22
REPORT ON THE
Zuhuruddeen were well qualified for the appointment, and gave me entire satisfaction in the
discharge of their duties. The other two officers were for so short a time under me that I
cannot express an opinion regarding their qualifications.
Admissions into Hospital.—There was an increase of 474 admissions during the year
over that of the previous year. The strength of the police force during the year was 2,909
natives, against 3,159 during the previous year, and these 2,909 men gave 3,208 admissions
into hospital. The year under review yielding an admission rate of 1102.78 per thousand,
while that of 1877, 865.46 and 1876, 674.88 per thousand. The cause of this very high
rate of admissions was a very large amount of sickness in Calcutta as well as in the suburbs
during the months of January, November, and December.
Daily average sick .—The daily average sick decreased from 124.93 during 1877 to
111.40 during the year under review. The cause of the decrease arose from the fact that
during previous years numbers of old and useless members of the native police were kept
for months and months in hospital. Finding a large number of these useless men in
hospital, at my recommendation they were pensioned, and young and efficient men enlisted
in their stead.
Prevailing diseases .—The following table shows the diseases which prevailed most during
the year, compared with those of the previous year:—
DISEASES.
YEAR.
DIFFERENCE.
1878.
1877.
Increase.
Decrease.
Ague
1,900
1,862
38
. . . . . .
Dysentery
279
208
71
. . . . . .
Diarrhœa
117
157
. . . . . .
40
Dyspepsia
78
33
45
. . . . . .
Bronchitis
75
52
23
. . . . . .
Ague, Cake
58
11
47
. . . . . .
Debility
44
14
30
. . . . . .
Rheumatism, chronic
43
. . . . . .
43
. . . . . .
Abscess
36
23
13
. . . . . .
Ulcer
30
22
8
. . . . . .
Scabies
28
35
. . . . . .
7
Phthisis, pulmonary
26
11
15
. . . . . .
S y p h i l i s , p r i m a r y
2 6
13
13
. . . . . .
Hy d r o c e l e
25
8
17
......
Gonorrhœa
24
17
7
......
Wounds
22
4
18
......
Cholera
21
20
1
. . . . . .
Bubo
20
23
... ...
3
Colic
20
24
. . . . . .
4
From the above it Will be seen that the prevailing diseases during the year were ague,
dysentery, and diarrhœa. Of the first two diseases the number of admissions was greater
during the year by 38 and 71, while there were 40 fewer cases of diarrhœa treated during
1878.
Special diseases.—The only disease which needs special notice under this head is small-
pox, of which there were 11 cases admitted during the year. Of these, three were of the
confluent, two of the coherent, and six of the discrete varieties. They were all transferred to
the small-pox hospital for treatment, and only one case of the confluent type died. The disease
appeared during the months of January, March, April, and May.
Vaccination .—As many of the unprotected policemen and recruits as could be induced
to be vaccinated were operated on by the vaccinators belonging to the Inspector-General
of Vaccination during the year. No record has been kept of these cases, as the men were
vaccinated in their thanas under the supervision of the officers belonging to the Vaccin-
ation Department.
Sickness according to thanas .—It appears that the constables attached to the subur-
ban thanas suffered in a greater degree than those belonging to the town, and that of the
former 135.5 per cent. were admitted into hospital during the year, while of the latter only
101.61 per cent. The largest number of admissions was from the surburban thana of
Ballygunge, where 194.54 per cent. were treated, while the smallest number was from the
Colootolah section of the town, from where only 27.14 per cent. were admitted.
The thanas at Ballygunge and Colootollah are both pucca buildings and were not
overcrowded during the year. The duties of the constables of the Ballygunge section
are very light, as the place is thinly populated by a peaceable class, compared with those
of the crowded section of Colootolah, where the population is very large, mixed, and unruly,
and, notwithstanding this, the rate of admissions of Colootollah was 167.40 per cent. less
than that of Ballygunge. This would seem to indicate that the excess of sickness in the
suburban force was due to condition of locality, and rot to nature of duty.
Mortality —The total number of deaths during the year was 31, against 63 during
1877 and 52 during 1876, thus showing an actual decrease of 32 deaths during 1878
compared with 1877, and 21 compared with that of 1876. The deaths to admissions during
the year were 96 per cent., against 2-3 per cent. of the previous year and 2-4 per cent. of
1876. The deaths to the total strength of the police force during the year were 1.06 per