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From the Deputy Commissioner, Bassein, to the Commissioner of the Pegu Division,—No. 2-35, dated
the 22nd January 1879.
I HAVE the honour to forward, in original, the Civil Surgeon's report and returns of
the Bassein Lock-hospital for the year 1878.
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE BASSEIN LOCK-HOSPITAL FOR THE YEAR 1878.
I.—Nature and extent of hospital accommodation; whether suitable, or any alterations or, additions taken
place during the year.
THE present hospital was built in the year 1876, and has now been in use two years
and three months. It stands eight feet above the ground, is made of teak-wood, and does
not require any sort of repair.
It is a particularly secure building for the safe custody of prostitutes,—all outlets being
so provided with bars and bolts as to render escape at night no easy matter.
From the outside, its appearance resembles a jail hospital, in respect to iron barred
windows and patent safety locks, which, for the safe custody of Burmese prostitutes,
are absolute necessaries.
The building is easily kept clean, is well ventilated, well lighted, and has ample accom-
modation for all possible requirements.
The palisading surrounding the compound was condemned as "unsafe" in last year's
report, "permitting, as it does, ready escape over it." Nothing appears to have been done
to this palisading during the year of review, beyond coating it with coal-tar, so that the en-
closure remains as easy of egress and ingress as of old. I do not think that any advan-
tage is likely to be derived by substituting a more substantial or less accessible barrier
without the simultaneous introduction of sentinels. The wall of solid masonry which en-
compasses the Rangoon Lock-hospital has not stopped escapes ; and here in Bassein, with
a hospital boundary to some extent hidden from public view, it might, by furnishing the
authorities with an excuse for being less vigilant than they now are, possibly facilitate
them.
II.—Any changes in the medical charge of the lock-hospital during the year.
Mr. Foster, Civil Surgeon, was in charge from the 1st January to the 13th December;
and Surgeon Oswald Baker, of the Indian Medical Department, for the remaining 14 day s
of the year.
III.—The extent of venereal disease amongst the European troops, as shown by the monthly returns.
There have not been any troops in Bassein during the past year; but the following
table shews to what extent venereal disease among the criminals in jail and the civil
inhabitants of the town and district has come under observation at the different medical
institutions since the first extension of the Contagious Diseases Act to Bassein. The Act
came into operation here during 1872, but, as it was not in force for the entire twelve
months, that year has been omitted from the table.
IV.—A comparative table of the amount of venereal disease met with and treated at the civil dispensary
and jail hospital from the introduction of the Contagious Diseases Act until the present time.
Disease.
Years.
1873.
1874.
1875.
1876.
1877.
1878.
Civil population of town
• •
..
20,000
21,000
22,000
23,475
22,395
22,417
Venereal diseases at dispensar
..56
86
86
73.
66
105
Criminal population of jail
..
..
1,300
1,383
1,251
1,126
1,080
1,038
Venereal diseases in jail
• •
..
21
12
13
3
5
4
With reference to the increase or decrease of venereal disorders among the civil popu-
lation, the information this table furnishos is not altogether satisfactory. The numbers
shewn as having suffered have been taken from the records of the civil dispensary, and
represent those who have applied for gratuitous medical aid on account of their maladies.
These patients may, or may not, have been included in the enumeration of the civil popu-
lation. It is easy to assume—and this, too, with a good deal of reason—that the majority
of them were of the fixed town residents; but the fact cannot be determined with accuracy.
The numbers may comprise many who were visiting Bassein, employed in trade or passing
through it en route to other localities, as well as others, strangers to the place and only
temporarily resident. Naturally, those belonging to the classes just mentioned require to be
known, and to be excluded from the tables, before any satisfactory computation in respect
of the increase or decrease of venereal disease can be arrived at; for such as belong to