Mortality.
Cholera.
238
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF TEE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Hospitals, &c.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
produced a lot of dysentery; while in the Naga hills, the country being more open and the
men constantly on the move (from the limited time that the campaign had to be finished
in), the sickness was practically nil,—the only patients suffering from anything but accidents
being two men who had been left at an outpost at the base. Though the duty was at times
heavy, and the marches over very steep hills, the men were in the best spirits, and never
flagged or failed in the least.
XIV Hospitals, &c.—These have been described in former reports. There is good accommo
-
dation for 50 men; the site is as healthy as any in cantonments; ventilation is good, and the
men are obliged to provide themselves with proper clothing and bedding. There are no
quarters for the hospital assistants or medical pupils, and that for the inferior establish
-
ment is insufficient. These faults have been pointed out more than once
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding.— Strength of the Regiment—
Present
783.06
A b s e n t
71. 77
Total
854.83
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 Duffla Ex-
pedition.
1st. Jan. 1875 25th Feb. 1875 258
47
8.48 118.65
3 . 2 8
„ at Naga Expedition 26th Feb. „ 16th Apl. „ 252
23
6.36 66.62
2 . 5 2
„ and Depôt at Gauhati 1st Jan.„
Ditto.
434.94 569
7 18.27 130.84 1.60 4 . 2 0
Detachment at Tezpore
Ditto.
Ditto.
167.13 371
5 10.90 221.92 2.99 6.52
„ at Nowgong
Ditto.
Ditto.
65.77 101
3.60 153.56
5 . 4 7
„ N a g a S u r v e y E s c o r t . 23rd Nov. „
Ditto.
152.75 14
2 2.57 75.10 10.72 1.68
TOTAL
783.06 1,125 14 35.06 143.67 1.78 4 . 4 7
Number of deaths in hospital 14; out of hospital 8; * total 22; per cent. of total strength.
2 . 5 7
„ invalided 32; „ „
3.74
„ sent on sick leave 18; „ „
2.10
„ of days spent in hospital 12,859; per admission 11.43; per man of total strength
15.04
„ on sick leave 2,453; per man 136.27;„ „
2.87
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
17.91
* One man died out of hospital in 1874, but was not struck off until 1875.
Principal
causes of
sickness.
Syphilis.
XVI. Principal causes of Sickness:— Fevers, of course, form the largest group, ague alone
causing 444 of quotidian and 28 of other, kinds. This is only to be expected from the charac
-
teristics of the station as described in paragraph II. Of the 7 cases of remittent fever, 5 occurred
at Gauhati. Small-pox broke out in April, but by strict isolation did not spread. It never
existed in the lines in an epidemic form. As vaccination is spreading very fairly amongst the
civil population, it is to be hoped this disease will soon decrease very much. Lumbago appears
to be a very common disease amongst the old Hindustanis, and it is generally associated with
a low state of health. The amount of syphilis in the regiment is not large, and the secondary
forms of that disease caused only 13 admissions. As most of the men have formed temporary
or permanent connexions with the natives of Assam, the small percentage of secondary
syphilitic affections is thus probably accounted for. Both the cholera cases can hardly be
called such, as one is said to have been caused by eating raw cucumbers, and the other by
eating a sort of dall or wild rice-grass. Diseases of the digestive system were also very
numerous, dysentery and diarrhœa giving 171 out of a total of 213. The detachment at
Tezpore gave a much larger percentage than that at head-quarters. These diseases, may in
some cases be attributed to the irritation caused by suspended matter in the river water, but
more often to drinking impure tank water. In other cases it was traced to over-eating unripe
fruit and vegetables; and in others again, as in the Duffla expedition, to the damp to which the
men were exposed. Of skin diseases, ulcers head the list, but most of these cases were rather
due to neglected foot-bites occurring in men in a low state of health. Though the ammu
-
nition boot is the best the men can get, still, unless worn with stockings, it is sure to
blister the foot and gall the ankle. The cases of general debility are all attributable to fre
-
quent attacks of malarial fever.
XVII. Mortality.—Of the 14 deaths in hospital, 7 occurred at Gauhati, 5 at Tezpur, and
2 in the Naga Escort (Survey). Small-pox caused 3 out of 6 admissions. The cases were
very severe, though the epidemic was so confined in extent. The men who died were all weakly
subjects. Cholera, as above mentioned, caused 2. On the whole, the year has not been a fatal