Special
observations
and remarks.
Inspection.
Medical
Officers.
YEAR.
STATION.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH.
Admissions. Deaths. Daily sick.
1873
. Dinapore, March 1872
from Jalpaiguri.
.
54.7
. 2.2
1874
. Dinaporo
.
.
75.9
.5
3.4
1875
.
Ditto
64.3
. 2 2.9
1876
. Fyzabad, Jan. 1876
.
72.8
. 1 22
1877
.
Ditto
48.04
. 9 8 2.32
Average.
63.15
. 6 1 2.60
1878
. Fyzabad
.
.
.
127.49
1.69
3.08
Location and
movements.
68
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL,
Lines,
barracks and
huts.
Clothing.
Marches and
service.
XXI. Special observations and remarks.—Thirty-seven recruits were admitted during the
year and are all very promising men. The cinchona febrifuge has been found very valuable, its
chief objection being its unpleasant taste. Ergot has been found by me very useful in inter-
mittent fever in anæmie subjects. I used it combined with iron. One bad case of fractured
arm occurred at tent pegging ; the right ulna was split obliquely from just below the olecranon
to near its carpal end, the head of the radius being dislocated forwards. Great difficulty was
experienced in setting the fracture, but it ultimately united well, and the dislocation being re-
duced the man was discharged to duty.
Inspection.—Deputy Surgeon-General J. A. C. Hutchinson, M.D., inspect-
ed this regiment at Sitapur on the 23rd December 1878, and considers the
hospital arrangements very satisfactory. He found no urinaries in the lines, by
which it is to be understood that the men and camp-followers urinate in places
which are commonly known and given up to that purpose. No doubt it seems
to natives ridiculous that special arrangements should be made for removing
and deodorizing their own excreta, while an equal number of horses and. ponies
living in their midst are left quite uncared for in the same respect.
2nd (Queen.s Own) Regiment, Bengal L ight I nfantry—Fyzabad.
I. Medical Officers. —The following medical officers have held medical
charge during the year :—
Surgeon Cadge, from the 1st
January to 25th February;
Surgeon-Major Johnston,
from that date to 5th Nov-
ember ; and Surgeon Bates
till the end of the year. Of
the conditions of life, &c., of
the regiment prior to the 5th
November, Surgeon Bates is
unable to report.
II. Location and movements.—
The regiment was quartered at
Fyzabad up to the 19th October,
when it proceeded by rail to Mean
Meer. remained at the latter sta-
tion till the 13th November, when it left for Kohat, where it arrived on the 1st December, and
remained for the rest of the year.
V. Lines, barracks and huts. —The regiment was "under canvas" while at Mean Meer,
and at Kohat from the date of arrival till the 16th December, when permission was received
from the Military authorities for the occupation of the lines of the 2nd Punjab Infantry.
X. Clothing. —Unsuited to this climate. In uniform the men are tolerably warmly clad.
They are provided with English great-coats, which are too short and quite inadequate for night
dut y. To t he want of . war m undr es s cl ot hi ng was t o be at t r i but abl e t he l ar ge amount of s i cknes s
in the regiment on first arrival at Kohat. The men went to the fields for the purposes of
nature in the early morning, while au extremely cold wind blew, with little more than a shirt
on; with the surface of the abdomen thus insufficiently protected, it is not surprising that there
were a great many cases of dysentery. And it is to be wondered at that men who had so re-
cently arrived from a down country station did not suffer more from chest disease. There is a-
bad kind of shoe worn, there are no buckles or lacing, so that to get it on with any degree of
ease it must be made too large for the foot. It is cut in such a way across the instep that the
margin of the leather catches that part of the foot. It is calculated to cause blisters. On
the march from Jhelum to Kohat, there were 12 admissions for blistered feet ; nor does this at
all represent the manner in which the men suffered.
XIII. Marches and service. —The regiment marched from Jhelum to Kohat, a distance of
176 miles; left the .former place on 16th November, and arrived at Kohat the 1st December,
halting one day at Rawal Pindi en route. Owing to the hospital carriage being limited, twen-
ty-eight of the sick were left behind at Jhelum. On several occasions during the march,
country carts had to be entertained for the conveyance of the sick. Nothing of any import-
ance occurred during the march. The road from Rawal Pindi to Kohat is a very bad one, and
the dust was a source of. great discomfort.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding. —Strength of the regiment :—
Present
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
643.16
Absent
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
64.35
Total
.
.
707.51