234
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Bedding.
Boots.
Duty, &c.
Hospitals.
The utmost attention was paid to the sufficiency of the bedding of the sick. In all cases
where bedding was deficient, a report to that effect was made to the native officer of the man's
company, who had the deficiency supplied as soon as possible. Good blankets are usually kept
in store by the quartermaster, and are sold to the men at cost price.
Ill-fitting boots, as in previous years, were the cause of many days' loss of service. There
were 108 admissions for "blisters of the feet" during the past year. Many of these abrasions
become intractable little ulcers, with spongy edges, and often take weeks to heal.
XI. Duty, &c.— T h e
d u t y a t h e a d - q u a r t e r s c o n s i s t e d o f t h e o r d i n a r y p a r a d e w o r k ,
guard duties and musketry. The only men who were engaged in field service during the year
were those of the detachment in the Duffla and Naga Hills. There was some fighting in the
Naga Hills, but none of our men were killed or wounded. Nights in bed, average at
head-quarters, all ranks, 4.9. The average number of nights in bed in detachments was
between 4 and 5.
XIV. Hospitals.—The hospitals at Shillong and Jowai were fully described in last year's
report. The ventilation of the head-quarters hospital was greatly improved by fixing the
fan-lights over the doors and windows on pivots and attaching pulleys and cords, so that they
can be now readily opened and closed.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding.—Strength of the regiment—
Present
826.6
Absent
63. 4
Total
890. 0
STATION.
PERIOD
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
OF
Daily aver-
age num-
ber of
sick.
PER CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis- sions. Deaths.
Admis- sions. Deaths. Daily
average sick.
Head-quarters at Gauhati
and Shillong.
1st Jan. 1875 31st Dec. 1875 551.7 833
8 32.4 150.9 1.4 5 . 8
Depôt at Shillong
Ditto
10th Feb. 1875 229
43
24.9 166.8
1 0 . 8
Detachment at Jowai
Ditto
31st Dec. 1875 53
58
1.3 109.4
2 . 4
Ditto Allynuggur 6th Mar. 1875 Ditto
4 6
83
6.2 218.8
1 3 . 4
Ditto Chargola
13th Ditto
Ditto
46
50
1.5 134.7
3.2
Ditto Duffla 1st Jan. 1875 28th Mar. 1875 196
36
2.9 77.
1.4
Ditto Gohpur
20th Mar.1875 26th Apl. 1875 51
5
2 . 111.7
3 . 9
Recruits at Gauhati 8th Ditto
26th Mar. 1875 56
6
3
1.4 205. 102.5 2.5
TOTAL
826 1,114 11 43.9 134.86 1.33 5.31
Number of deaths in hospital 11; out of hospital, 3; total, 14; per cent. of total strength
1.57
" invalided 8; " "
.90
" sent on sick leave 3; " "
.34
" of days spent in hospital, 16,058; per admission, 14.4; per man of total strength 18. 00
" " on sick leave, 600; per man 200; " "
.67
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
18.67
Mortality.
Cholera.
Principal
causes of sick.
ness.
From this it may be seen that the sickness, mortality and invaliding of the regiment in 1875
contrasts most favourably with that of previous years. The total number of deaths was only
14, compared with 27 in 1874 and 26 in 1873. The deaths in hospital were only 11, com
-pared with 17 in 1874 and 21 in 1873, and 3 of these 11 were due to cholera which attacked
a party of recruits in Gauhati on their way to join head-quarters. These men were undoubtedly
infected with the disease on the Brahmaputra during the steamer-journey from Dhubri to
Gauhati.
The total number of days spent in hospital was also considerably less than usual, being
only 16,058, compared with 18,872 in 1874, and 18,337 in 1873. Eight men were invalided
for pension, compared with 11 in 1874 and 9 in 1873. Fourteen were discharged as physically
unfit, all men of short service. Three men were granted sick leave, compared with 7 in 1874
and 7 in 1873. On the whole, the health of the regiment shows a marked improvement, and this
is entirely due to the fact that it has been stationed in the healthy hill climate of Shillong
throughout the year. Now that the men have got thoroughly acclimatized, and have gradually
provided themselves with warm clothing suitable to the cold of the weather here, their health
has improved wonderfully.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness .—Malarious fevers, dysentery, diarrhœa and chest
affections were, as usual, the chief diseases. A. very-large proportion of the cases of ague and
dysentery occurred in men who had gone to the plains either on duty or on leave during the