56
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF MADRAS.
Statement No. IX is necessarily an incomplete one. It is framed from the " constitutional
statements" furnished to this office. The strength is that of regiments as they stood on the last
day of the year. Companies of the Sappers and Miners absent from head-quarters are excluded.
The entire absence of a death casualty in the 4th Regiment L.C. was noted in the
report of last year, and has fortunately to be noted again on this occasion. The explanation lies
probably in this, that the regiment numbers a little over 200 sabres ; that, owing to non-recruital
by enlistment for many years, the troopers are men who have reached mid-life ; and that they
have had the advantage of serving in a climate peculiarly favourable to the preservation of the
health of the native soldier.
STATEMENT No.
XI.
Vaccination.
N a t i v e T r o o p s .
Recr ui t s . Recr ui t Boys .
Non-combatants.
Children
Men.
Women. Not exceeding
six months.
Six months
to 14 years.
Aggregate Strength ..
..
..
4,642
441 299
784
4,567
859
3,805
Number bearing marks of successful
vaccination ..
..
..
..
2,844
312 215
326
1,676
711
2,801
Number bearing marks of previous
small-pox
..
..
..
..
1,439
89
47
137
968
29
571
Number unprotected by either of above.
358
40
36
315
1,781
119
424
Do. of cases of small-pox in 1875..
1
1
.. ..
..
..
..
Do. of absentees included in
strength of whom there is no
information on above point...
1
..
2
6
14
..
9
Ratio per Cent. of Strength.
Protected by previous small-pox or
vaccination ..
..
..
.. 922.66 909.30 876.25
59.56
578.94
861.47
886.20
Unprotected by previous small-pox or
vaccination ..
..
..
..
77.12
90.70 117.06 401.79
389.97
138.53
111.43
STATEMENT No. XII.
Vaccination by Medical Subordinates.
Corps.
Under 1 year.
Above 1 year.
Grand
Total.
S u c c e s s f u l
Uns uc c e s s f ul
D o u b t f u l
Unknown
Tot al
S u c c e s s f u l
Un s u c c e s s f u l D o u b t f u l
Unknown
Total
Head-Quarters, Sappers and Miners.
..
..
..
..
..
24
31
4
..
59
59
23rd Regiment, W.L.I. ..
..
64 35
..
..
99
44
51
..
..
95
194
36th do.
N.I.
..
..
38
4
..
..
42
66
22 ..
..
88
130
30th do.
do.
..
..
38
1
..
..
39
60
7 ..
..
67
106
28th do.
do.
..
..
13
4
..
..
17
25
..
..
..
25
42
4th do.
L.C. ..
The medical officer reports that vaccination has been kept up among the families
by Municipal Vaccinators.
21st
do.
N.I.
..
..
90 20
..
..
110
89 205
..
..
294
404
27th do.
do.
..
..
4
1
2
..
7
75
27
9
..
111
118
Total ..
247 65
2
..
314. 383 343 13
. .
739
1,053
These tables give all the available information regarding vaccination. They are to be accepted
as fairly accurate in so far as the returns deal with the native troops, recruits and recruit boys, but
only as approximately correct as regards the families and followers in the regimental lines. With
the former group vaccination is compulsory, with the latter it is more or less optional. The latter
group stands numerically to the former as 11,247 to 4624.04, or considerably more than 2 to 1.
The table shows that of the women in the lines numbering 4,567, 968 are protected by small-pox,
1,676 by vaccination, and that 1,781 are unprotected. This state of matters I think could be
readily remedied by the employment of female vaccinators. Of the children numbering 4,664,
there have been vaccinated. 3,512, 600 are protected by small-pox, and 543 are unprotected. Were
female vaccinators available, protection by vaccination should at once be made compulsory in Regimental
Lines.
As regards vaccination by medical subordinates the grand total of 713 operations, of which
547 or 76.71 per cent. were successful, recorded in 1874, has been exceeded by the grand total of
1875, which returns 1,053 operations, of which however, only 630 or 59.83 per cent. have proved
successful.
i }