88
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Conservancy
and latrines.
Water-supply.
Diet.
Clothing.
Duty and
employment.
Marches.
Hospital.
Sickness, mor,
tality and in-
validing.
VII. Conservancy and latrines.— The regimental latrines are placed a few yards to the
east of the sepoys' huts, and are under the management of the Cantonment Magistrate. They
consist of a walled enclosure, inside of which are brick-built closets for the use of the men. The
dry-earth system is used; but as there is only one sweeper to attend to all the work, I do not
think it is carried out as efficiently as it might be. A similar arrangement for the women
of the regiment exists.
VIII. Water-supply.—The water is obtained from pucka wells, and is abundant in
quantity, but generally slightly brackish; the only sweet well in the vicinity of the lines being
in the public gardens. This quality does not seem to exercise any deleterious effect on the health
of the men, who soon become used to the taste of the water.
IX. Diet.—Two cases of scurvy appear in the return of sick; but as these were found
after a few days to be subjects of secondary syphilis, I do not think they can be taken as an
indication of the prevalence of the former disease among the men. There is no other evi-
dence of the sepoys having been underfed during the year.
X. Clothing. —Described in my report for 1873: since that year there has been no alteration.
XI. Duty and employment. —The regimental and station duties are more severe at Agra
than they were in Fyzabad, on account of the size of the station and the detachment duty the
men had to perform. They are not, however, so much so as to have any injurious influence on
the health of the regiment. Number of continuous nights in bed 7.52.
XIII. Marches.—No marches took place during the year, the regiment having returned
from the camp of exercise at Delhi by rail.
XIV. Hospital.—The hospital is a large, airy, pucka building, ventilated by numerous
small windows near the top of the walls. In addition to the ordinary doors and windows,
it contains three wards, two of which are partially separated from each other by an arched door-
way, while the third is shut off, and consequently useful for cases where isolation is desirable.
The dimensions of the former are 57 × 24 × 18 feet and 37 × 24 × 18, while the latter is 20 × 24
× 8 feet. There is also an office and dispensary at one end, and at the other a godown and bath-
room, in which all the apparatus for bathing is provided. The whole building was put into
thorough repair in 1875, and is now perfectly water-tight.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding. —Strength of the regiment—
Present .
.
.
. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
609.34
Absent .
. .
.
.
. .
.
.
. .
88.08
Total
.
.
697.42
Principal
causes of
sickness.
STATION.
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.
Daily
average
sick.
Head-quarters at Camp Delhi 1st Jan. 1876 21st Jan. 1876 507.66
39
...
14.19 133.85 ...
2.79
„ „ Agra . 22nd Jan. 1876 31st Dec. 1876 470.03 433
3
16.59 97.74 .67 3.53
On detachment, Agra
. 1st Jan. 1876 21st Jan. 1876 145.66
6 ...
4.71 71.80
. . .
3.23
„ „ Fatehgarh 26th Feb. 1876
Ditto
. 148.34
70
. . .
3.86 55.72 ...
2.60
„ „ Ulwar . 2nd Oct. 1876
Ditto
. 55.33
12 ...
9
23 ...
1.78
TOTAL
. . . . . . .
. . . . . . 609.34 560
3
19.99 91.90 .49
3.28
Number of deaths in hospital 3; out of hospital 7; total
10; per cent of total strength
.
1.43
„
invalided
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
13;
„ „
.
1.86
„
sent on sick leave .
.
.
.
.
.
15; „ „
.
2.15
„
of days spent in hospital 7,318; per admission .
13.06; per man of total strength
. 10.49
„
„ on sick leave 2,150; per man
. 143.33;
„ „
.
3.08
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
. 13.57
XVI. Principal causes of sickness. —The year 1876 compares favorably with the
previous one as regards the number of admissions from all causes, the former giving 560,
including the sick of the detachments, against 773 of the latter. This difference is principally
due to the large number of admissions from foot-sores in 1875, when the regiment was on the
march and at the camp of exercise. During the year under review there were only 21 admitted
under this head; and I think this unusual diminution to be due to the hardening the men got at
the camp, and also partly to the fact that during nearly the whole of the hot weather they had
rarely parades. In the malarial class of fevers there is, however, a rise from 201 to 237, a large
proportion of the latter number (110) having been admitted at head-quarters between the 9th of
September and 14th October, during which period the regiment suffered, with, I believe, many
others, from a severe epidemic of intermittent fever. The primary source of the sickness is, I
believe, to be ascribed to the debilitating effects of the excessively hot weather which prevailed,
and the scanty rains which followed.