one of the healthiest jails of Upper
India. In January and. February 1863, 49 deaths showed that
contagious disease had established a footing; and the death-rate
rose to 132, from 16 per 1,000 in 1861. In June 1864 the
contagious fever died out; and in 1865 and 1866 the death-rate came down to 13 per 1,000.
In October 1868, after a clear interval of four years, contagious fever reappeared, and no fewer
than live outbreaks took place in the six years from 1869 to 1874. In 1872, the ratio came
down once again to 13 in the 1,000, when 14 deaths occurred out of an average of more than
1,000 prisoners. The epidemics of 1873 and 1874 succeeded. But in 1875 the jail was free
Lahore Central Jail illustrating
the medical history of other large
jails of Northern India.
Medical history of the
R a w a l - p i n d i J a i l , i l l u s t r a t i n g t h e v a r i o u s
phases in which contagious disease
appears in Northern India.