Features of
district.
Medical
topography.
Ventilation
and drainage
of the men's
barrack-
rooms, huts,
&c.
Nuisance.
Water-supply.
Sanitary
arrangements
104
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
many instances, and the fact that the men and their families generally sleep on their mats
spread on the cold ground, doubtless saturated, as well as the walls, &c. of the building, with
moisture by the rise of sub-soil water by capillary attraction, is borne in mind.
Features of district.
—Sudden and sometimes violent atmospheric changes are not
unfrequent, because of the position of the district as a long valley or gorge between the two
great ranges of the Satpura and Vindhya Hills.
Medical topography.
—The station of Hoshungabad is the head-quarters of the district ;
it is situated in latitude 20º40' north and longitude 77º51' east, about 1,000 feet above sea-
level, and on the left bank of the Nerbudda river, which separates it from the Bhopal State.
The Vindhya Range, which is to the north, runs parallel with the river, and the old historic city
bounds it on the west. This cantonment seems to be in existence since the year 1817, and
cannot be said to be favorably situated. It is in quite a hollow as compared with the
surrounding country ; there is neither a surface nor sub-soil drainage, except what nature
provides, and the soil, entirely black-cotton, must now be saturated with impurities.
Whether the
huts as
regards
height, &c.,
are conducive
to health.
Diet.
Clothing.
Foot
sore-ness.
Vaccination.
Whether the huts as regards height, &c., are conducive to health .—The huts are old and
frail-looking, the walls consisting simply of bamboo-mattings plastered with mud and cow-dung.
Each block consists of two rows of houses placed back to back with an interval of 3 feet
between the adjacent backs ; the blocks are separated by bye-steets about 20 feet wide.
The average size of a private scpoy's hut is 12 feet 10 inches long, 8 feet 4 inches high,
10 feet 6 inches brood. There are no windows, the only aperture being a doorway 3 feet
high by 2½ feet wide. There is in front of each hut an enclosure of about 20 x 12 feet.
Owing to the number of followers with a Madras native regiment the amount of cubic space
for each individual is very small.
Ventilation and drainage of the men's barrack-rooms, huts, &c.—
The ground upon which
the men's huts are built is about the most favorably situated point in the station, but as really
no system of drainage beyond merely the shallow drains On either side of the streets is carried
out, and bearing in mind the retentive nature of the soil, (black-cotton, with a stiff yellow clay
beneath) it is not to be wondered at that the walls and floors are always more or less damp
during the rains and for many months following.
Nuisance.— Conservancy has been well attended to, and no nuisance arose.
Water-supply.
—The water-supply during the year has been quite sufficient for all wants.
It is obtained from four different wells in the neighbourhood of the lines and is considered of
good quality.
Sanitary arrangements.—
As far as the cleanliness, conservancy, &c., of the lines is
concerned, nothing more could reasonably be desired ; but as I have before said, there is no
system of drainage, and I believe the ground upon which the lines are situated has become
saturated with impurities, and until these most serious defects are remedied the corps stationed
here will always show a high admission-rate from fever.
Diet.— The men eat beef and mutton, fish, rice, wheat and. dholl. Vegetables were cheap and
abundant. Rice-compensation was about Rupees 3½. Sepoys diet themselves and their pay is
amply sufficient to permit of their purchasing sufficiently nutritive and varied food for
themselves and family, but owing to the number of relatives dependent on the men for support
they are often under-fed and consequently more pre-disposed to disease.
Clothing.
—The clothing is the same as that worn by all native regiments, and the greatest
attention was bestowed on this matter with a view to preventing the ill-effects of a variable
temperature. 1 am however of opinion that the present clothing, of not only this corps but of
the Madras Native Army, is not suitable to the climate ; the summer clothing being too flimsy
and the winter cloth too thick.
I would respectfully suggest that what the sepoy requires is a kind of serge clothing that
would preserve an equable temperature of the body under all climatic changes, and fashioned
not to hamper his free action but more after the loose style of a Zouave.
Foot soreness.—
Sixty-one cases of shoe-bite were under treatment during the year. As the
sepoys never wear socks, as they purchase the boots wherever they can, and as they are generally
ill-fitting and of country manufacture, invariably getting as hard as a board after being once
wetted, time above result cannot be wondered at. With the dress suggested, a well-fitting
sandal, the sole being of English-manufactured leather, and a gaiter that would for protection
-sake go well over the instep would be, I think, found more suitable and much more comfortable.
Vaccination is systematically carried out, and no case of small-pox occurred during the
year.
Epidemic.
Epidemic.— During the months of January, November and December the number of sick
from fever in hospital and lines was very high.
Cholera appeared in an epidemic form throughout the district and in the city of Hoshu
n-gabad during the months of April, May, June and July. Only five cases occurred in the