98
A SKETCH OF THE MEDICAL HISTORY OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BOMBAY.
sepoys, and 1 that of the lady above mentioned, and all of them recovered. No special
line of treatment was pursued; but symptoms were treated as they appeared. Hydrate of
chloral was found useful in relieving cramps, producing sleep, and also it seemed in one case
to encourage re-action.
11. Only 1 death occurred: a man committed suicide by shooting himself in the
lines. 43 men were invalided and pensioned, and 1 man dis
-
charged with a gratuity. The chief causes of invaliding were
debility, bronchitis, enlargement of the spleen, and old and worn out. The three first-mention
-ed complaints were in a great measure due to previous suffering from ague at Mehidpur.
5 men of less than 5 years' service were discharged as unfit without a gratuity and 4 by
court-martial. 13 recruits, who were passed by committees at the Presidency and in the
Deccan, were brought before medical committees at Mhow and declared unfit for the ranks.
1 2 . T h e p r e v a i l i n g d i s e a s e s d u r i n g t h e y e a r w e r e f e v e r s a n d l u n g - c o m p l a i n t s . T h e f e v e r s
were mainly due to three causes, and these were malarial blood
-poisoning, insufficient food, and exposure. Thelung complaints,
chiefly bronchitis, were due to the exposure to cold and damp of men whose systems exhibit
-
ed a well-marked malarial cachexia.
1 3 . P n e u m o n i a s u p e r v e n i n g o n a g u e i n a b r o k e n - d o w n a n d b a d l y - n o u r i s h e d m a n ,
caused the only death which occurred in hospital during year.
He was a Mahratta Hindu.
14. The rainfall of the year was only a little over 3 inches less than that of 1874;
but the monsoon came late, and the climate was hot and
oppressive in June, and, consequently, there was an increase in
the amount of fever in that month. During the rains, owing chiefly to the damp state of
the lines, there was an increase in the amount of fever and bronchitis. The rainfall was
sufficient for the crops, water-supply, and the wants of the country generally.
15. In the hot months cholera prevailed in an epidemic form on the works of the
Holkar State Railway to the east of Mhow, at Indore to the
north, and at Mehidpur to the west or slightly north-west;
yet only a few cases occurred amongst the troops here. A cordon of sentries was thrown
round cantonment, and no one was allowed to enter except by the main roads. On these
roads temporary hospitals with a medical subordinate and guard of police were established,
where all suspicious characters and people coming from tainted localities were detained.
The first cases, which occurred in the Native infantry lines, were amongst men lately arrived
in camp who came through Choral. Chowkey, where the disease prevailed. The 2 sepoys of
this regiment who were attacked, had not been out of camp for a considerable time previously,
and lived in different parts of the lines. The cases, although occurring about the same time,
had no connection with one another. The third case occurred long afterwards, and was, in
my opinion, caused by impregnated air from a trench latrine, which blew right through the
patient's house.
16. Vaccination and re-vaccination were steadily practised, and there is not a single
unprotected man at head-quarters. 18 children were vaccinated, and of these 17 were
successful and 1 unsuccessful. 22 recruits were re-vaccinated, and of these 14 were successful
and 8 unsuccessful.
17. The general health has improved wonderfully since our arrival here, and parti
-cularly within the last year. I have alluded to the great
decrease in ague. In 1873, at Mehidpur, from a strength of
337 there were 713 admissions into hospital from it; while
during the year under review, with an average strength of 517, there were only 147 men
admitted for that disease. I consider the climate of Mhow more subject to rapid changes
of temperature than that of Mehidpur; yet the men are, comparatively, free from intermittent
fever here. This fact has an important significance as regards the existence, or not, of local
malaria. The physique of the men has been very much improved also by the change. The
young sepoys who were constant sufferers from intermittent fever at Mehidpur and Dhulia,
having to a great extent shaken (off that disease, are now filling out. The recruiting during
the year was very carefully carried out, and all unlikely lads were brought before a medical
board at Mhow on their arrival at regimental head-quarters and rejected, although they
had been already passed by boards at the Presidency and in the Deccan. With all this care
in recruiting the proper stamp of man is not obtainable, and we need not be surprised
when the pay of the sepoys is compared with that of the same class of men in civil employ
- m e n t . T h e o n l y a t t r a c t i o n i s t h e p e n s i o n , w h i c h t h e M a h r a t t a s e p o y h o p e s t o o b t a i n a f t e r 1 5
Mortality, &c.
Principal Causes of Sickness.
Principal Causes of Mortality.
Influence of Rainfall.
Epidemics.
General Health and Physique
of the Men.