24
REPORT ON THE SICKNESS AND MORTALITY OF THE EUROPEAN ARMY
55. The number of boys under 20 years of age, given in the foregoing
Boys under 20 years of age have a lower death-
rate than the rest of the Army.
tables, is comparatively small, so that the
statistics are not of so much value as they
would have been had the numbers been larger. As far as they go, these tables,
however, show that the mortality under 20 years of age is small, and probably
very much smaller than at other ages. Were these boys to be exposed to great
hardships, such as are experienced on active service, the result might, however,
be very different.
56. In the European Army of India as a whole (excluding boys under 20
Mortality among men over 30 years of age very
high.
years of age), the men from 20 to 24 years
of age had the smallest death-rate during
these nine years. Men from 25 to 29 years of age, however, had nearly as low a
death-rate, and the great mortality was among men of 30 years of age and over.
Thus it appears that there is no great increase in the mortality up to 30 years
of age, but beyond that age the effect of climate begins to tell, and among men
of 30 years of age and over the death-rate rapidly rises. The experience of the
three Armies in this particular is the same as that of India taken as a whole ;
the death-rate remains comparatively low up to 30 years of age and then rapidly
rises.
57. As was first shown by Dr. Bryden, the principal cause of death among
Enteric fever the principal cause of death among
young soldiers.
young soldiers in India is enteric fever.
In the Army of India, excluding cholera
and deaths by violence, during the nine years 1871-79, 34.85 per cent. of the
deaths among soldiers of 20 to 24 years of age resulted from enteric fever,
and in the Bengal Army for the same period the percentage was as high
as 36.12. Men from 25 to 29 years of age suffer to a much less extent from
this disease. In the Army of India, excluding deaths from cholera and violent
deaths, 15.60 per cent. of the deaths among soldiers at that period of life result-
ed from enteric fever. In the Army of Bengal the percentage was 16.85, in
Madras 12.09, and in Bombay 14.19. Among men of 30 years of age and over,
enteric fever is an uncommon cause of death. Excluding, as before, deaths
from cholera and violent deaths, only 2.69 per cent. of the deaths among soldiers
of 30 years of age and over, during the nine years 1871-79, were due to enteric
fever ; in Bengal the percentage was 2.99, in Madras 1.36, and in Bombay 3.42.
58. Excluding boys under 20 years of age, the young soldier suffers
Hepatitis the principal cause of death among sol-
diers over 25 years of age.
rather more from fevers, other than en-
teric fever, than the older soldier, but the
difference is slight. Hepatitis is the most frequent cause of death among so
ldiers of 25 years of age and over—a disease which comparatively seldom attacks
men under 25 years of age. Apoplexy, delirium tremens and heart diseases
are also much more fatal among men over than under 25 years of age. Dy-
sentery, diarrhœa, and phthisis pulmonalis also cause a greater mortality
among men over 25 years of age, but the difference is not so great as in the
case of hepatitis, apoplexy, delirium tremens and heart diseases.
59. The following set of tables gives the death-rates among the men of
Death-rates at different periods of service.
the Army of India as a whole and of the
separate Armies of Bengal, Madras, and
Bombay at different periods of residence in India for the three years 1877-79.