88
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
In 1870
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
1,103 per 1,000.
In 1871
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
1,275
do.
In 1872
1,374
do.
Great preva¬lence of fever confined to
the 3rd Regi-
ment L.I., &c.
Supposed
causes
Great prevalence of fever confined to the 3rd Regiment L. and G and II Com-
panies Sappers and Miners.—As in 1871 so in 1872 the great prevalence of fever among
the Native Troops was not general, but was confined. to two corps, viz., the 3rd Regiment
L.I. and the Sappers and Miners (or rather to two companies of the latter). Of the total
1,778 admissions under this head, 1,080 were from the 3rd L.I. and 319 from the Sappers,
making in all 1,399, or above three-fourths of the general total, and leaving only 379 to all
the other corps.
Supposed causes.—The cause of this special prevalence of fever in these two corps
is a problem of which I can offer no satisfactory solution. The sanitary conditions referred to
in Assistant-Surgeon McNally's report as possible causes, viz., imperfect ventilation of huts,
the want of impervious drains, and a water-supply of indifferent quality, are conditions
common to all the Native Corps here, and cannot, therefore account for exceptional sickness
in any of them. As regards the water, indeed, the men of the 3rd Regiment seem to be
in a more favorable condition than most others. Drs. Nanney and McNally are mistaken
in saying that none of these wells have been examined. The Analyst of Potable Waters has
reported on the two which are chiefly used, viz., No. 111 on the north of the lines, and
No. 114 to the south-west of them. Dr. Hastings says of No. 11l, "Not good water ; unpro-
tected." Of No. 114 he says, " Should be deepened, steps removed, lined with pucka
masonry, platform erected, and be protected ; water would then be good and safe." The
Chemical Examiner at Madras, however, in his letter No. 235, of 11th October 1872, to the
Inspector-General, Indian Medical Department, remarking on Dr. Hastings, analyses of these
wells among others, says : " There appears nothing in the composition of the waters of the
wells numbered x x 111, 114 which should render them unwholesome."
Assistant-Surgeon Nanney, in a paper recently published in the Madras Monthly
Journal, suggests the nature of the soil, disintegrated and disintegrating granite, as a cause
of malaria in the 3rd lines ; and in his Sanitary Report for 1872 he suggests that the fogs
spreading from the direction of the city of Hyderabad and the Chudderghat bazaars to
Chickulgooda may carry with them some noxious influence. As regards the soil, that, again,
is a condition common to all the lines here ; and the second theory fails to account for
the equal prevalence of fever in the lines of the G and H Companies of Sappers and Miners
which are not exposed to the influences suggested.
It may further be mentioned that the 24th Regiment N.I. on first arrival here suffered
in much the same way from fever in the Tarban lines as the 4th and 3rd Regiments did,
on their arrival, in the lines at Chickulgooda.
One probable cause of the sickness in the 3rd Regiment seems to be their having, before
arrival here, served for many years in succession in moist and relaxing climates—Paulghaut,
Cannanore,, Burmah, and Madras. The Chickulgooda lines, however, seem always to have
had a bad name ; and not improbably there may be some localized influence, which we
cannot as yet detect, rendering them unhealthy. It is satisfactory, therefore, that the site
will soon be abandoned ; since it is considered necessary, the Assistant Quartermaster-
General informs me, to remove, on strategic grounds, the regiment stationed there to within
the military boundary, formed by the embankment of the railway now under construction,
which, passing, as it does, to the north of the Chickulgooda hutting lines, would cut off the
Regiment from the rest of the force.
Statistics of
the D, G, &
H Companies
of Sappers and
Miners.
Statistics of the D, G, and H Companies of Sappers and Miners . — A s r e g a r d s t h e
Sappers and Miners, the subjoined table shows that the D Company, which went into camp
near Bolarum in May 1872 (in the hottest of the hot weather) was even more healthy there
than it had been in its old lines the previous year. The G Company suffered from fever to
much the same extent as in 1871 ; the H Company in a somewhat less degree.
Sappert and Miners.
1872.
1871.
Companies.
D.
G.
H.
D.
G.
H.
Strength
...
...
... ....
104
107
108
115
109
104
Total admissions
...
...
...
105
228
237
143
209
271
Admissions from fever
...
...
43
148
128
81
166
171
Percentage total admissions to strength. 100.96
213.08
219.44
124.3
191.7
260.5
Do.
admissions from fever to
strength
...
...
...
...
41.34
138.31
118.51
70.4
152.2
164.4
Percentage of
admissions,
&c., from all
causes.
Percentage of admissions, &c., from all causes.—The following table shows the per-
centage of admissions, and deaths in hospital to strength, and of deaths to admissions for
each corps during the time it occupied this station