Medical
Officers.
Location
movements.
Clothing..
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
92
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
28th (Punjab) Regiment, Native Infantry—morababad.
I . M e d i c a l O f f i c e r s .
— S u r g e o n - M a j o r L i n d s a y D i c k s o n , M . D . o f f i c i a t e d i n
medical charge from Janu-
ary to August, when he was
relieved by the return to the
regiment of Surgeon-Major
R. F. Lyons.
II
. Location and movements.—
The head-quarters and right wing
was stationed at Moradabad from
January to 22nd October ; the left
wing at Shahjahanpur for the
same period. The two wings re-
joined at Chandausi, a station on
the Oudh and Rohilkund Railway,
and proceeded by rail to Jhelum,
and thence marched to Rawal Pin-
di, Kohat and Thull, and around
the Koorum River into Afghanis-
tan on 30th December 1878, to
take part in the field operations in the Koorum Valley under Major-General F. Roberts, v.c., C.B.
X. Clothing.— Good, and suited to the seasons. New Hindustani shoes were issued on
the eve of the march of the regiment to the frontier, and were the cause of much sore-footed-
ness.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding. —Strength of the regiment :—
Present
.
.
.
.
.
. . . .
.
.
6 3 7 . 2 6
A b s e n t .
.
. 6 9 . 6 8
Total
. . 706.94
YEAR.
STATION.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH.
Admissions. Deaths. Daily sick.
1873 . Alipore, Dec. 1872 .
193.2
1.02
4.64
1874 . Ditto
. . .
170.8
1.73
5 . 9 6
1875
. Ditto
. . . . 146.73
3.2
5.35
1876 . Moradabad, and Sha-
jahanpur, Feb. 1876.
106.96 1.29
3.25
1877 . Head-quarters, Moradabad-
had, and Left Wing atS h a h j a h a n p u r .
73.04
1.72
2.26
Average . .
138.15
1.79
4.29
1878 . Moradabad and Shah.
jahanpur and on active
service in Afghanistan.
129.77
1.13
3.58
STATION.
P E R I O D
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER OF
Daily
average
number of
sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
A d m i s - s i o n s . Deaths.
Admis-sions. Deaths.
D a i l y a v e r a g e s i c k .
Head-quarters and
Bight Wing at Moradabad
and on active service.
1st Jan. 1878 31st Dec. 1878 396.56 579 ...
16.29 146.60 . . . 4.17
Depôt at Jullundur
. , 27th Oct. „ 31st „ „
82.4
19
1
4.70 127.32 6.69 5.70
Left Wing at Shahjahanpur. lst Jan. „ 22nd Oct. „
225.16 229
1
6.99 125.83 5.48 3.10
TOTAL .
...
. . .
637.26 827
2 22.85 129.77 .31 3.58
Number of deaths in hospital 2; out of hospital 6; total
8; per cent. of total strength . . 1.13
,,
invalided . . . . - .
.
13; ,,
, , . 1.83
„
sent on sick leave . . . . . .
22; „
, ,
. 3 . 1 1
„
of days spent in hospital 8,341. ; per admission .
; per man of total strength . . 11.79
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength . . 11.79
Principal
causes of
.sickness:
Special
observat i ons and remarks.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness.—Fever was the most frequent cause of admission.
There were 1 case of enteric fever, .1 of continued, 2 of remittent, 102 of intermittent, and
93 of febricula, forming an aggregate of 199 cases. Blistered feet appear in the return as the
next most prolific cause of admission into hospital ; of these there were 66 admissions, due mainly
to the circumstance referred to in paragraph 10. The admissions from dysentery amounted to
45, and from diarrhœa to 6. Primary syphilis was unusually frequent, there having been 45
cases. The disease was contracted in the bazaars at Moradabad and Shahjahanpur, and a few
on the line of march. Gonorrhœa was the cause of 18 admissions. Syphilis in the secondary
form was rare, there having been only 4 admissions, and 2 from gnorrhœal rheumatism.
XXI. Special observations and remarks .—To the annual report Lieutenant-Colonel Hudson,
Commanding, appends the following remarks:— "I cannot countersign this report without
remarking, as the result of the several years' experience in a regiment (the 21st Punjab Native
Infantry), the men of which have worn Punjabi shoes for eight years, that the number of cases
of sore-feet or blistered feet in such a regiment is not one-tenth what usually is in a regiment
the men of which wear ammunition boots without socks."