NORTHERN DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
ing party had been, or some men had been there on leave; it was known, at any rate, that
within three or four weeks of the outbreak sepoys had arrived from Dakoor. The only
other supposition which could be made had very slender grounds for support: it was that
the men, under the expected orders to march shortly to Bombay, had been turning out all
their old kit and household goods, which consisted (as was seen when the families moved,
and who suffered most) of the most dirty, foul-smelling collection of all sorts of rags that
could well be brought together. As there had been an epidemic in 1875, it was possible
that some cholera germs lying hidden in those rags became developed and diffused on their
exposure to the air.
The regiment moved out under canvas on the 13th October, to as good a site as could
be chosen at the time of the year, when all crops were standing high. The direction was
then to east of camp. The season was termed the north-east monsoon, but the wind veered
daily 16 points. In a few days several cases occurred amongst the women and children, but
only one sepoy was admitted between this and the 20th. The families belonging to the
right half-battalion were separated, and removed from where they had ensconced themselves,
near a hedge and beneath some trees, to a more airy spot, and here they remained free for
seven days. The families of the left half-battalion were then attacked, and these too were
removed to a distance; finally the regiment itself marched to a spot some three and a half
miles from the first camp, and to the westward of Baroda. Here they were only encamped
one day, as complaints were made that the tents were in too close proximity to the road
where H. H. the Gaekwar took his evening drive. The regiment then moved about two
miles to northwards, and here the admissions decidedly increased and deaths occurred rapidly.
On the next day but one the regiment again moved one mile to the eastward, where the
epidemic eventually disappeared.
In the mean while, after a lapse of seven days, cholera broke out in the families of the
right half-battalion, whilst it still continued in the left, so that both wings were moved to a
spot about two miles to the north-east. There was great difficulty in selecting grounds for
encamping: either the crops were high, or the ground was low, with marshy strips here and
there, or there was no water supply near at hand. Cases still continuing to be admitted,
the families were again moved about three miles to the northwards, when the outbreak ceased.
The total number of attacked was 45 men, women, children, and followers. The deaths
were 8 sepoys, 9 women, 5 children, and 2 followers. In one family, that of the havildar
Ram Sawunt, three children were attacked, with the interval of a week between each attack,
but nothing special could be traced as to cooking-pots or the grain used by them. Of the two
followers, one was a dhooly-bearer, and the other a sweeper. These five cases point to con
-tagion; but, taking the remaining cases as a whole, the men and others attacked were not
by any means crowded together, or, indeed, in any close proximity. The attacks were
sprinkled generally over the camp in an arbitrary manner. The caste which suffered most, as
might be reasonably expected, was the Purwaree. The treatment was various—morphia
subcutaneously to relieve cramps; chlorodyne, hydrate of chloral, inhalation of nitrate of
amyl, with digitalis internally, &c. No cases amongst the men recovered until this epidemic
was on the decline: the cases were mild from the first amongst the women and children.
1 3 . E i g h t y - n i n e c h i l d r e n h a v e b e e n v a c c i n a t e d d u r i n g t h e y e a r ; w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n
of ten infants all the children of the regiment are protected.
On the appearance of small-pox on the 1st December the regi
-ment was paraded and each man examined. Forty-nine showed no scars of' vaccination, so
they were vaccinated immediately at the nearest chowkey. All these operations were returned
a s s u c c e s s f u l .
1 4 . T w e n t y - s e v e n m e n w e r e i n v a l i d e d f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g c a u s e s : — g e n e r a l d e b i l i t y 1 3 ,
rheumatism 6, lung affections 4, and one each from dysentery,
diarrhœa, disease of the spleen, and strabismus.
Inspection by Deputy Surgeon-General MOORE.
H. M.'s 9th Regiment N. I. arrived in Bombay from Baroda on the 29th of November, and
occupies the lines and hospital formerly in the possession of the 20th N. I. The annual
inspection was made on the 28th of December, in company with the commanding officer, the
adjutant, and surgeon, but the lines have been frequently visited, and the hospital weekly
seen when tenanted by the 20th Regiment. The lines are, as often mentioned, in a bad posi
-tion, and during and after the rains, owing to obstruction to the drainage, the locality is very
Vaccination.
Invaliding and its causes.
14 m