28
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BOMBAY.
inches. The tallest man in the ranks measures 6 feet 3 inches and the shortest 5 feet 4
inches. The average weight of the men is lbs. 123 . 3. The heaviest man weighs 216 lbs.
and the lightest 98 lbs. It will thus be seen that the general physique is good, and if I
mistake not, above the average of other Regiments. In the event of active service for which
the rifles are well fitted, 30, or 40 men would have to be eliminated from the ranks on the
score of age or physical disability.
9. The climate of Satara and Poona are not dissimilar. In the year under review the
Influence of climate.
rainfall at both stations was almost identical in amount, as may
be seen by referring to para. 4, and the mean annual tempera-
ture I believe differs but little. In a climate like that of Satara, the general health would
be greatly improved if better quarters were provided for the sepoys. In regard to these, our
men benefitted immensely by the change to Poona.
10. Admissions to hospital 850, with 32 that remained, give a total of 882 treated.
Details of treated.
823 were discharged. cured, 10 died, 21 remained in. hospital at
the close of the year, 25 Proceeded on sick certificate, 3 were
discharged, one with a gratuity and two whose disease was changed on re-admission. Of
the 882 cases treated, admissions from ague, 502, exceeded those from all other causes, and
are 92 in excess of the numbers under treatment for this disease in the previous year. Fever
therefore impaired the general health more than all other maladies combined, and yet its
power in a station like Satara would be felt but little, if our sepoys were properly housed.
Although the cases treated were numerous, it is satisfactory to record no deaths under this
head. There were only two admissions from remittent fever. In the list of general diseases,
a case of chicken-pox, and two admissions for measles, are reported from Bombay and Asir-
ghar. Four cases of mumps occurred. Admissions from chronic rheumatism and
lumbago numbered respectively 29 and 4. Twelve from syphilis (primary 10 and secondary
2), bronchitis 13, and pneumonia 4, were the chief admissions in the list of respiratory
diseases. Eighty-five admissions occur in diseases of the digestive system. Dysentery fur-
nished 30 and diarrhoea 25 cases. Guinea-worm 13 in diseases of the cellular tissue, boils 32
in affections of the cutaneous system, and contusions 56 in the list of injuries, are somewhat
numerous. The residue of the diseases which appears in the return calls for no special
comm out.
11. Of the 882 patients under treatment during the year, 10 died in hospital, from the
Mortality and its causes.
following causes:—pneumonia 4 (one at Asirghar, two at
Satara, and one in Poona), malignant cholera 2 (one at Bom-
bay, one at Satara), bronchitis 1, diarrhoea 2, constipation 1, at Asirghar.
12: Cholera prevailed extensively in the city of Satara Suddar bazar, and through-
Epidemics.
out the Collectorate. In June . on its appearance in the lines,
all needful precautions were taken and orders issued to white-
wash the men's quarters. Two of the sepoys were attacked, one died. Two women and,
two children were received into the grass hut set apart as a cholera hospital. The children
recovered, but the women died.
Vaccination and revaccina-
tion.
13. During the year, 28 children wore vaccinated success-
fully. The lymph in Satara is generally good. No cases , of
small-pox occurred.
14. Twenty-four men were invalided for discharge, on the following grounds :—bronchitis
Invaliding and its causes.
5, general debility 3, malarious fever 5, old age 6, rheumatism
chronic 4, syphilitic rheumatism 1. One was discharged with
gratuity.
15. The requirements and recommendations to render Satara more perfect as a
Requirements and recommend-
ations.
station for native Troops need not be reiterated here, as former
reports entered fully into these questions. As the requirements
and recommendations for Poona have been discussed in the
foregoing pages, it is needless to repeat them in a separate para.
16. As regards special observations and new experiences in treatment, sanitation, &c.,
the following remarks may fitly conclude the report for 1878. In malarious fevers the
virtues of ciuchonidino and cinchona mixed alkaloid were not so pronounced as the ex-
perience of many appears to indicate. In intractable cases in which quinine itself failed
as an antiperioclic, change of air was recommended in seventeen' instances. In one case of
ague, the symptoms were irregular. The temperature of the hot stage rose to 105, there was
severe and continued headache, pulse 140 in the minute, was weak and fluttering; suspecting
the presence of intestinal parasites, santonine was given with good effect to the speedy relief of the
patient, by the expulsion of a couple of large round worms. As an experiment in the treatment
of cholera, water holding common salt in solution was injected into the bladder every third
hour, and appeared to do good. One of the patients who was in a state of collapse on admis-