(3)
5. The mortuary statistics of Calcutta for 1884 show the year to have been
unusually unhealthy, and it is not, therefore, surprising to learn that the number
of sick in hospital rose from 19,872 to 20,833, and that the death-rate among
them was 127 against 116 in 1883. As regards the particular diseases treated
at the hospitals, the Inspector-General makes the following remarks :
—
"The quantity of fever and its sequelæ varied but little from that of 1883, but was
quite as fatal, and while the deaths from diarrhœa increased in the Campbell Hospital they
fell elsewhere. Dysentery increased in quantity but decreased in severity; cholera and small-
pox furnished a large mortality, although the percentage of deaths to total treated of both
diseases showed that they were of a less fatal type than in 1883. In the Small-pox Hospital
at Sealdah, 251 persons were treated in 1884. It is recorded that of this number 85 had
been vaccinated, of whom 16 died; 5 had suffered from a previous attack of disease, of
whom none died; that 28 had been inoculated, of whom 12 died; and that 133 were unpro-
tected altogether, of whom 57 died."
The Lieutenant-Governor observes that diarrhœa is every year reported as
being more fatal at the Campbell Hospital than elsewhere. The following are
the averages of deaths from diarrhœa per 1,000 at this hospital reported since
1879:—
1879...
• • •
...
•••
551
1880...
...
. . .
543
1881.. .
555
1882...
...
...
...
...
594
1883...
... ...
...
. . .
629
1884...
• • •
... . . .
518
The figures for 1884 compare favourably with those for previous years; but the
average number of deaths per mille is far in excess of that reported from any
other hospital. The Lieutenant-Governor would be glad to receive some
explanation of this fact.
As regards the "other diseases" treated at the hospitals, special mention
is made by the Inspector-General of "the frequency of chest maladies
and the heavy mortality they yield." He observes:—
"The exciting causes of pulmonary diseases are obscure. We notice epidemic occurrence
of pneumonia, for instance, in our cold, damp weather, and at other times under conditions
precisely the reverse. The disease is met with in our hospitals in both medical and surgical
practice, and as a complication in the reduced and exhausted The physical surroundings
of many fatal cases outside our institutions lead to the conclusion that a vitiated state of the
air breathed is one, if not the principal, factor in the causation of the disease, rather than,
as is too often supposed, mere changes in the temperature or humidity of the atmosphere
The disorder is so frequently a concomitant during the progress of some diseases that it is
not unreasonable to believe the productive sources are alike."
6. Paragraphs 24 to 29 of the report are devoted to a discussion as to
the distinction to be drawn between enteric (typhoid) fever and remittent
fever, in order to arrive at some accuracy in the statistics recorded of each;
and some suggestive remarks of Dr. Birch, Superintendent of the Presidency
General Hospital, are quoted. Attempts have been made, with partial success,
to diagnose the disease commonly known as typhoid fever, and to trace its
etiology, and it is hoped that greater light will be thrown upon the subject
as further enquiries are instituted.
7. The number of important surgical operations performed during the
year was 1,368 against 1,253 in the previous year. Of these, cures were
effected in 910 cases, relief was afforded in 139 cases, and death resulted in 99
cases; while of the remainder some were discharged, and some were still under
treatment at the close of the year.
Exclusive of ophthalmic operations, which amounted to 459, the number of
major operations performed at the Medical College Hospital during the year
was 416, of which 52 resulted in death, against 377 operations with 61 deaths
in 1883. Four cases of diphtheria were admitted, all of which proved fatal.
Tracheotomy was performed in each instance, but without effect. The number
of minor operations undertaken was 4,505; no fatal results attended these.
There was a decided falling off in those affections known as "hospitalism,"
which is attributed by the Inspector-General partly "to a modified antiseptic
method of treatment, though chiefly to a greater attention to true sanitation
in every direction."
The number of major operations performed at the Presidency General
Hospital was 54, out of which 3 resulted in death. The number of minor
operations was 63.