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General Hospital, the numbers dropped from 2,836 to 2,391, a fall said tobe
due partly to the temporary closure of certain wards of the hospital and
partly to the unpopularity of the institution. The Lieutenant-
Governor trusts
that the reconstruction of the hospital and the other reforms under consider-
ation and now almost ripe for introduction will make this institution more
popular in future.
6. Including out-door and in-door patients, 177,770 men, 48,981 women
and 63,010 children were treated during the year. The total number of men
rose by 6,290, and of women by 2,269, while the number of children treated
fell by 3,239, the net increase, taking all classes together, being 5,320. The
number of Europeans and Hindus treated increased by 242 and 10,159,
respectively, while that of Eurasians and Muhammadans diminished by 1,296
and 4,338.
7. Excluding the cases treated in the Eye Infirmary, at which there was
one death, due to old age, the death-rate for all the institutions rose from 1 4.2 to
16.40, the highest mortality recorded for 11 years. This increased death-rate
is no doubt correctly attributed to the admission of a large number of persons
who came to Calcutta from the famine-stricken districts in a moribund condition.
The mortality in the several hospitals varies widely, depending to a great
extent upon the class of patients admitted and the condition in which they
are brought to the hospital. Thus the death-rate for men ranged from 1.20
at the Police Hospital to 23.07 at the Campbell Hospital, while at the Howrah
Hospital, where an unusual number of moribund cases, many of them pilgrims,
were admitted, it reached 28.35. Similarly, in the case of adult women, the
Dufferin Victoria Hospital shows a death-rate of .63 and the Campbell Hospital
of 28.63. The death-rate among men and women was higher than last year
in the Campbell, Howrah General and South Suburban Hospitals, where many
of the patients were brought for treatment in a very emaciated condition.
The returns for these very large hospitals have, of course, markedly affected the
total statistics.
8. Small-pox was more prevalent during the year, and the number of
patients admitted into hospital suffering from the disease rose from 57 to 218.
With the exception of one case, which was taken to the Medical College
Hospital for educational purposes, the rest—the majority of which were received
from Howrah—were treated at the Campbell Hospital. Of these persons, 146
were unprotected, either by vaccination or inoculation, and 60 of them or
41.09 per cent. died. Of 58 persons who had been vaccinated, 4 or 6.89 per
cent. died. In two of these the vaccinal scars were faint. The total death-rate
was 29.81 against 22.80 in the previous year.
9. The number of admissions to hospital of persons suffering from
cholera was 1,200 against 1,007 in the previous year, and 664 cases proved.
fatal, giving a death-rate of 55.33 per cent. The increase is most marked in
the Campbell Hospital, where many cases from the cooly depôts in Entally
were admitted. The attention of the General (Emigration) Department will
be invited to this. Among the patients, there were 36 Europeans and Eura-
sians, of whom 20 died, being a ratio of 55.55 per cent., the same as in the
previous year. The Lieutenant-Governor notices with satisfaction that there
was only one case of local origin in the Campbell Hospital against 26 in 1896,
notwithstanding the overcrowding of patients in the institution throughout
the year. In the Medical College Hospital, which had enjoyed immunity for
several years, two local cases occurred. These could not be traced to any
defects in the food or sanitary arrangements; and it is noted that at the time
the cases occurred, cholera was prevalent in an adjoining bustee.
10. The admissions to hospitals on account of dysentery increased from
7,778 to 8,415, and the death-rate from 27.81 to 33.81. The Campbell, South
Suburban and Howrah General Hospitals show a high rate of mortality,
dysentery and diarrhæa were the main causes of mortality among the cases
from famine-stricken districts. Diarrhoea patients also rose from 8,020 to
9,836, and the death-rate increased from 39.87 to 40.64. Conversely, in the
case of malarial fevers, the admissions fell from 48,982 to 46,025, while the
deat h-rat e i ncreased from 9. 49 t o 11. 38 per cent . The number of persons t reat ed
for venereal diseases increased from 14,216 to 14,523, the more serious cases
sharing in the increase. Fifty lepers were admitted into the hospitals during