( 2 )
4. The total number of• outdoor patients, which is given as 258,794,
shows a decrease' of '7,878, which is accounted. for by the year being less
unhealthy than the previous one. At the Presidency General Hospital the
numbers fell off by 103, at the Campbell Hospital by 4,537, at the Park Street
Dispensary by 892, at the Dufferin Victoria Hospital by 941, and at the
Howrah General Hospital by 768. A reduction of 5,745. at the Bhowanipur
Dispensary is due to the fact that that institution was closed during the year
in consequence of the opening of the new South Suburban Hospital. This
decrease was, however, more than compensated for by the number of out-
patients treated at the latter institution during the five months of the year it
was open. The Mayo Hospital, on the other hand, shows a rise of 1,029; and
there was a small increase in the attendance at the Medical College, the Eden,
Ezra and Eye Hospitals, and also at the Chandney Hospital.
5. There was a decrease of 1,232 in the total number of indoor patients
treated, and the daily average fell from 1,303-63 to 1,238-51. The Campbell,
Chandney and Howrah General Hospitals show a slight rise, but at all the other
hospitals the numbers declined, the falling off of 780 at the Police Hospital
being the most noticeable. A decrease of 224 in indoor patients at the Dufferin
Victoria Hospital, as well as the decrease in outdoor patients above mentioned,
is attributed to the removal of the hospital to a new locality and to changes
in the staff. The popularity of the new South Suburban Hospital is shown
by the fact that the daily average of indoor patients treated was 2232.
6. Altogether 171,480 men, 46,712 women, and 66,249 children were
treated as outdoor and indoor patients during the year, as compared with the
178,982 men, 45,764 women, and 68,805 children treated in 1895, showing a
total decrease of 9,110. The number of Europeans diminished by 1,100, of
Eurasians by 254, of Muhammadans by 6,061 and of Hindus by 2,729.
7. The death-rate for all the hospitals, excluding the Eye hospital, was
14-2 per cent. of the number of patients treated, against 14-3 in the former
year. Marked variations, depending on the class of patients admitted,
occurred at the several institutions. Thus the death-rate for men was 1-31 at
the Police Hospital, 5 . 39 at the Presidency General Hospital, 20'70 at the
Campbell Hospital, and 23-95 at the Howrah General Hospital. At the last-named
hospital, however, the rate both for men, women and children was lower than
in 1895, while at the Campbell Hospital the death-rate among men, women and
boys diminished, owing to fewer small-pox cases, while that among girls rose
from 18-38 to 30-52, in consequence of deaths from cholera and. diarrhoea.
8. The previous year's epidemic of small-pox showed no sign of reappear-
ing in Calcutta, and only 57 cases, of which 16 ended fatally, were admitted to
hospital, against 771 admitted in 1895. Among 16 of those attacked who were
said to have been vaccinated, one, or 6 . 25 per cent., died; of four who' had been
inoculated, one, or 25 per cent., died; and of thirty-six who were unprotected,
eleven, or 30-55 per cent., succumbed.
9. The number of cholera patients admitted rose from 600 to 1,007, and
the number of deaths from 349 to 566; still the death-rate (56-20) was
slightly lower than that of the preceding year (58 . 16). Among the patients there
were 54 Europeans and Eurasians, of whom 30 died, a ratio of 55-55 per cent.
The Lieutenant-Governor regrets to observe that 26 cases, of which 19 resulted in
death, originated at the Campbell Hospital, as compared with 5 in 1895.
The greatest care should be taken to ascertain, if possible, the origin of these
cases, and to prevent the possibility of a recurrence of such an outbreak.
One patient at the General Hospital was attacked with cholera, but it is reported
that he had been infected before entering the hospital.
10. Dysentery cases decreased by 605, and the number of deaths among
in-patients suffering from this disease by 166, the death-rate falling from 32-17
to 27-81. Diarrhoea patients also were fewer by 286 than in the previous year,
but the death-rate rose from 32-37 to 39 . 87. While the death-rate among
Europeans and Eurasians was only 10 per cent., the rate among other classes
was 43 . 82, which is explained by the fact that a large number of moribund
cases were admitted at the Campbell and Howrah General Hospitals. Malarial
fever was less prevalent than in the preceding year, as was shown by the
decrease in admissions from 59,256 to 48,982. The -n.u.mber of persons