5
PRESIDENCY DIVISION, ADEN, AND BOMBAY MARINE.
10. The hospital was fully described in my last report; it has been kept in good
order, and the accommodation has not at any time proved
inadequate. There are no wards for infectious diseases, and
the bath-room sanctioned
by Government has not yet been constructed. I would recom
-
mend a tap being placed in the hospital compound; a new
latrine, a dead-house, and a bath-room are required. I again
venture to suggest, as a desideratum, the brick oven recommended in my last report: during
the past year I have had as many as 6 cases of scabies under treatment at the same time,
and re-admissions for the disease have frequently occurred. It is very difficult to properly
cleanse foul cloth clothing, such as uniforms, &c.; they cannot be washed, and mere exposure
to sun-light and air can never be so certain or effectual as subjecting them to a high tempera
ture would be. The conservancy of the hospital compound
has been well maintained throughout the year, and the latrine
has been kept in as good a sanitary condition as its faulty construction would admit of.
During the year 1874 it was the custom for the hospital bhees
-ties to obtain (Vehar Lake) drinking water for the sick from a
tap in the compound of the Marine Battalion hospital, but early in the present year the
medical officer of the Marine Battalion informed me that the supply being insufficient he
could not permit this any longer. Since that date the drinking water has been brought from
a well in the Marine Lines. I have not analysed this water; but, as far as look and taste are
concerned, it appears excellent, and no ill-effects have followed its use.
11. The total number of admissions has been 624, and these were furnished by 369
men in the following proportion:—218 men were admitted
once, 89 twice, 38 thrice, 13 four times, 7 five times, 2 six
times, 1 seven times, and 1 eight times. Of the 624 admissions, 255 were re-admissions, as
shown in the following table:—
Number of first admissions . . .
369
Number of re-admissions
for the same disease
. . .
83
255
for a different disease . . .
172
The most unhealthy company was No. 6, which gave 107 admissions, and the most healthy
was No. 2, giving 53 admissions. There are no local causes to account for this difference.
The average daily number of sick was 29.3. Of the 624 admissions, 102 were due to ague;
of these 43 were quotidian, 3 tertian, 2 quartan, and 54 irregular in type. In their treatment
I found, as in former years, that quinine was undoubtedly the only drug to be relied on in
any well-marked case of the disease, cinchonidine having but a very questionable value as an
antiperiodic. One case of ague proved fatal: the patient was a half-fed Purdasee Brahmin.
Remittent fever furnished 9 admissions; one of them proved fatal from intercurrent pneu
-
monia. 46 cases (including two pleurodynia) were registered under the head rheumatism;
many of them were old and worn-out men who have since been pensioned, and some were
of syphilitic origin. 6 cases of mumps were admitted; these occurred at different times
of the year, and the disease did not at any time prevail as an epidemic. 19 men were
admitted for primary syphilis and 1 for secondary syphilis; one of the former was a severe
case of sloughing phagedœna, which was arrested and induced to heal by the local application
of boracic acid. 4 cases of phthisis were admitted; of these 3 proved fatal and the other
was discharged the service. Scurvy has furnished 21 admissions, and, as usual, many men
under treatment for other diseases have a scorbutic taint. One aggravated case of the disease
proved fatal from œdema of the lungs. 63 admissions have occurred for pneumonia, bron
-
chitis, and other catarrhal affections; 1 death occurred from chronic bronchitis and emphy
-
sema. Dysentery has given 17 admissions; all did well under treatment by ipecacuanha.
There were 74 admissions for other bowel affections—57 being due to diarrhœa, 7 to colic, and
10 to constipation. One death occurred in a weakly man from diarrhœa. Diseases of
the liver furnished 10, 2 being cases of hepatitis, which did not proceed to suppuration, but
were successfully treated with chloride of ammonium; of the others, 5 were for simple enlarge
-
ment, and 3 for jaundice. 4 cases of congested spleen; all recovered. Inunction with bin
-
iodide of mercury was used; but as chloride of ammonium was also administered internally,
it is difficult to pronounce an opinion as to the efficacy of the former. 9 admissions into
sick quarters occurred among the European officers—6 for
dyspepsia, 1 for slight sun-stroke, 1 for facial paralysis, and
1 for debility. One officer proceeded on 15 days' sick leave
during the month of May, 18 men were sent on medical certi
-
ficate to their own country, 36 men above 15 years' service were
sent before the General Invaliding Committee, and obtained their pensions. The disabilities
which led to their being invalided, were as follows:—28 chronic rheumatism, debility, short-
ness of breath and other ailments incidental to old age and long service; 2 deafness; 4 defect
-
B 6 6 —
b
Hospital and its Surroundings.
Requirements.
Conservancy.
Hospital Water-supply.
Sickness, Mortality, and In
-validing.
Sickness among European O
f f i - c e r s .
Invaliding.