NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
121
Native Troops in
Madras-
148. Amongst the Native Corps in Madras, the cholera
admissions were as follows during the epidemic prevalence in
June.
35th Eegiment N. I.,
Vepery.
35th Regiment N. I., in the Vepery lines. The first case was admitted on the
12th June, and last on the 17th June ; total eleven cases, all
of whom were Sepoys' relatives, of the number six died, and
five recovered. No sepoy was attacked.
17th, Perambore.
149. 17th Regiment N. I. at Perambore. The first case occurred on the
5th June, and the last case on the 4th July; total thirty-
eight cases, including all camp followers, of which fifteen died,
and twenty-three recovered. The Commanding Officer of the Corps died of
cholera on the 28th June. He resided near the Left Wing Barracks, where the
disease first broke out and prevailed in its greatest intensity. Of the total
admissions, seven were sepoys of the Regiment, and four deaths occurred
amongst them.
Impure water-supply.
150. The lines of this Regiment were found to be very clean on inspection,
but the huts were overcrowded, and defective in ventilation.
As regards the condition of the water-supply used by the
Corps during the prevalence of cholera, the following Report of the Chemical
Examiner will testify in some degree to the fact of its great impurity. With
such a water the wonder is, not that cholera should occasionally prevail, but
that it is ever absent. The tanks had only recently been filled by rain water,
the surface drainage of the whole neighbourhood, which is densely populated,
and usually very filthy.
Analysis of Water at Perambore.
Appearance
Taste
Odour
Reaction to test paper
(Organic
and
Solid matter in
an Imperial.
matters
gallon.
Inorganic
Total...
(Putrid
Organic
matter Decaying ra-
(Dr.
Angus
Smith's method.) ) Pidly... ...(After 24 hours.
Mess-house Tank.
Muddy, opalescent
after week's sub-
sidence.
Earthy.
Do.
Faintly acid.
9
12
21
OXYGEN.
0.05250
0.14000
2.80000
Eight Wing Tank.
Yellow or yellowish
brown.
None.
Do.
Alkaline.
11
63
74
0.15750
0.28000
7.00000
Left Wing Tank.
Turbid.
Of
sulphuretted
hydrogen.
Do.
Acid soon becoming
alkaline.
10
21
31
0.28000
0.49000
9.80000
Ammonia was estimated after Messrs. Wanklyn and Chapman's method as follows :—
In M. grm. per litre.
Free ...
Albuminoid
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
0.02
0.32
0.00
0.48
0.44
0 39
REMARKS.—None of these waters are fit for use. If one must be used, it should be the first
after careful filtration.
I may note here that the Mess-house tank water, which is said to be the
purest, was the only source of supply not open to the Sepoys. It had been found
by experience that this water was so largely productive of guinea-worm in those
122
using it, that a Sepoy guard had been placed over the well and tank to prevent the
men taking water from this source. Of the total number of thirty-eight cholera
cases in the lines, twenty-five of the sufferers were living in or near to the Left
Wing Barracks, and got their main water-supply from the most impure source.
The intensity of the cholera prevalence and greatest impurity of water did cer-
tainly, in this case, go together, though the supplies of the Right and Left Wings
were both so bad as to be sources of great danger. The 3rd Regiment N. I. at
Royapooram in new lines, and with a fair water-supply, had no case of cholera.
151. The cholera-stricken pilgrims returning from Conjeeveram by road to
Poonamallee, Saint
Thomas' Mount, Pala-
veram.
Madras, through Poonamallee, appear to have infected that
station slightly. In the cantonment death register, it appears
that three deaths occurred from cholera in the month of May.
There was no cholera during the year at Palaveram or St. Thomas' Mount.
THE EXEMPTED DISTRICTS OF 1870.
152. Judging by the Military Returns, there was no general reproduction
Central Provinces
and Hyderabad.
of cholera over the Central Provinces, and Hyderabad country
in 1870. From Dr. Barclay, Deputy Inspector General H. S.
Force, I learn that the only cholera in the entire district, occurred at Hingolee,
and here the reproduction was very local. A single case occurred amongst the
European troops at Secunderabad. The Southern Collectorates of the Bombay
Presidency must, I imagine, from the parallel history of former epidemics, have
enjoyed a similar exemption.
153. The districts of Bellary and Kurnool, which it will be remembered
Bellary, Kurnool.
were the first to suffer from the invading cholera of 1869,
remained wholly unaffected in 1870. There was one case
treated in the Native Army at Bellary, which recovered, and a case resembling
cholera was seen at Adoni, but the death returns of the two districts, embracing
a population of 2,075,801, are silent on the subject of cholera.-
The blank spaces in the following table are very remarkable. They illustrate,
I think, one of the laws of cholera movement, viz., that cholera prefers to pass
on to new ground, rather than linger in the localities already invaded, supposing
there may be new or unoccupied ground in front of its line of advance :—
Cholera in 1870.
Bellary
Kurnool
Cuddapah
Population.
1,304,944
770,857
1,144,759
January.
February,
March.
April.
May.
31
June.
51
July.
29
August.
10
September.
8
October.
6
November
...
December.
I infer that the cholera which passed over Hyderabad, Bellary, and Kurnool
Districts in 1869 must have been weak, as it left no material behind for reproduc-
tion in the next year. The length of time occupied in the movement from
Hyderabad to Tinnevelly is also, I think, an additional proof of weakly vitality
in the new cholera contagium of 1869. If my inference is a correct one, the
present and early part of the next year should see the final extinction of this
particular epidemic wave, unless it should acquire new strength this year in the
Western Coast Districts.
125
there is any soil to cultivate, is planted either with cholum or cotton. The
crops are generally thin and scanty, and this is scarcely to be wondered at when
it is considered that the mere surface soil is scratched by the native plough,
and that deep ploughing and manuring of the fields, except in the neighbourhood
of villages, is unknown.
District destitute of
trees.
162. A marked feature of the Bellary country is the absence of trees. It is
not that trees decline to grow in the cotton soil, for the Babool
(acacia) flourishes naturally in it, if allowed, and the Neem
(margosa) and tamarind grow freely enough by the road
sides, where they were planted by Sir Thomas Munro, and the various officials
who succeeded him in the administration of the province.
Treeless districts very
liable to cholera.
163. With the exception of the immediate neighbourhood of village sites and
public roads, there is hardly a tree to be seen between Grhooty
and Adoni, or Grhooty and Bellary. It has been observed,
as a matter of fact, of similar treeless districts in the Central
Provinces, that they suffer more during cholera invasion than a well wooded
country, and possibly the ill-repute of the Ceded Districts for cholera in times
past may have arisen, in some degree, from this peculiar feature of the country.
The influence of trees in the destruction of unwholesome miasmata is well
known. On economical as well as sanitary grounds, it is most desirable that tree-
planting should be encouraged throughout the districts of Bellary, Kurnool, and
Cuddapah, in situations where they do not at present exist, and where there
may be reasonable prospects of successful cultivation. Any means by which the
cultivators can be got to see that their health and pecuniary profit are con-
cerned in the growth of trees, might with advantage be adopted. Whether it
be practicable to compel ryots to plant a definite number of trees in propor-
tion to their holdings, as a condition of the tenure of the land, or to encourage
planting operations in other ways, are matters for the decision of Government.
It is my duty to point out that the comparatively treeless character of the
districts, besides affecting the climate, may, and probably does, favour the inten-
sity and general distribution of cholera during the seasons of its prevalence.
Black cotton soil
does not harbour the
contagium of cholera.
164. But it is, I think, satisfactorily shown that there is
nothing per se in the black cotton soil of the Ceded Districts
that harbours cholera, or that favours its reproduction.
In the Ceded Districts, as in Bundlecund and Nagpore, where the same
description of soil occurs, cholera dies out completely after an invasion, generally
in the early years of the interval between two invasions, while in the alluvial
soils of our liver deltas to the south, and even in some rocky soils, the process
of cholera decay is always slow and frequently delayed, so as in some in-
stances to occupy the whole interval of years between two successive invasions.
129
Statistics of Cholera
in Mysore,
" The map I have prepared shows the incidence of the disease in the several
districts of the province upon the plan adopted by the Sani-
tary Commissioner in his last Annual Report, the comparative
prevalence being indicated both by deepening shades of colour and by figures
giving the mortuary rates per 10,000 of the estimated population ; exhibited in
figures, the following are the results :—
Estimated population of province
Total deaths reported in 1870 ...
Death rate per 10,000 of population ...
" In the different divisions the results are as follow : —
Nandidroog Division
Astagram Division
Nagur Division
Population ...
Deaths
( Ratio per 10,000
Population ...
Deaths
( Ratio per 10,000
Population ...
Deaths
( Ratio per 10,000
• . •
. . •
• • *
...
...
...
4,106,762
525
1.28
1,680,083
444
2.64
1,330,495
65
0.49
1,070,421
16
0.15
" The ratio of mortality for the whole province is so low, that the disease can
scarcely be said to have manifested any epidemic virulence. The Nandidroog
Division, the most eastern of the province, suffered most. This division com-
prises the three districts of Bangalore, Colar, and Toomkoor. Of the 444
recorded deaths, 286 occurred in the Bangalore District, of which 133 pertain to
the town of Bangalore itself, viz., 116 to the cantonment, and 17 to the pettah.
In the Colar District, there were 155 deaths, and in Toomkoor only 3. The
mortuary rates per 10,000 inhabitants in these districts are Bangalore 4.33, Colar
2.92, and Toomkoor 0.06. In the cantonment of Bangalore, the mortality
amongst the population, estimated at 79,301, is 14.6 per 10,000, while in the
pettah, with its 52,895 inhabitants, it was only 3.2 per 10,000. In 1869 the
results were just the reverse, the incidence of the disease having been experi-
enced most severely in the pettah, while the cantonment was almost spared.
" This was at the time attributed to the more energetic action that was taken
by the cantonment than by the Pettah Municipal authorities, but in 1870 the
same precautionary measures were taken and carried out with equal energy.
I do not attempt to reason upon these facts, I merely state them.
Sanitary precautions
taken.
" In regard to the adoption of measures calculated to arrest the progress of
the disease, I may state that, on assuming the duties of my
office, I placed myself in communication with the Chief Com-
missioner of the province, and suggested the adoption of the sanitary measures
in force in the Madras Presidency, for the supervision of agglomerations of the
people at fairs and festivals throughout the province. Effect was at once given
to my suggestion ; measures were also taken to put parties of travellers, amongst
whom cholera might prevail, in temporary quarantine, by staying their progress,
and separating the sick and treating them on the spot where medical aid was
available. Rules for disinfection of houses and personal effects were also drawn
up, published in the Vernacular, and widely circulated.
" At Bangalore itself a cholera hospital was established at the outskirts of the
133
of barracks and the establishment of a cantonment, than the present site of
Thayetmyo."
Site of European Bar-
racks, such as to invite
attacks of cholera.
176. With the past experience of Thayetmyo, and especially of that portion of
the cantonment occupied by the European Troops, I am afraid
that, in all future epidemic invasions of Burmah, the troops
in this locality must necessarily suffer. Not only is the situa-
tion disadvantageous in regard to its nearness to the great drainage channel of
Vicinity of barracks
to the Irrawaddy river,
and dangers arising
therefrom.
the valley, but the river being a navigable one for steamers
and boats, is the great, and only, highway of traffic between
Upper and Lower Burmah, andas cholera frequently appears on
such lines of traffic, Thayetmyo must be peculiarly liable to invasion. The con-
ditions of the locality, moreover, are such, that when cholera does get into the
European Barracks, a great fatality may be looked for. It is well, to note,
Choleraic area in
Thayetmyo limited.
moreover, that the conditions which localise the activity of the
cholera contagium are limited, as to area. The Native Regi-
ment, the European Officers of the cantonment, and the Sudder Bazaar are never
affected in the same proportion as the men living in the European Barracks near
the river bank. In 1863 the Surgeon of the Regiment, and another officer, died of
cholera, but the former had necessarily been much of his time in localities
under choleraic influence. In the outbreaks in 1869 and 1870 no European
Officer, lady, or officer's child suffered, and only one man of the Native Infantry
Regiment,—strength 643 was attacked.
Influence of removal
to camp.
177. The removal of the affected troops to camp on the first outbreak in April
would probably have been more effectual if they had been
taken at once to the high ground across the river, instead of
to the locality near the cantonment, fixed upon as a cholera camp. In this
latter place, it would seem probable that the second outbreak on the 13th April
was due to influences affecting the camp, for cholera had ceased temporarily to
appear amongst the men and families who remained in their barracks. Whether
the termination of the epidemic was influenced favourably by the movement
across the river, or whether the removal of the camp was delayed until the
outbreak was normally ended, it is hardly possible to judge. I am not quite
satisfied, in this instance at least, that the removal into the camp near the canton-
ment was in any way effectual in the preservation of life.
Weather during the
outbreak.
178. The weather at the time of outbreak was unusually
hot and dry, and no rain fell until the 28th April, when the
intensity of the disease had subsided.
Great fatality of the
cholera at Thayetmyo.
179. The malignant character of the cholera of this outbreak can perhaps be
better estimated when I mention that of thirty-eight European
troops attacked at Theyetinyo only eleven recovered. This
gives a death rate of more than seventy-one per cent, to the numbers treated.
134
CHAPTER VI.
CHOLERA STATISTICS OF 1870.
180. The following table shows in one view the cholera deaths in the
Civil population throughout the Presidency :—
Table showing Deaths from Cholera in each District of the Madras Presidency during each
month of the year 1870.
Districts.
Ganjam
Vizagapatam ...
Godavery
Kistna
Nellore
Madras
Chingleput
South Arcot ...
Trichinopoly ...
Tanjore
Madura*
Tinnevelly
Kurnool
Cuddapah
Bellary
North Arcot ...
Salem
Coimbatore
Neilgherry Hills.
South Canara ...
Malabar
Total...
January.
7
141
37
117
617
960
3,708
18
8
83
560
82
...
17
8
6,363
February.
3
9
180
15
54
246
344
1,119
70
46
102
443
97
8
7
2,743
March.
8
5
12
112
9
8
150
192
216
323
258
98
271
191
3
31
1887
April.
12
11
72
9
48
16
]18
122
218
275
637
99
215
193
5
35
2091
May.
14
365
79
287
238
7
175
307
1,721
31
935
141
60
5
11
4,442
June.
9
10
3,011
70
10
391
551
300
14
392
531
1,911
50
899
206
5
7
199
8,566
July.
46
72
5,231
566
27
113
152
687
44
357
621
1,246
29
334
567
18
45
150
10305
August.
198
78
3,504
1,129
20
121
72
574
65
176
1,445
626
10
389
521
60
43
218
9,249
September.
66
51
668
201
76
20
63
176
103
110
933
398
8
176
172
264
42
103
3630
October.
2
235
62
20
22
35
88
28
45
479
142
6
113
69
623
35
110
2114
November.
2
21
186
8,
14;
3
19
38
139
18
330
45
227
40
446
25
141
1702
December.
2
33
4
3
20;
16
539
50
324
573
140
319
284
32
421
2775
Total.
382
259
13,305
2,054
613
861
1,394
3,248
2,557
6,584j
5,656
7,611
134
3,595¡
3,524
2,323
2671
l,500|
55,867
The third year of
invasion generally has
highest mortality.
Influence of favour-
able season of 1870.
181. From this table it will be observed that 55,867 persons died of cholera
in 1870, the number in the previous year, a period of new invasion, being only
21,034. The epidemic fell with peculiar severity on the Godavery District,
and the Tinnevelly and Madura Districts, in the extreme south, which districts
had escaped the invasion in 1869. In the invasion of the Presidency in 1864,
the general mortality was higher in the second year than in
the first, and highest of all in the third year of cholera preva-
lence. But in those years the seasons had been unfavourable
for agriculture, and the prices of food were so high as to press severely upon
the health of the poorer people, predisposing them to suffer from epidemic
disease. The seasons of 1870 were unusually favourable for
agriculture throughout Southern India. Food grains have
fallen considerably in value, and the population, by being well fed and nourished,
are better prepared to resist epidemic diseases. From the present distribution of
cholera in the districts to the southward, which were the latest to suffer invasion,
I am incliued to think that no general reproduction will occur in the present
* Exclusivo of Ramnad and Shevagunga Zomindaries, for which no returns were received.
135
year, in which case the cholera mortality of 1871 (the third year from the last
invasion) may be expected to diminish instead of increasing as it did in the third
year of the former invasion. If this, estimate is based on a true appreciation
of the facts of the past and present, then the population of Southern India may
be expected to be free of a general distribution of the cholera pestilence, until
a new epidemic cloud from the north shall again overshadow the land.
Cholera in the Euro-
pean Army.
182. The facts, in regard to cholera outbreaks in H. M.'s 45th Regiment
in Fort Saint George, have already been noticed, and also the
particulars of the lamentable outbreak in H. M.'s 76th
Regiment at the station of Thayetmyo in British Burmah. The European
troops at Bangalore suffered slightly when cholera affected the cantonment in
June and July. There were seven admissions and five deaths at this station.
With these exceptions the European troops of the Presidency were singularly
free of cholera during the year. The station of Trichinopoly was attacked
twice in the year, in January and December, but no case occurred amongst the
European troops. The ratio of mortality to attacks amongst this class, it will
be observed, is lamentably high, and shows that, as yet, Medical science has failed
to produce any satisfactory results, as regards the treatment of the advanced
stages of the disease.
M M
136
Table showing the Total Deaths and Mortality from Cholera among European Troops at each Station of the Madras Presidency during the year 1870.
STATIONS.
Fort Saint George ...
Saint Thomas' Mount.
Vellore
Poonamalee ...
Palaveram
Vizagapatam...
Trichinopoly.
Wellington ...
Bangalore
Cannanore
Calicut
Malliapooram
Bellary
Ramandroog...
Secunderabad
Kamptee
Seetabuldee
Chindwarrah
Rangoon
Thayetmyoo ...
Tonghoo
Port Blair
Total ...
Strength
767
463
3
158
291
72
333
420
1,893
663
64
79
959
49
2,101
1,001
50
23
772
423
340
111
11,035
ALL
CAUSES.
Total Admissions
798
592
1
454
137
50
424
725
4,387
633
41
84
1,058
44
2,301
1,690
51
53
1,170
726
365
65
15,849
Total Deaths
19
24
5
4
1
6
5
22
8
1
1
8
...
39
9
...
1
5
31
7
2
198
CHOLERA.
Cholera Admissions
12
...
...
...
7
...
...
1
1
38
...
59
Cholera Deaths
6
...
•••
5
...
...
1
...
...
...
27
...
...
39
RATIO PER 1,000 OF
STRENGTH.
All Causes.
Total Admissions
1040'41
1278.61
333.33
2873.41
684.93
1273.27
1726.19
2317 48
640.62
1063.29
1103.23
897.95
1095.19
1688.31
1020.0
2304.34
1515.54
1716.31
1073.52
585.58
1436.24
Total Deaths
24.77
51.83
31.64
13.69
18.01
11.9
11.62
15.62
12.65
8.33
18.56
8.99
43.47
6.47
73.28
20.58
27.02
17.9
Cholera.
Cholera Admissions
15.64
369
0.47
...
...
...
1.29
89.83
5.34
Cholera Deaths
7.82
2.64
0.47
63.82
3.53
January.
Admissions. Deaths.
• ••
Feb.
Admissions.
1
1
Deaths.
1
1
March.
Admissions.
11
11
Deaths.
5
5
April.
Admissions.
28
28
Deaths.
21
21
May.
Admissions.
1
1
2
Deaths.
1
1
2
June.
Admissions.
6
6
Deaths.
3
3
July.
Admissions.
7
3
10
Deaths.
5
2
7
August.
Admissions. Deaths.
Sept.
Admissions.
1
1
Deaths.
October.
Admissions. Deaths.
Nov.
Admissions. Deaths.
Dec.
Admissions. Deaths.
50
71.4
100
71.05
66.1
137
Cholera in the Na-
tive Army.
183. In only three stations was there any cholera mortality to speak of in the
Native Army, viz., Madras, Bangalore, and Trichinopoly, all
other stations, some of them within the influence of invading
cholera, as Palamcottah, Quilon, and Thayetmyo, were remarkably free of the
disease. At Madras the epidemic attacked the Regiment in the Perambore
Lines, and at Bangalore the Sappers and Miners suffered most ; at Trichinopoly
the Regiment in the Potoor Lines furnished all the cases but two. These lines
are the nearest to the Fort, and occupy a lower level and moister soil than the
lines of the 9th Regiment N.I.
There was no movement of Native troops until the end of the year, and such
marches as took place up to the 31st December terminated without cholera
outbreaks.
The following table shows the cholera attacks and deaths of the Native
Army in each month of the year :—
138
Table showing the Total Deaths and Mortality from Cholera among the Native Troops at each Station of the Madras Presidency during the year 1870.
STATIONS
Madras
Saint Thomas' Mount.
Palaveram
Vellore
Vizianagram ...
Berhampore ...
Cuttack
Sumbulpore ...
Vizngapatarn
Waltair
Bangalore
French Rocks
Cannanore
Calicut
Mangalore
Mercara
Bellary
Kurnool
Mysore
Trichinopoly
Quilon
Trichoor
Trevandrum ...
Palamcottah
Secunderabad
Kamptee
Seetabuldee ...
Hooshungabad
Raepore
Chandah
...
...
Seroncha
Rangoon
Thayetmyoo
Moulmein
Tonghoo
Shoaygheen
Singapore
Malacca
Port Blair
Nicobars
Total ...
Strength.
2,164
183
131
553
652
364
684
265
785
1,924
608
1,213
84
700
557
1,752
687
61
1,363
455
167
79
565
2,64S
1,255
453
356
622
72
139
1,428
643
370
545
112
130
268
61
25,098
ALL
CAUSES.
Total Admissions
780
141
253
418
83
206
261
469
542
1,189
503
651
21
278
542
639
433
62
482
161
51
38
194
1,381
932
435
272
839
179
195
907
361
485
426
191
144
318
372
15,834
Total Deaths
24
2
4
17
8
5
7
5
16
26
11
7
• ••
5
7
14
4
1
13
4
2
5
32
18
4
2
21
1
2
17
4
11
15
2
2
8
4
330
CHOLERA.
Cholera Admissions
7
...
...
...
6
...
i
...
12
...
1
...
...
1
1
• . •
• ••
1
...
...
30
Cholera Deaths
4
1
i
...
...
...
4
...
...
...
1
...
...
5
...
...
1
...
• ••
.. •
...
• ••
17
RATIO PEE 1,000 OF STRENGTH
All Causes-
Total Admissions
360.2
770.4
1931.3
755.8
127.3
565.9
381.5
1769.8
690.4
617.9
827.3
536.6
250.0
397.1
973.07
364.7
630.2
1016.3
353.6
353.8
305.3
481.01
343.3
521.5
742.6
960.2
764.04
1332.7
2486.1
1402.9
635.1
561.4
1336.08
781.6
1705.3
1107.6
1149.2
6098.3
630.8
Total Deaths
11.09
10.9
30.5
30.7
12.2
137
10.2
18.8
20.4
13.5
18.09
5.7
7.1
12.5
7.5
5.8
16.3
9.5
8.9
11.9
8.8
12.08
14.3
8.8
5.6
33.7
13.8
14.3
11.8
6.2
297
27.5
17.8
15.3
29.7
64.5
13.1
Cholera.
Cholera Admissions
3.2
...
3.1
0.5
8.8
5.9
0.3
0.7
1.5
11
Cholera Deaths
1.84
1.8
27
2.07
0.5
3.6
...
17
06
MONTHS OF PREVALENCE OF CHOLERA.
January.
Admissions.
7
...
7
Deaths.
4
...
4
Feb.
Admissions.
2
1
3
Deaths.
March.
Admissions.
1
1
Deaths.
April.
Admissions. Deaths.
May.
Admissions.
...
Deaths.
1
June.
Admissions.
7
1
1
9
Deaths.
4
...
4
July.
Admissions.
4
4
Deaths.
3
3
August.
Admissions.
1
1
2
Deaths.
1
1
1
3
Sept.
Admissions.
, 1
1
Deaths.
October.
Admissions. Deaths.
Nov.
Admissions. Deaths.
Dec.
Admissions.
.3
3
Deaths.
,1
1
2
Per-centage of Deaths to Atta
571
;
66.6
41.6
56.6