34
REPORT ON THE
cheaper than that of the private firms in England. I will therefore recom-
mend no change in the existing system.
70. I would remark that the Calcutta hospitals worked well throughout the
year, and the management generally reflects credit on the staff of medical
officers attached to them. I especially desire to bring the services of Surgeon-
Lieutenant-Colonel G. Bomford, Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel R. D. Murray,
and Surgeon-Major J. B. Gibbons to the notice of Government. Dr. Bomford
has managed his onerous and important duties with zeal and discretion, and
Dr. Murray deserves great credit for the improvement, economical management,
and satisfactory financial condition of the Howrah Hospital, which is now
an excellent institution, and also for imparting stimulus to surgery in that
hospital. The services of Dr. Gibbons deserve special praise for excellent
work done during the severe strain thrown on him by the last small-pox
epidemic, the worst known in Calcutta. This officer, who is Coroner’s Sur-
geon, Police Surgeon, Superintendent, Voluntary Venereal Hospitals, and in
addition Superintendent, Campbell Medical School, has discharged all these
functions with thoroughness and ability. Acknowledgments are also due to
Dr. Crombie for his kindness and care of the patients in the Presidency
General Hospital, and it is due to Dr. Sanders to state that his hospitals are
kept in good order ; they are extremely clean and comfortable, and the staff
especially well trained and disciplined.
71. As regards the subordinate staff, it may perhaps be invidious to
single out any one for special notice, but I may state here that the services of
Mr. C. J. Dissent, Deputy Superintendent of the Campbell Hospital, are
especially mentioned by Dr. Gibbons for the excellent arrangements he made
for the accommodation of the larger number of Europeans, Eurasians, and
natives suffering from small-pox. Assistant Surgeon Devendra Nath Roy,
Teacher of Medical Jurisprudence, was in medical charge of all the cases
throughout the epidemic, and was most attentive to the patients of all classes.
The hospital staff, Dr. Gibbons writes, worked extremely well during the
epidemic. I may also mention that I found during my inspection Military
Assistant Surgeon R. F. Knight, Assistant to the Superintendent, Medical
College Hospital, to be an able and efficient officer. I also found Military
Assistant Surgeon J. Crabbe, Assistant to the Superintendent, Presidency Gen-
eral Hospital, to be hard working.
72. I should further mention in this report that the Government of Bengal
has provided in the Medical Budget for 1896-97 Rs. 57,000 for increased
requirements of the Medical College and Presidency General Hospitals for
instruments, beds and bedding, &c., and Rs. 6,000 for bedding and fittings in
the Campbell Hospital.
73. I wish to acknowledge the excellent services of Babu Nibaran
Chunder Chatterjee, the Statistical Clerk of my office. He is intelligent, and
possesses a thorough knowledge of the work of my office, and his services have
been of the greatest value to me in the absence of my Personal Assistant during
the past 12 months.
I have the honour to be,
SIR,
Your most obedient servant,
G. C. ROSS, SURGEON-COLONEL,
Inspector- General of Civil Hospitals, Bengal.