viii
its consequences and secure as far as possible the physical strength to be obtained
only by a sufficiency of good and sustaining food, it is proposed by some to issue
rations to the sepoys on a system which would not excite caste prejudice.
Surgeon Major. Ross, of the 4th Rifles, particularly alludes to this point, and his
remarks would seem worthy of consideration. I have had in a former paragraph
of this report to refer to the greater proportionate preponderance of mortality
amongst Hindoos than Mussalmans, and this fact would lead to the inference
that the more liberal and less parsimonious view of the latter race as regards
the food they consume, have much to do with giving them a greater power of
resistance to the inroads of disease.
In regard to clothing I have nothing to add to what has been previously
urged in former reports. The remarks of many of the medical officers in regard
to the number of men who lie up in hospital, thereby causing the State the
temporary loss of their services, on account of simple "shoe-bite," I would beg
to bring to the prominent notice of Government. Should the sandals recom-
mended in my last year's report be considered "unmilitary," a greater attention
to the proper fitting of the boot and the general use of a thick woollen sock,
would go far to obviate the occurrence of this source of trouble and inconve-
nience.
23. Whilst the generality of hospitals have been well reported on as
regards accommodation, hygienic condition, &c. &c.,
there are still a few that require many improvements
to render them proper receptacles for the sick. Of the hospital at Sattara,
Surgeon Major Miller, 8th N. I., says, " There is no proper hospital at this station
for the Native Troops. It is merely an ordinary bungalow in the Sudder Bazaar,
rented for the accommodation of the sick. A regular hospital is very much
required, and if new lines are built, one must be got. The present house is too
small, and the sick are too crowded, and tents have to be pitched for their treat-
ment." I would also beg to urge on the notice of Government his further
remarks on the same subject, and to solicit their early consideration for some
means to provide proper hospital accommodation for the sick amongst the Native
Troops at Sattara. The hospital of the 14th N. I., Belgaum, is complained of
on account of its darkness, and Surgeon Major Hughes further calls attention
to "the want of an observation ward in which cases of infectious disease might
be segregated, pending the pitching of a tent or the erection of a shed." The
hospital of the 1st Sind Horse at Jacobabad is said to be exceedingly damp and
the brick flooring is all crumbling away.
24. In the treatment of malarious fever cinchona febrifuge was very
largely used as a substitute for quinine, with most
satisfactory results. At its first introduction there
was a certain amount of prejudice against its use, and in consequence of its
being so much cheaper than quinine, it would appear that a kind of impression
got abroad that motives of economy alone were at the bottom of its introduction
as an agent in the treatment of ague amongst the Native Troops. In time this
feeling wore away, and an impartial use of the drug, not alone amongst military
medical officers, but by those also in civil employ, has lead to the conclusion that
quite 75 per cent. of the ordinary malarious fevers met with can be successfully
treated with it. I have to highly commend the careful manner in which its value
was tested by Surgeon Ferguson, 24th N. I., and the comprehensive table, to be
found in his report, in which he records its success as compared with " specifics"
usually used in the treatment of malarious fevers. Its issue to the vari-
ous medical charges in conjunction with quinine is now confined to the rela
tive value experience has shown it bears to that drug as a specific, thereby
causing a large saving to the State.
25. I beg to attach as an appendix to this report a short medical history
Hospitals.
Cinchona febrifuge.
Mediterranean expedition.
of the expeditionary force which left Bombay in April
1878, drawn up by Deputy Surgeon General Beatty,