87
SIND DIVISION OF THE ARMY.
7. The hospital at Mittri consists of the regulation number of tents, viz., one sepoy of
two pâls each, which at present affords sufficient accommo
-
dation, but another tent is wanted for the hospital establishment
and stores ; this has been indented for. If troops are to be per
-
manently stationed at Mittri, it would be advisable to build a hospital for the accommodation
'of the more serious cases, as tents do not afford sufficient protection against the cold when
a gale of wind blows, as it frequently does, from the north-west, in which direction lies the
snow-capped range of the Murree hills.
8. The general health and physique of the men is fair. The climate of Mittri from
November to March is comparatively well suited to improve
the general health of the men, for malaria is not rife here as
at Jacobabad, and the surrounding circumstances are favourable, provided the men are
well clad. With this proviso, there is every reason to hope that a periodical change such as
this to the troops at Jacobabad will be attended with benefit to their general health.
9. The influence of climate on health must be considered chiefly with reference to the
extreme cold in the Linter months, which is the only time of
the year that troops could conveniently be stationed at Mittri.
The intense cold of December gave rise to congestion and
functional derangement of the abdominal organs, and this was a fruitful source of dysen
-
tery during that month. Of the escort party which proceeded to Quetta, referred to in
para. 1, five men were admitted into hospital on their return on account of slight frost-bite
of their feet, indicating the extreme cold they were exposed to on the march, and the neces
-
sity of providing the men with warm socks for the future. During the hot months, from
April to October, the extreme heat, and probably the scarcity of water and its liability to
contamination, will render Mittri uninhabitable for any large body of troops. It will be re
-
membered that the epidemic of cholera last year amongst the troops in Beloochistan broke
out in the beginning of the hot weather, and has been attributed by Surgeon MacRury,
then in charge of the 3rd Sind Horse, to contamination of the drinking water obtained from
the river Nara, which is the source of water supply at Mittri. Dr. MacRury states that all the
villages on the river suffered from the disease, which must have been conveyed and com
-
m u n i c a t e d f r o m o n e t o a n o t h e r f r o m S e e h e e d o w n w a r d s t h r o u g h C u t c h e e b y m e a n s o f t h e
drinking water from the river bed, as there are no wells, as a rule, in or near the villages.
The water supply in the hot weather being scanty becomes easily contaminated, and epide
-
mics spread with extreme rapidity.
10. The total number treated was 290. Amongst these there were 105 cases of ague,
11 of rheumatism, 14 of syphilis, and 19 of dysentery ; 31 cases of injury were treated.
11. Two deaths from pneumonia occurred in January, and one death from ague. The
latter was a severe case of malarious poisoning accompanied
with extreme anæmia, in the person of a non-commissioned officer
who had recently joined the head-quarters at Mittri from the outpost at Tooj. The case was
complicated latterly with diarrhoea, brought on by the severe cold of December. One other
death occurred after fracture of the leg.
Hospital and its immediate sur
-roundings.
General health and physique.
Influence of climate or local cir
-
cumstances on health.
Details of treated.
Mortality and its causes.
Epidemics.
Vaccination and re-vaccination.
12. None.
13. Primary vaccinations 41, and re-vaccinations 251,—all
successful.
1 4 . T e n m e n w e r e i n v a l i d e d d u r i n g t h e y e a r f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g c a u s e s : — r h e u m a t i c
affections three, syphilis one, and old age and general debility
six.
15. With regard to treatment I have nothing new to record, except with reference.
to the so-called "Sind sore." I am now confirmed in the opinion
that this form of boil or ulcer is merely a local indication of
a constitution undermined by long and continued exposure to malarious poison, and that
it can only be combated by the liberal administration of the alkaloids of cinchona bark,
combined, if need be, with stimulants, and the local application of soothing poultices in the
beginning, and latterly, when the ulcer has cleaned and healing action has begun, having
judicious recourse to astringent lotion and strapping. I have also found that dry carbolized
cotton wool, so applied as to exclude the action of light and air, is a clean and satisfactory
dressing after the system has been sufficiently brought under the influence of quinine.
Invaliding and its causes.
Observations on treatment.