Death from aneurism.
76
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL,
all, and the blisters were very often on the soles of the feet ; while not a single case occurred
amongst those who wore the "jorab." This, as far as it goes, would lead to the conclusion that
the "jorab" is a very admirable protection against feet blistering, and it is what the men
themselves most approve of, and in war time, it may be worth while to supply two pairs to
e a c h s o l i d e r a t t h e p u b l i c e x p e n s e .
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding.— Strength of the regiment :—
Present
.
.
.
.
. .
. .
.
.
. 647.35
Absent
.
.
. . 55.95
Total
.
. 703.30
Principal
causes of
si ck ness.
Venereal
disease.
STATION.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
OF Daily
average number
of sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGT
H PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis- s i o n s . Deaths.
Admis- sions. Deaths.
Daily
average
sick.
Head-quarters at Meerut . 1st Jan. 1878 13th Nov.1873
643.53 349
4 12.51 54.23 .62 1.94
,,
at Mooltan . 14th Nov. „ 31st Dec. „
Depôt at Meerut
. . Ditto . . Ditto . .
57
3 ...
3.75 39.99 ... 6.58
TOTAL . .
...
. . .
647.35 352
4 13.01 54.37
. 6 1 2 .
Number of deaths in hospital 4; out of hospital 1; total
5; per cent. of total strength .
.71
„ invalided . . . . . .
20; „ , ,
.
2. 84
,, sent on sick leave . . . . . .
1; , , , ,
. . 1 4
,, of days spent in hospital 4,749; per admission . 13.49; per man of total strength .
6.75
,,
, ,
o n
s i c k l e a v e 1 8 1 ; p e r m a n
.
181; „
.25
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength . .
7 . 0 0
XVI. Principal causes of sickness.—There were 102 cases of ague treated during the year;
of these 94 were ague (a) , 7 ague (b) , and 1 ague (c) . With the exception of' 15 cases, the disease
was of a very mild type, easily cured by mild purgation, diaphoretics and cinchona febrifuge
in solution. The 15 cases referred to were typical ague, having a well-marked cold, hot and
sweating stage, and for their cure I always found it necessary to prescribe quinine, and in large
doses too. From the little experience I was able to glean last year about cinchona febrifuge in
the treatment of ague, I should say that it will cure very mild cases of that disease, but that
when the disease is at all severe, quinine is absolutely necessary, and I still think that it is
economy of time and medicine to give it. in large doses. Such at least has been my experience
in the jungles of Assam and in the Peshawar valley, and in the treatment of the few cases now
referred to.
Venereal disease.— I am at a loss to know how to account for the great increase in
venereal as compared with the previous year. However, there stand the figures, 27 against 9,
or exactly three times as many. Fortunately none of the cases were severe; of the primary,
all, with one exception, were cases of soft chancre, and the exception was a pure Hunterean.
In almost every case the treatment so strongly recommended by Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson was
carried out, and up to the present with very good results, as there has not been a single case
of secondary or tertiary syphilis admitted amongst those treated by me. The men treated for
secondary syphilis all suffered from cutaneous eruptions, with the exception of one whose larynx
was affected. These cases have also done well under a mild mercurial r e gi mé
Dysentery.
inspection.
Dysentery.—In one really severe case of dysentery, I was very much struck by the almost
marvellous curative effect of ipecacuanha in half drachm doses. The man was admitted in the
morning, suffering from well marked symptoms of acute tropical dysentery, with frequent stools
which contained little else than blood and mucus. He was given at once a dose of castor-
oil and opium ; and at night had 25 drops of tincture of opium, and quarter of an hour after
this half a drachm of pulverised ipecacuanha. The same dose was repeated next morning,
and. in the evening all symptoms of the disease had passed away; the dejections were perfectly
natural, and there was no return of the disease for several days, during which he was kept in hospital.
There was no sickness of stomach after either dose.
Death from aneurism.— The death that occurred out of hospital was that of a drummer,
who died suddenly in the lines from the bursting of a large aneurism of the arch of the aorta.
Hospital.—The two hospital-assistants, Mahomed Alli Oodeen, 2nd class, and Fazl Elahi,
3rd class, performed all their.duties diligently and carefully, and at all times and on all occa-
sions afforded every assistance, and invariably gave entire satisfaction, and I attribute in a
great measure the very good health of my regiment during 1878 to their care of and attention
to the sick in hospital.
Inspection.—This regiment marched on active service in November 1878,
and appears not to have been inspected either before or since.