PRESIDENCY DIVISION, ADEN, AND BOMBAY MARINE.
9
his life, but it will be found a fact in most Native infantry regiments. The decrepit appear
-ance is, no doubt, heightened by much previous starving and malingering. Medical officers
would be spared much harassment if the first period of service for pension was fixed at 20
years, and sufficient care and scrutiny taken that no man was allowed to enter the service
visibly above 20 years of age.
Instruction of Native Medical
Pupils.
18. These are daily instructed at the bed-side, and they
are encouraged to keep up and advance their knowledge of
English.
19. The year 1875 has been very favourable, in a medical point of view, compared wit
h 1874: there have been fewer admissions from disease, more men
discharged to duty, many less sent on sick leave, fewer invalid-
e d , f e w e r d e a t h s , a n d a s m a l l e r d a i l y a v e r a g e o f s i c k m e n .
H. M.'s 26th Regiment N. I.
SURAT.—In medical charge of Surgeon W. McCONAGHY; Strength, 614.
N u m b e r o f a d m i s s i o n s f r o m a l l c a u s e s
1,240
Do. remaining on 1st January 1875
24
Daily average number of sick during the year
34·4
Percentage treated to strength
205·8
Deaths to strength
1·79
Do. to treated
0·87
1. During the year under report the regiment was stationed at Surat until the 20th
October, when, leaving a detachment behind to furnish guards,
&c., it proceeded to Bombay. The general health of the
regiment was only fair up to the beginning of March, but from this time to the end of May
it gradually improved. Early in June the admissions from ague began steadily to increase,
and from this time until the departure of the regiment for Bombay ague was very rife both
among the sepoys and their families. With the exception of the detachment above referred
to, the regiment was encamped in Bombay on the Boree Bander reclamation ground from
the 21st October until the 2nd December, when it left for Tanna en route to Poona. The
general health while in Bombay was good, though the sanitary condition in the vicinity of
the camp was bad, owing to a nightsoil depôt being situated near; and the sea-wall close
to the tents was objectionable, as it was frequented for calls of nature by Native boat-men
and coolies, though measures were taken by the police and regimental authorities to prevent
them as much as possible. In consequence of the above circumstances the smell in camp
was occasionally most disagreeable. On the march the men generally appeared to enjoy
good health, though towards the end of it a number of them suffered from chest complaints
owing to the sudden change of climate after ascending the Gháts. The regiment arrived
in Poona on the 15th December. , and remained in tents until the 27th, when it entered the
lines which had been occupied by the 17th Regiment N. I. The health of the detachment
at Surat was reported as only fair during the latter part of October owing to the preva
-lence of ague and chest complaints, but from this date until its departure on the 27th
December, to rejoin the head-quarters at Poona, the health of the men gradually improved.
2. During the year under review the health of the men was not so good as during
the preceding two years when judged by the daily average
number of sick, though the admissions were 27 less than
in 1874.
Total admissions, 1873
1,214
Do. do. 1874
1,267
Do. do. 1875
1,240
Daily average number of sick,18/3
27·3
Do. do. 1874
31·3
Do. do. 1875
34·4
The diseases furnishing the greater part of the admissions were, in their order of frequency,
as follows:—Ague 591, contusion 116, bronchitis 87, boils 80, rheumatic affections 53,
diarrhœa 38, conjunctivitis 28, syphilis (primary 9, secondary 16) 25, dysentery 24, splenitis
18, pneumonia 16, scabies 15, hepatitis 11, brow ague 11, pleuritis 9, guineaworm 5, cholera 3.
The admissions from ague as compared with the previous year were 215 less. The disease
B 6 6 — c
Resumé of the whole.
Location and Movement of Corps.
Sickness, Mortality, and Invalid-
ing.