CABUL EXPEDITION. 107
number being between April and September. There were 96 cases of dysentery. Although
only one death has been recorded from this affection, many a convalescent from ague,
remittent fever, anæmia, or chronic rheumatism has been carried off by dysentery. Liver
diseases are rare, there having been only 3 cases of congestion of the liver. There were only
12 admissions for jaundice, yet jaundice has frequently been a complication of catarrhal
diseases of the bowels during the latter part of summer. Tænia solium is not an uncommon
parasite to find in Beluchistan, although there is only one case recorded here. Kidney dis
- e a s e s s e e m t o b e r a r e . T h e r e w e r e 1 0 a d m i s s i o n s f o r g o n o r r h œ a a n d 7 f o r o r c h i t i s . E i g h t
cases were treated for diseases of the organs of locomotion; 4 for acute synovitis of the knee,
1 for chronic, and 3 for inflammation of tendon. Of diseases of the cellular tissue there were 29
admissions; 2 of these were for inflammation and 25 for abscess of a more or less superficial
kind. There were 138 cases of cutaneous diseases admitted during the year. Boils and ulcers,
principally of a scorbutic nature, are very common, 44 having been treated for the former and
40 for the latter. Ten were treated for deep and painful fissures of foot, due to cold. A com
- b i n a t i o n o f g l y c e r i n e a n d c o k u m o i l (G
a r c i m a p u r p u r e a )
i s a v e r y s o o t h i n g a n d e f f i c a c i o u s
application. I have used this oil very freely in the cold weather here for chapped hands and
lips, and it has been a very favourite application among those whose skin has suffered from
exposure to cold. Being solid at ordinary temperature, it is best softened with glycerine. It
is thereby rendered easy of application and action, especially after washing the parts in warm
water. Two cases were treated for herpes zoster. There were 21 cases of debility follow
- i n g c h o l e r a , p n e u m o n i a , r e p e a t e d a t t a c k s o f a g u e , d i a r r h œ a , c h r o n i c d y s e n t e r y , & c . M o s t o f
them were invalided by the Annual Invaliding Committee. There were 3 cases of insect bite,
followed by rapid and intense ædema; two of these cases had small abscesses formed at the
seat of the bite. There were 70 admissions for various injuries. Contusions 43: 1 case
of fracture of ribs and 1 of gunshot wound; 9 cases of sprains of the limbs; 11 cases of
wounds of the extremities from trivial causes; and 4 cases of blisters of feet after marching,
complete the list of injuries. One case of malingering insanity was convicted and punished
by the Officer Commanding after trial by summary court-martial about the close of the year.
One case is shown as " of no appreciable disease." It was in a man whose left elbow joint
was dislocated nine years ago. There was no acute or chronic mischief in the joint, nothing
but the subjective symptom of pain. One case is returned as " not yet diagnosed," as the
patient came into the hospital on 31st December with febrile symptoms. The diagnosis
was reserved till the following day, when he was admitted for quotidian ague.
11. There were twenty-one deaths at the head-quarters, Quetta. Of these I can speak
of only four which occurred after I took charge of the Regiment
Mortality, and its causes, on 25th July 1879. One case was admitted into hospital for ague
quotidian and enlarged spleem on 3rd June 1879 ; while convalescent, he was carried off by
chronic dysentery on the 19th of September 1879. Another, admitted for chronic rheumatism.
on the 24th May, was attacked with dysentery on the 1st of September 1879. The disease
ran exactly the same course as in the first case, and carried off the patient on the 24th of
September. The third died from acute bronchitis ending in capillary bronchitis, to which
the man succumbed in about a week. He died on the 29th December 1879. The fourth
died from chronic diarrhœa. Of the remaining 1.9 deaths at head-quarters, 11 died of
cholera in June and July, 1 of dysentery, 1 of ague and ascites, 3 of pneumonia, and 3 of
acute bronchitis.
There were eight deaths at Khelat; three from pleuro-pneumonia, two from pneumonia,
one from pleurisy, one from enteritis, and one from remittent fever. Five deaths occurred
at Tiri from cholera, and two men died on their way from Khelat to Quetta of general
debility. There were four deaths at the depôt at Jacobabad, one from phthisis pulmonalis,
one from chronic bronchitis, and one from pneumonia and two quotidian ague. Four died
while away on sick leave to their native country. One death occurred among the European
officers from suicide by shooting himself through the temples.
12. The first case of cholera in the Regiment occurred on the 17th of June and recover-
ed. The epidemic lasted fourteen days. Twenty-four men were
Epidemics. attacked in all, of whom thirteen recovered. The gradual
decrease in the severity, except the first day of the disease, was remarkable. It has been
already noted that the hospital and barracks were at once left on the outbreak of the disease,
and they were not occupied till October and September, respectively, after thorough disinfec
- t i o n . O f t h e o u t b r e a k o f c h o l e r a a t T i r i , w h e r e f i v e m e n d i e d , n o t h i n g i s k n o w n . T h e l a s t
day of the discharge of cholera cases from the head-quarters hospital after recovery was the
16th of July, when seven men were sent to duty.
13. On inspecting the men at head-quarters from time to time in October, November,
and December, 175 men out of 377 seemed to require re-vacci
-Vaccination and re-vaccination.
nation, as 51 of these cases are of doubtful nature and the rest
show no marks of small-pox or vaccination. Forty-two native followers also require re-vaccina-