PUNJAB FRONTIER FORCE.
197
STATION.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER OF
D a i l y a v e r a g e n u mb e r o f s i c k .
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admi s-si ons.
Deaths.
Admi s-si ons.
D e a t h s .
D a i l y a v e r a g e s i c k .
Head-quarters at Abbottabad 1st Jan. 1875 31st Dec. 1875
5 8 2 · 6 1
5 8 9
5
2 7 · 3 7
1 0 1 · 0 9
· 8 5
4 · 6 9
Detachment at Ughi
2 6 6
days.
6 4 · 7 8
2 9 ...
· 6 2
6 3 · 0 4 ...
· 9 5
T O T A L
...
...
6 2 8 · 6 3
6 1 8
5
2 7 · 8 2
9 8 · 3 0
· 7 9
4 · 4 2
Number of deaths in hospital 5; out of hospital 11; total 16; per cent. of total strength
2 · 1 4
" invalided ... ... ... 61; " "
8 · 1 6
" s e n t o n s i c k l e a v e . . . . . . 1 ; " "
· 1 3
" of days spent in hospital 10,157 per admission 16; per man of total strength
1 3 · 5 9
" " on sick leave 24; per man ... 24; " "
· 0 3
T o t a l t e m p o r a r y l o s s o f s e r v i c e p e r m a n o f t o t a l s t r e n g t h
1 3 · 6 2
Health. —The health of the regiment was excellent during the year, and if general deductions
could be based on a single year's experience, or upon the ratios of admissions, deaths, and daily
average of sick shown in the foregoing table, Abbottabad would at once earn a high reputation
for salubrity. But, unfortunately, the occurrences of 1869-70 are still too recent to be forgotten,
and they remind us that when widespread epidemic influences are in operation, Abbottabad
can suffer even more severely than other places less favorably situated.
Nearly 60 old soldiers, who would otherwise have been invalided in April, were, in
obedience to recent orders, kept on until October, and the presence of these men in the corps
for six months beyond the ordinary time had a perceptible effect in raising both the admissions
and daily average of sick rates of the whole regiment.
Goorkha recruits are obtainable only in the cold weather, and so long as old soldiers of
this class were invalided in spring, it was impossible to fill up their places until the ensuing
winter. The new order directing these men to be invalided only in October will admit of
vacancies in the ranks being filled up as soon as they occur, and the regiments will thus be
maintained at their full strength.
Health.
The following table shows in order of frequency the principal causes of admissions:—
DISEASES.
Number of ad-mi ssi ons.
R a t i o p e r c e n t . o f t o t a l .
Intermittent fevers
2 9 9
4 8 · 2 2
Feet blisters
5 5
8 · 8 9
Diseases of digestive system
4 7
7 · 6 2
Diseases of respiratory system
4 7
7 · 6 2
Cutaneous diseases
3 6
5 · 8 2
Eye affections
3 6
5 · 8 2
Accidents
3 5
5 · 6 6
Venereal affections
2 1
3 · 3 9
Rheumatic affections
1 9
3 · 0 9
Causes of
sickness.
There is little or no difference between the admission rates of 1874 and 1875 from inter
-mittent fevers. Both were healthy years, and in both, this one cause occasioned nearly 50
per cent. of the total sickness.
Feet-blisters, with a percentage of 8·89, are the next in order of frequency. An attempt
has been made to lessen inefficiency from this cause by substituting native shoes on marching
duty for ammunition boots, which were previously worn at all times. The adoption of this
measure has been too recent to admit of its merits being fairly tested, but as well as I can
ascertain from the returns, it has not led to the desired effect, for feet-blisters are just as
frequent now as they were when boots only were worn. The remaining groups of diseases are
nearly identical with those of the preceding year, and present no characteristics needing
special comment.
XVII. Principal causes of mortality.—There were in all 16 deaths, 11 of which took place
away from head-quarters, and 5 occurred in the regimental hospital at Abbottabad. Of the
former, 10 were due either to cholera or to diseases contracted in a cholera camp, and one man
was killed by wild beasts while at his home on furlough. Of the 5 deaths in hospital, 3 were
due to pneumonia, one to dysentery, and one to phthisis.
Principal
causes of
mortality.
XVIII. Epidemics. —Pneumonia or pleuro-pneumonia is rapidly forcing itself on atten
-tion as the bête noir of frontier stations. From time to time I have observed various cir
-cumstances in connection with this disease which lead me to suspect that it is probably often
of a contagious type. Like other epidemics, it appears in sudden and violent outbursts, and
when once started or introduced, its spread is just as rapid in mild as in severe climates. In
the cold weather of 1874-75 pneumonia was even more prevalent and fatal in the sub-tropical
climate of Dera Ghazi Khan than at Abbottabad, where winter cold almost equals that ex
-perienced in the south of England. The leading facts of a severe outbreak of this disease in
Epidemics.