( 6 )
have been no cases since 1876, and in the Campbell Hospital none since 1874.
There was no enteric fever in the Medical College Hospital. There were 2
cases in 1879, and from 1871 to 1877 cases were regularly recorded. It is
doubtful if these were all really cases of enteric fever.
16. The use of the cinchona febrifuge in substitution for quinine con
-
tinues to increase. Of the former, 161 Њ s and of the latter 19Њ s were used.
In 1876 the proportions were 1Њ and 195Њ s respectively, and in 1877 47Њ s
and 101Њ s. The value of the febrifuge has now been definitely established, and
the public demand for it is increasing daily.
17. With reference to paragraph 31 of his report, the Surgeon-General
should inform the officer in charge that it is not desirable that any experi
-
ments to test the fuller efficacy of Dr. MacCormac's prophylactic against
cholera should be made in the hospitals. Attention can best be confined
to the treatment of existing disease. The object of the Secretary of State
in forwarding Dr. MacCormac's letters to the Government of India was
merely that all medical officers might be made aware of the fact that in the
year 1854 fifty cases of cholera occurred in a public institution in Belfast,
that a mixture of dilute sulphuric acid and peppermint was administered
to all the inmates as a prophylactic, and that the cessation of the outbreak
was synchronous with the dosing of the establishment. This circumstance
has been made known to all medical officers under this Government; and
nothing further is required. The Surgeon-General very correctly remarks that
the administration of sulphuric acid to persons under treatment for other
diseases might be open to serious objection.
18. The total expenditure at the Medical College Hospital was Rs. 1,06,750
against Rs. 1,01,453 in 1879. The former sum, however, includes a charge of
Rs. 10,872 for repairs, while the expenditure under this head in 1879 was only
Rs. 2,887. The charge for medicines was reduced by the transfer of the out
-
patients to the Choonee Lal Seal Dispensary in the second-half of the year.
The amount expended from the funds of the dispensary on this account was
Rs. 2,712. The total cost of diets was Rs. 29,753 against Rs. 30,884 in
1879. In 1875 the cost was Rs. 48,209, and in 1876 it was Rs. 46,303.
The average cost of diet, calculated on the number who actually consumed
it, was 6 annas 6 pie for Europeans and 2 annas 10 pie for natives. The
cost in 1879 was 6 annas 7½ pie and 3 annas 1 pie respectively. In the Mayo
Hospital the average cost of native diets during the year was 2 annas 11 pie.
The cost of stimulants was Rs. 531 against Rs. 806 in 1879, Rs. 814 in
1878, Rs. 3,530 in 1877, Rs. 4,607 in 1876, and Rs. 6,488 in 1875. Dr. Coates
reports thus: "We have plenty of money to spare for any and everything
required in the way of necessaries and delicacies, and we do not hesitate to
spend freely in such cases. Every item that every officer has ordered for his
patients has been supplied without question or enquiry; interference was not
needed. The many lady visitors to the hospital, the various clergymen and
scripture-readers, and the friends of the sick who stream into the hospital at
all hours and converse freely and separately with the inmates, have in no
one instance brought to our notice any deficiency or inferiority in the quality
of the food and comforts given to the patients throughout the year." Arrange
-
ments have been made to secure unadulterated milk for the patients. It is
quite clear that the existing rates are ample to secure a sufficient supply of whole
-
some food and stimulants for the patients. The Lieutenant-Governor remarked
in the resolution on the last report that the funds of the special endowments
should be fully utilized for the benefit of the poor patients discharged from the
hospital. It is not stated why the disbursements from these funds only amounted
t o R s . 8 3 4 i n 1 8 8 0 a g a i n s t R s . 2 , 3 1 1 i n 1 8 7 9 . T h e a c t u a l c o s t o f t h e h o s p i t a l t o
Government, exclusive of the salaries of the medical officers who are Professors
of the College, was Rs. 97,829 against Rs. 94,933 in 1879. The expenditure in
the Choonee Lal Seal Dispensary was Rs. 3,342. The income from the endow
-
ment is about Rs. 2,000. The excess of expenditure over income was
met from the cash balance that had accumulated. The Lieutenant-Governor
is informed that there was a good deal of initial expenditure on instruments
and the like that need not be repeated.
19. The total expenditure at the General Hospital was Rs. 1,02,352 against
R s . 9 4 , 6 6 4 i n 1 8 7 9 . T h e i n c r e a s e w a s c h i e f l y t h e r e s u l t o f t h e i n c r e a s e i n t h e