122
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
Vaccination.
Cleanliness.
Vaccination.
hospitals in his range having been re-built. It is but a few inches above the surrounding
ground, and though every other hospital that I have seen in these provinces is tiled, this at
Hoshungabad is thatched. The hospital is of course clean, and it is well ventilated and
drained. It accommodates 28 patients comfortably, and is supplied with water from wells.
The latrine has just been re-roofed, and not yet given over to the hospital authorities. There
are stone slabs with a hole in the centre to serve as seats; but, as natives squat on their feet,
I fear the stone slabs will be dirtied.
Vaccination. —Seventy-two vaccinated, of whom 25 were unsuccessful. Many of the
children whom I examined in the lines appeared to have been carelessly vaccinated, some
having but an indistinct cicatrix, while others, who said they had been vaccinated, had no
cicatrix.
Wing, 32nd Regiment Aatibe Infantry.
The following are extracts from Deputy Surgeon-General Tribe's inspec
-tion report on the wing stationed at Kamptee :—
Cleanliness.— The lines occupied by the detached wing of the 32nd Regiment Native
Infantry at Kamptee are clean, well ventilated, and well drained, both naturally and
artificially. They do not, however, appear to be as well cared for as those of the 35th, still
less than those of the cavalry. I noticed several of the small courtyards attached to the
sepoys' huts, where there had been accumulations of water, and there are in some places
tumble-down walls, which are not only unsightly, but must form hollows from which the
water cannot flow off after rain, but must descend and saturate the sub-soil.
Vaccination.— Since last inspection there have been 290 vaccinated, of whom 138 were
successful, 66 modified, and 86 unsuccessful ; 15 children, whom I saw in the lines, had all
vaccination marks. All the regiment are being re-vaccinated.
Ventilation
and drainage
Vaccination.
35th Regiment Aatibe Infantry.
This corps arrived at Kamptee from Madras on the 14th January 1872.
During the first part of the year Surgeon H. C. Mayer was in charge. He
was succeeded by Surgeon B. T. Suffrein, who remarks as follows :—
Ventilation and drainage.— The means of ventilation are as good as could be insisted
on with natives ; but the drainage is very defective, chiefly owing to the roads intersecting
the elevated ground on which the huts stand having been sunk so as to make them either on
a level with, or lower than, the surrounding ground. This is an evil of long duration, and
as the ground must, therefore, have become thoroughly saturated with fluid refuse, it has been
recommended that the lines should be removed to another site, and this recommendation
will probably be carried out.
Vaccination .—Vaccination has been carried on as far as practicable amongst the men
and families. No deaths have occurred among men properly vaccinated; no men have been
re-vaccinated.
Hospital
wards.
General con
-clusions.
Hospital
wards .—Overcrowding of the wards unavoidably took place during the latter
part of the rainy season in consequence of the large number of admissions from ague.
General conclusions.— The health of the men has not been satisfactory during the past
year, owing to the prevalence of guinea-worm contracted in Madras, and of ague, due
partly in my opinion to the action of malarious poison on the system of men, many of
whom had suffered severely from ague in the Straits, but to a still greater degree to the bad
situation of the lines and the poverty of the men, which prevented them from buying food
of a sufficiently nourishing quality to keep them in good health.
Time will, doubtless, remove the two former causes of illness, as guinea-worm never
originates here, and the men will become acclimatized ; but the third cause of illness is not
so easily to be remedied, and it remains to be seen whether any great improvement will take
place in the pecuniary circumstances of the sepoys, while they continue to support out of
their pay shoals of friends and relatives.
The following are extracts from the Inspection Report of the Deputy Sur
,-geon-General :—
Lines.
Lines.— The lines are clean, fairly ventilated, and not badly drained, considering that
the manner in which the lines are placed interferes with the natural drainage, and that as