150
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL,
Fevers.
Ague,
quotidian.
Enteric feve
r.
Diseases of
the digestive
system.
Opthalmie
disease.
Diseases of
the chest.
Accidents,
rheumatic
and venereal
complaints.
Fevers, which were the chief cause of sickness, were mostly of a quotidian type. Out of
a total of 489 admissions, 100 took place at Thull between the 26th October and 11th of Nov
-ember, while the daily average sick from this cause during this period was 49.4, and at one
time there were 83 cases of fever in hospital. Its accession was sudden. The regiment reached
Thull on 23rd October with 9 cases of fever in hospital; on the 31st there were 50 cases.
Its cause may be ascribed to the general unhealthiness of the season,—the unusual solar heat
and diurnal range of temperature. The location of the camp was, moreover; low and unsalubrious,
the neighbourhood barren, mountainous and absolutely without shade. The habits of the
men who wandered about freely all day in the sun, not a few of them spending hours fishing
in the River Koorum, nearly up to their waists in water, were doubtless also exciting causes.
The type of fever was mainly that of quotidian ague, the paroxysm rarely lasting over 24
hours; but it was accompanied by a good deal of digestive derangement, as shown by bilious
vomiting and purging present in the majority of cases. Though the symptoms were readily
amenable to treatment, they were very liable to return. The admissions rapidly declined to
-wards the middle of November, when the epidemic may be said to have ceased. Two cases
of enteric fever occurred during the year, one of them being under my own observation in Aug--
ust last. The temperature, abdominal tenderness, with brownish-yellow and hæmorrhagic
evacuations, indicated this type of fever, though there was no eruption. The case was an
isolated one, and there was no sufficient reasons to assign for its occurrence. Two cases of
relapsing fever occurred, but not under my own observation. There is some reason to believe
they had some connection with the epidemic of typhus and relapsing fever so fatal in the
Hazara district in the spring and early summer.
Diseases of the digestive system rank next m frequency, the admissions exceeding those
of 1877 by 31 or 47.6 per cent. This increase has mainly been caused by the large number of
cases of diarrhœa and dysentery admitted in November and December last, when the regiment
was on field service. The admissions from these causes during the year numbered 87, against
32 in 1877, or an increase of 63.22 per cent. The causes of the increase of these affec--
tions have been before pointed out, and were incidental to the service on which the regiment
was engaged. The symptoms were fortunately not severe, for disorders of the bowels were very
prevalent among the men, many of whom were treated while still performing their duties.
They were mostly those of sub-acute dysentery and mucous diarrhœa, owing in great measure
to cold and the direct contact with the intestinal canal of insufficiently cooked and hastily
eaten food. In the majority of cases a little castor-oil or ipecacuanha, followed by an as--
tringent, with the application of mustard poultices, and a sago or arrowroot diet, checked the
disease. When the regiment returned to Koorum in December and the men got rest, the
d i s e a s e s o o n d i e d o u t .
Ophthalmic diseases are next in order of frequency, and the number of admissions sho
w an increase of 21 (or 88 per cent.) over those of 1877. This is due to a partial epidemic
of ophthalmia in the month of June, July and August. It is perhaps difficult to explain
satisfactorily the prominence of these affections among the men of the 5th Goorkhas. The
number of women and children in the regiment, the prevalence of this disease among the
latter, and it not being the habit of the men to wear pugrees, which in some degree protect the
face, may be assigned as possible causes. During the months in question there was an unusual
prevalence of ophthalmia among the women and children of the regiment; while the majority
of sepoys who were affected by it were married. The disease was the common contageous
catarrhal ophthalmia, and yielded to simple treatment.
Diseases of the chest have been less frequent this year than in 1877, which, considering
the exposure the men underwent in January and December last, is perhaps remarkable, inas
-much as the diminution in the less grave diseases of bronchial cattarrh and bronchitis, so
usually following exposure, while the number of cases of pneumonia, pleurisy and phthisis has
been nearly the same in both years. Phthisis bears a melancholy prominence in the sick records
of a Goorkha regiment, the men apparently being more obnoxious to it than any other class of
natives. There were 8 cases of phthisis during the year, 2 of which were fatal and 3 were in
-valided, all of whom were under five years' service, and the disease the result of constitutional
taint. It has been the habit to send men suffering from this disease to the hill station o
Thundiaunee, 7,500 feet above the sea, 18 miles from Abbottabad, for change of air, and distinct
benefit would appear to have been derived in more than one instance by a residence there.
Accidents, rheumatic and venereal complaints.— These do not call for any special notice, save
and except the marked prominence of venereal disease. The admissions from this cause reached
the large number of 21, or 29 per 1,000 of mean strength; while for the whole of the Bengal
Army iu 1877 the average was only 17.50 per 1,000 of mean strength. There are established
brothels in the regimental bazaars, and the inmates are examined periodically, and it may be
averred that this large amount of disease is not contracted there, neither is it consonant with
the habits of Goorkhas to consort with females of a different caste, and the only conclusion to
be drawn is that the disease exists among the married women of the regiment. The admissions
under 'wounded in battle' are sufficiently explained by the active service on which the regiment
was engaged. Out of 22 coming into hospital, 2 (or 8 per cent.) died, 8 (or 36 per cent.) were
wounds of the lower extremity, 7 (or 31 per cent.) of the head or face, and 4 (or 16 per cent.)
of the upper extremity. In only 3 cases were bones implicated; in 15 cases the bullets either
struck apart, glancing off or passed completely through an arm, leg or thigh; in 7 cases the
bullets lodged, 2 being extracted on the field, and 1 subsequently; while 2 lodging in the abdomen
were fatal; and 2 still remain, one imbedded in bones of face and the other under the scapula.