Duty.
Exercise, &c.
Marches and
service.
Hospital.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
124
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL
is made of white American drill. This will be changed this year for khakee, which, I think,
is a mistake; for, owing to the instability of the dye, the men will not wash them often.
Native shoes are worn, and I think for marching along roads they are the best for the sepoy;
but if any swampy ground is to be got over, the shoes have to be carried or left behind.
Only 9 cases of blistered feet were admitted into hospital during the march from Meean Meer
to Umballa.
X I . D u t y . —
T h e d u t y c o n s i s t e d c h i e f l y o f o r d e r l y a n d e s c o r t w o r k . T h e a v e r a g e n i g h t s
in bed for the year was 7.1
.
X I I . E x e r c i s e , a m u s e m e n t s , & c .
— T h e g r e a t a m u s e m e n t f o r t h e m e n i s w r e s t l i n g a n d
throwing weights.
X I I I . M a r c h e s a n d s e r v i c e .
— T h e m a r c h f r o m M e e a n M e e r c o m m e n c e d o n t h e 3 0 t h
October at 6 A. M. The regiment marched at 5 A.M., if the distance was under 10 miles,
and at 4, if over that, on account of the mornings being so hot after the sun rose. The
camps were, with one exception, good, being sandy and dry. Girana, a camp between Reya
and Kurtapur, was very rough and damp. A number of small shallow pools were scattered
about from which a nasty smell came. The day after leaving this camp three Officers were
attacked with fever. The men did not appear to suffer. The change of air did a great deal of
good to the men who were suffering from ulcers.
XIV. —The hospital has been described in previous reports. The leakage during the rains
was great. The roof has been repaired, and a dead-house has been built in the compound;
a new latrine is being built. During the month of September the sickness was so great, that
four sepoys' pals had to be pitched.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding. —Strength of the regiment—
Present
6 1 9 . 2 7
Absent
83.16
Total
702.43
Principal
causes of
sickness.
Mortality.
Special obser
- vations and
remarks.
Inspection.
SATTION.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
O F
Daily
average
number of sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis-
sions. Deaths.
Admis- sions. Deaths D a i l y
average sick.
Head-quarters
1st Jan. 1876 31st Dec. 1876 562.81 901
6 25.05 160.08 1.06 4.45
Detachment at Amritsar
Ditto „ 28th Feb. „ 215.62 31
9.38 89.08
4.30
Ditto at Ludhiana 11th Nov. „ 31st Dec. „ 106.87 17
3.98 114.11
3.70
Ditto at Phillour
10th Nov. „
Ditto
39.75
1
1 .23 17.8 17.8 .58
TOTAL
619.27 950
7 27. 2 153.41 1.13 4.39
Number of deaths in hospital 7; out of hospital 2; total 9 ; per cent. of total strength
1.27
„ invalided 29 ; „ „
4.12
„ sent on sick leave 13 ; „ „
1 . 8 5
„ of days spent in hospital 9,985; per admission 10.5; per man of total strength
14.21
„ „ on sick leave 1,319; per man 101.4; „ „
1.87
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
15.08
XVI.Principal causes of sickness.—There has been an increase in the number of ad
- m i s s i o n s f r o m f e v e r , d y s e n t e r y , d i a r r h œ a a n d u l c e r s d u r i n g t h e l a s t t w o y e a r s . T h i s i s , I t h i n k ,
due to the impermeability of the soil in Meean Meer. In 1874 the regiment arrived at
Meean Meer from Rawal Pindi, and the men did not appear to suffer so much from fever, &c.:
this might be owing to the little rainfall that year.
XVII.
Principal cause of mortality.—The principal cause of mortality has been from
chest affections.
XXI. Special observations and remarks. —The admissions for ulcers have been great this
year. The sores were of a very intractable nature, commencing in a small nodule about the
size of a millet seed, which, breaking down, formed a nasty, sloughing ulcer, with bright
everted edges: the sore increased by burrowing under the edges. All kinds of treatment were
used: for some the hydrate of chloral lotion, four grains to the ounce of water, acted very
well, the surface in a day or so loosing its slough, and exposing a nice granulating surface.
The pain produced by the lotion varied in different cases.
Inspection.—The regiment was inspected by the Deputy Surgeon-General of
the Umballa Circle on the 30th December 1876. Mr. Tresidder reports that the
sanitary condition of the lines, barracks, hospitals, bazars, drains, &c., was satisfac
- t o r y . T h e d r i n k i n g - w a t e r w a s o b t a i n e d f r o m a w e l l a n d f r o m a . t a n k f i l l e d b y t h e
station water-supply. The trench system of latrine was in use; but the medi-
cal officer considered that a permanent latrine would be the best and cleanest—
an opinion with which the Deputy Surgeon-General did not agree. Shoes of