Year.
Admissions.
M a l i g n a n t C h o l e r a .
Er upt i ve Fever s.
C o n t i n u e d F e v e r s .
M a l i a r i a l F e v e r s .
R h e u ma t i c D i s e a s e s . D i s e a s e s o f t h e E y e .
D i s e a s e s o f t h e L u n g s .
D i a r r h œ a .
D y s e n t e r y . Ski n Di s-
eases.
1878 .. 111 125
8 2 8 10682 1022 754 743 718 1003 2,143
Years.
Percentage of Admissions to Strength (Present).
Ma l i g n a n t Ch o l e r a . Er u p t i v e Fe v e r s .
C o n t i n u e d F e v e r s .
Mal i ar i al Fever s.
R h e u m a t i c D i s e a s e s .
D i s e a s e s o f t h e L u n g s .
D i s e a s e s o f t h e E y e .
Di ar r hœa.
Dys e nt e r y.
F r o m o t h e r C a u s e s .
1876. .37 .90 2.09 30.62 4.13
3.13 2.56 2.88 3.00 7.56
1877. .65 .97 3.38 32.41 3.72 3.68 2.50 3.77 4.12 6.13
31.51 3.92
Average .51 .93 2.73
3.40 2.53 3.32 3.56 6.84
.45
3.70
2.69 2.60 3.63
1878. .40
3.00 38.76
2.73
7.77
3
OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
•
8. Causes of sickness. —Full information as to the causes of sickness will be found
in Tables II and III of Appendix, and
the marginal epitomes show the more
important facts under this head. The
chief ailments were, in the order of their
frequency, malarial fevers, skin diseases,
rheumatic complaints, dysentery, conti-
nued fever, diseases of the eye, diseases
of the lungs, diarrhœa, eruptive fevers,
and malignant cholera. Malarial fevers
were more common in 1878 than in
either of the two preceding years, and
as the usual sanitary precautions were
exercised, it is probable that the increase
was due partly to abnormal climatic
conditions, and largely to the physique
of some of the men having been
impaired by inadequate diet in 1877
and 1878. As regards skin and eye
affections a special report was submitted,
in which the value of hygienic measures
in preventing these complaints was duly
pointed out. In 1878 skin diseases were more prevalent and eye diseases less so
than in either of two preceding years. Rheumatic affections have always occupied
a prominent place in the vital statistics of the Madras Army. They are frequently
due to sleeping in damp huts or on the ground, to insufficient clothing when off
duty, or to constitutional syphilis. Continued fevers were less frequent in 1878
than in 1877, and there was a very marked reduction in cases of eruptive fevers.
Dysentery still stood high as a cause of sickness, being, as mentioned in last year's
report, often one of the results of malarial poisoning. There were 111 admissions
and 59 deaths from cholera in 1878, while in 1877 the numbers were 182 and 72
respectively.
Causes of
sickness.
9. Deaths and their causes. —The marginal abstracts show the number o
f deaths in hospital and their proximate
causes, and also contrast the experience
of 1878 with that of the two previous
years. In the preceding paragraph it
was observed that malarial fever was
the most common form of sickness in the
Madras Army in 1878, and it will be seen
that it was also the most fertile cause of
death. Of the 324 deaths in the year
no less than 65, or upwards of 19 per
cent., were due to fevers of the malarial
type. A considerable number of deaths
also resulted from lung diseases. The
chief predisposing causes of complaints
of this class are hereditary tendency,
defective nourishment during the period
of growth, and constitutional syphilis.
The immediate causes, acting singly or
in combination, are usually sudden
changes in temperature, insufficient diet,
damp, or imperfect ventilation of huts.
Compared with the amount of sickness
which it involved the mortality from rheumatism was very small, but of all diseases
it was, as will immediately be seen, the most frequent cause of invaliding. The
subjoined table shows the death-rates for 1878 amongst the several castes
represented in the army, and contrasts these with the averages for the three
preceding years. In 1877 the death-rate was highest amongst Mahomedans, while
Years.
Deaths in Hospital.
Mal i gnant Chol er a. Er upt i ve Fever s.
C o n t i n u e d F e v e r s .
Mal i ar i al Fever s.
Rheumat i c Di seases.
D i s e a s e s o f t h e L u n g s .
Di ar r hœa.
D y s e n t e r y . F r o m o t h e r C a u s e s .
1877
.. 72
1
6 40
1 40 15 14 103
1878
.. 59
4
4 65
3 35 14 18 121
Years.
Percentage of Mortality to Strength.
Ma l i g n a n t Ch o l e r a .
E r u p t i v e F e v e r s .
C o n t i n u e d F e v e r s .
M a l i a r i a l F e v e r s .
R h e u m a t i c D i s
e a s e s .
D i s e a s e s o f t h e L u n g s . D i a r r h œ a . Dy s e n t e r y . S k i n D i s e a s e s .
1876
.. .16 .007 .01 .21 .01 .11 .04 .05 .32
1877
.. 25 .003 .02 14 .003 .14 .05 .05 .36
Average .. .20 .005 .01 .17 .002 .12 .04 .5 .34
1878
.. .21 .01 .01 .23 .01 .12 .05 .06 .43
Deaths and
their causes.