BRITISH BURMAH DIVISION.
123
no levelling has ever been made out can hardly have been so applied as to neutralize the
faulty laying of the lines. The 35th Regiment arrived at the commencement of the year,
and during the months of March, April, May, and June there were no fewer than 49 deaths
among the camp-followers, which, as there are only 1,600 of them, amounts to 3 per cent.
Some three weeks since myself and Surgeon Sibthorpe went over the lines together and came
to the conclusion that the portion of the lines occupied by the 4th and 5th Companies
were in the worst sanitary condition. In order to see if this opinion was borne out by
facts, I procured a return showing the number of deaths among the camp-followers
according to companies with the following result :—No. 1, deaths 12 ; No. 2, deaths
12 ; No. 3, deaths 11 ; No. 4, deaths 14 ; No. 5, deaths 15 ; No 6, deaths 10 ; No. 7,
deaths 3 ; No. 8, deaths 3, Nos. 7 and 8 appear more thickly inhabited, and the
ground slopes towards the north, while with most of the other companies the ground
rises towards the north, in other words the natural drainage of the 7th and 8th Com-
panies has been less interfered with than that of the other companies. The lines are
old with many tumble-clown old walls, and require to be laid out and re-built under the
superintendence of an engineer.
Vaccination .—There have been only 33 cases vaccinated, of whom only 13 were suc-
cessful. At present there is a difficulty in getting lymph,
Vaccination.
BRITISH. BURMAH DIVISION.
B r i t i s h B u r m a h D i v i s i o n
Average daily strength present during the year ...
...
...
...
... 2.760
Do.
sick per cent. to average strength ...
..
...
...
... 4.92
Ratio of mortality
do.
do.
...
...
...
. ..
1.52
Deputy Inspector-General W . H. S . Burn., M.D., F.R.C.S., held admini-
strative medical charge of the British Burmah Division during 1872, and has
submitted the following sanitary and medical history of the troops of the
force :—
Alleged causes of sickness and mortality.—During the year under review epidemic
visitations of dengue fever of considerable severity occurred at Rangoon, Moulmein, Thayetmo,
and Tonghoo. This disease first appeared at Rangoon in the month of March, and
continued in the country at the above stations till December. It is supposed to have
been brought to Burmah from Calcutta by the various steamers which arrived from the
latter port. It was then carried by the same agency to Moulmein, Thayetmyo, and Tonghoo,
at which latter station it did not disappear till December.
The causes of this peculiar form of fever are not well understood. The disease is no
doubt a rheumatic, having, in my opinion, a malarious origin and character.
It appears to be contagious, the poison acting irregularly : in some it takes -effect in the
first contact, in others after weeks of daily exposure to its influence, of others again escape it
altogether, although freely exposed to the contagion however generated.
The account given of its varied features and symptoms at all the stations mentioned
above showed a wonderful uniformity throughout. Very few deaths are recorded. Fatal cases
of this disease generally occurred in children from convulsions from ceribral congestion. In
case where the eruption was very faint, or when it appeared to be checked, a curious fact
is noticed in connexion with this affection. The disease appeared there Moulmein in the
27th Regiment Native Infantry on the 21st of June, and the last case on the 29th of August
on the 27th of August a wing of the 39th Regiment arrived from India and no case occurred;
among the men or officers.
Besides "Dengue," the prevailing diseases throughout the division have been intermit
¬ e n t f e v e r a n d i t s s e q u e l œ , a n æ m i a , d r o p s y , s p l e n i c a n d h e p a t i caffections, dysentery, diarrhœa,
&c. Intermittent fever of a severe type was very prevalent at Tonghoo and also, although
in a milder form, at Moulmein. Dysentery and diarrhœ were also prevalent at Tonghoo
and Rangoon, due to the climatic influences. Two cases of phthisis pulmonalis occurred at
Rangoon and three at Tonghoo, of which two died. A few cases of epidemic cholera and small-
pox are noted. These diseases never assumed an epidemic form. The other diseases were
generally of a mild type, due to climatic influences, and do not need special mention.
The barracks throughout the division as a whole are remarkably good. The accom-
modation ample, the position good. The ventilation well arranged. Lime when required freely
used. No surrounding nuisances exist. The water-supply good and abundant, and sanitation
in all its details very fairly recognized and attended to.
The diet of the men has generally been good, abundant, and varied. The liquor drink
of fair quality, and, with only one exception throughout the force, no case of drunkenness
is noted as having required hospital treatment.
Alleged
causes of
sickness and
mortality.
31—α