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nose, under Surgeon-Captain O'Kinealy. The increase of 216 at the Presidency
General Hospital is ascribed to the fact that the out-door department worked
throughout the year, instead of for nine months only. At the Campbell
Hospital an increase of 1,127 is reported, but the accuracy of the statistics is
open to question owing to the issue in some cases of duplicate tickets. The
numbers at the Mayo and Chandney Hospitals rose by 2,004, at the Chitpur
Dispensary by 1,505, at the Bhowanipur Dispensary by 317, and at the
Howrah General Hospital by 578. Against this the Park Street Dispensary
shows a falling off of 1,819, the Sukea Street Dispensary of 1,112, and the
Dufferin Victoria Hospital of 720.
4. The number of in-door patients rose from 24,912 to 26,879. The
increase of 1,967 was shared by all the hospitals except the Medical College,
where the number fell by 93, and was most marked at the Campbell and
Police Hospitals, owing to the admission at the former of a large number of
small-pox cases, and in the case of the latter to the unusual prevalence of malarial
fever among the police.
5. Including out-door and in-door patients, 178,982 men, 45,764 women,
and 68,805 children were treated during the year. The total number of
men rose by 7,898, and that of women by 50, while the number of children
treated was less by 3,350 than in 1894, the net increase, taking all classes
together, being 4,958. Of the whole number treated, Hindus formed 49.3
per cent., Muhammadans 32 . 1, Eurasians 11 . 9, and Europeans 2 . 9. The
number of Muhammadans decreased by 1,499; that of Eurasians rose by 3,132
and that of Hindus by 4,239.
6. Excluding the cases treated in the Eye Infirmary, the death-rate for
all the institutions rose from 14 0 to 14 .3, the highest mortality recorded for 11
years. Depending as this does to a great extent upon the class of patient and
the condition in which he is brought to the hospital, the rate varies within
wide limits. Thus the death-rate for men ranged from .67 at the Police
Hospital, where the bulk of the patients are men in the prime of life, to 22.55
at the Campbell Hospital, which receives all the waifs and strays of Calcutta;
and at the Howrah Hospital, where an unusual number of moribund cases,
many of them pilgrims, were admitted, it reached 24 . 11. Similarly in the
case of adult women, the Dufferin Victoria Hospital shows a rate of .86
and the Campbell Hospital of 32 .71. At the Presidency General Hospital
the death-rate among female children rose from 3 . 75 to 10 . 83, the reason
assigned being the emaciated condition of many of the children who were
brought for treatment.
7. The epidemic of small-pox, which commenced in December 1894,
continued to increase in virulence till March 1895, when the mortality began
to diminish. During January, February, and March there were 104, 239
and 260 cases in the Sealdah Small-pox Hospital, which necessitated the
erection of temporary sheds to supplement the existing accommodation. The
number of Europeans and Eurasians among the patients was unprecedented,
being 213 against 32 in 1894, while the number of natives increased from 144 to
552. Altogether, 765 patients were treated at the Sealdah Hospital: of these,
239 were said to have been vaccinated, among whom 27, or 11 .29 per cent.,
died, but of these only 4 had distinct scars. Among 480 cases that were
unprotected either by vaccination or inoculation, 244, or 50 . 83 per cent., died.
8. The number of admissions for cholera rose to 600 against 567 in
1894, 349 cases, or 58 . 16 per cent., proving fatal, against 323, or 56 . 96 per cent.,
in the previous year. The death-rate fell among Europeans and Eurasians from
72 . 72 to 56 . 81, and rose among other classes from 56 . 33 to 58.27. Five cases,
of which no explanation could be furnished, originated at the Campbell Hos-
- p i t a l , o f w h i c h t h r e e w e r e f a t a l . A l t h o u g h t h i s c o m p a r e s f a v o u r a b l y w i t h t h e
14 unexplained cases of 1894, the fact of cholera showing itself in a hospital
on such a scale in two successive years seems prima facie to indicate that the
sanitary arrangements must be defective. Although cholera was extremely
prevalent in Howrah during the year, no case occurred in the hospital. It may
be hoped that the recent provision of a supply of filtered water for the town of
Howrah will materially reduce the mortality from this cause, and it will be
interesting to observe the effect of the new water-works on the mortuary
statistics for the present year.