Ventilation
and drainage
of the men's
guard rooms,
&c.
Water-
supply.
Sanitary
arrangements
Clothing,
Foot soreness.
Duty.
Drill.
Exercises.
Vaccination.
Epidemic.
Hospital Ventilation.
wat er-suppl y. Hospi t al drai nage
Sanitary
condition of
all buildings.
Conservancy.
Hospital.
102
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
Ventilation and drainage of the men's guard rooms, amp;c.—T h e
g u a r d r o o m s a r e a l l g o o d
except the hospital guard, which has not sufficient cubic space; it was recommended by the
Deputy Surgeon-General to have a ridge ventilator put up, but it has not been done. The
drainage is bad as the soil absorbs all liquid matter.
Water-supply sufficient: supply derived from river and wells.
Sanitary arrangements.— Sanitary conditions have been properly attended to.
Diet.—Provisions cheap. vegetables abundant. Sepoys received rice money.
Clothing sufficent and adapated to the climate; no recommendations were found necessary.
Foot soreness very prevalent; men have been excused from wearing boots, and their boots
examined. but no particular cause except badly-fitting boots can be found.
Duty .—The ordinary garrison and regimental guard duties: they have no prejudicial effect
on the men's health. Average number of nights in bed. 4¾.
Drill beneficial to health of the men; no recommendations found necessary.
Exercises.—There is a weekly gymkhana held in the cold weather in the station, but no
sepoys ever attend as far as we can see.
Vaccination .—There has been no small-pox; many children were revaccinated.All recruits
are vaccinated on enlistment unless they have good marks.
Epidemic.— Only one case of cholera; there has been a slight increase of the number of
admissions from fever. The lines are overcrowded and the ventilation defective in the houses.
Hospital ventilation satisfactory ; no overcrowding.
Hospital drainage is good; the dry-earth system is efficiently carried out.
Hospital water-supply.—Water is brought by puck-allies from wells and river.
General
conclusion.
General conclusions.— The regiment appears to have enjoyed good health during the year
although there were more admissions than during last year: no apparent cause can be found for
this; the increase is principally in diseases returned under the head "other diseases; " it may be
due to the many changes of Medical Officers which took place during the year; this encourages
the men who are occasionally apt to take advantage of a newcomer's ignorance of their
character to present themselves at hospital for trivial complaints. There has been a large
amount of foot soreness among the men, but beyond the fact of wearing boots which fit badly,
a common occurrence in all Native corps, there is no cause to be found. No epidemic occurred
and only one case of cholera—a sporadic case.
Sanitary con
-dition of lines
a m p ; c .
Deputy Surgeon-General J. R. Theobalds inspected this corps on the 24th
November 1877 and reports as follows :—
Sanitary condition of lines,&c.— I
found the lines very clean and the huts in fair order.
The population of the lines is about 2,566 which is spread over an area of 2,450 feet by
450 feet; there are 765 huts in the lines, 760 occupied. The highest average of residents in
each hut is 4 . 11 in D Company Lines, the lowest 3 . 07 in the H Company, with a general average
of 3.48 throughout the lines.
The Medical Officer makes occasional inspections of the lines, and almost daily passes
Through some of ths streets.
Sanitary condition of all buildings.—I found all the guard rooms and cells clean, in good
order, and sufficiently ventilated with the exception of hospital and quarter guards ; the former
has only a superficial area of 132 square feet and a cubic space of 1,034 feet, with one door and
a small window with holes in the shutters.
Conservancy of the lines and neighborhood tolerably good.
Hospital.—I found all the buildings, wards, latrines, and out-houses in good order, very
clean; all the surroundings very tidy and in perfect order.
8th Regiment Native Infantry
STATION— SEETABULDEE.
Arrived from Mercara. 6th December 1878.
Average strength
...
... ... ... ... ...
...
678
Do. do. present
... ... ...
...
...
426
Admissions
...
...
...
... ...
...
1,157
Daily sick
...
...
...
... ... ...
...
27
Deaths in hospital
...
...
...
...
...
...
5
Do. out of do.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
2
Pensioned
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
20
Sick leave
...
...
... ...
...
...
...
...a
17