78
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BOMBAY.
The Lines and their surround-
i n g s : p r e s e n t c o n d i t i o n , h y g i e n i c
and otherwise.
2. The lines are according to the standard plan, the roof is single-tiled, and the plinth
is low. The huts are in good repair. During the year, how-
ever, they have been very much improved. The ground has
been properly drained by surface trenches, so that it is now im-
possible for water to lodge. All cesspools have been abolished.
A small open surface drain conducts from the bathroom all the water, &c. of the household
to trees planted in front of the huts in the married quarters. Another vast improvement is
the erection of urinals ; this prevents a nuisance which has always hitherto existed, namely,
the saturation of the ground in the vicinity of the huts by urine. These improvements have,
in my opinion, made the lines as healthy as it is possible to make lines for native soldiers.
The cantonment and lines are well drained, and the huts in the lines are clean and well
ventilated. The bazaar attached to the lines is always kept clean and in good repair.
Conservancy.
3 . T h e r e a r e p e r m a n e n t l a t r i n e s w h i c h a r e u s e d b y t h e w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n , b u t t h e
men use trenches ; these after being filled in are ploughed
over, and a crop of grain is grown on them. The lines are
swept daily.
Water supply.
4. Four large casks of water are brought in daily for the use of the regiment from
Dilwara ; this is enough for about two companies, and as a rule
the men in the regirneat do not use it. The favourite water
with the men is that from the Mahadeo well, situated in a grove of trees near the railway
station. The hospital well and another are also used by them. With the exception of
Dilwara, the water in all the wells is more or less brackish. The wells do not run dry in
the hot season.
Food.
5. Food is very dear, owing to the failure of the usual rains. Vegetables are always
scarce in this station.
Duties, exercise, and amuse-
ments : their effects on health.
6. The regiment supplies several guards. Constant drill is their only exercise. They
are encouraged in gymnastics, but very few take to it. Their
duties are not excessive, and do not seem in any way to impair
their health.
Hospital and its immediatt
surroundings.
7. The hospital is placed in an open plain on high ground without a tree near it ;
the consequence is that in the hot season it is a perfect oven,
while in the cold weather its wards are exceedingly cold. To
remedy this I indented on the Barrack Department for jhamps
for the front and back verandahs, which answer the purpose well, and I also obtained a grant
from the Cantonment Committee which enabled me to plant trees in front of the wards.
The hospital itself is well built and ventilated and in good repair.
General health and physique.
8. There has been a great improvement in the health of the men as compared with the
previous year; still there are a great number of men with a
tendency to scurvy. The daily average of sick was
22.2 while in the previous year it was 39.24. As a body, I should say, the regiment is in a very fairly
healthy condition, and. contains a large number of mea of good physique.
Influences of climate or local
circumstances on health.
9. There are two influences which I cannot help thinking have greatly tended to produce
these good results in the health of the men this year,—one
climatic, and the other sanitary, viz., first, the drier season,
and secondly the sanitary improvements in the lines. The fol-
lowing table will clearly show the difference :—
Total Monthly Admissions.
1876
August.
92
September.
104
October.
171
November.
211
December.
180
1877
84
74
70
41
58
and nearly all these admissions were from intermittent and remittent fevers.
Details of treated.
10. The total number treated during the year was 914, and the following show the
prevailing diseases :—chicken-pox 13, small-pox 3, intermittent
fever 505, dysentery and. diarrhœa 30, respiratory diseases 31,
rheumatism 52, venereal diseases 13, eye diseases 39, and wounds and accidents 72.