Exercise, &c.
Marches.
Hospital.
Cots.
Prevalent
diseases.
Causes of ill
health.
Epidemics.
Vaccination.
68
Duty.
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
XI. Duty and employment.— As in former years, the number of men absent on the
manent detachments and on escort and other duties has made the work rather severe for
at head-quart ers, but not suffi ci ent l y so t o exerci se an unfavorabl e i nfl uence on heal t h.
The Average number of nights in bed has been 2.8..
XII. Exercise, amusements and occupations .—The usual temporary bund across the
river Mhye has been constructed by the men. Many of them practise shikar. Some attempt
was made to start cricket, but the Bheels did not seem to fancy it.
Marches and service.— The marches on escort duty and in relief of detachments are
often through very malarious districts. The detachment mentioned under section II as having
been sent to Tundlah had for its object to assist the Thakoor authorities to put a stop to
B heel raids from the Rooshulghur direction ; there was, however, no collision between the
detachment and the raiders.
XIV .—Hospital.—The hospital has been kept in good repair. The repairs of the latrine
and of' the hospital servants' houses have been only partially effected owing to the want of
funds. The supply of 40 iron cots with tape bottoms has been sanctioned, and 12 of them
already supplied ; the others are expected shortly, and the filthy and bug-infested wooden
charpoy hitherto in use will soon be entirely discarded.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
XV-Sickness, mortality and invaliding— Strength of corps,—present 386; absent, 207 ;
total, 593.
PERIOD.
Strength.
TOTAL NUM-
BER OF
D a i l y a v e r a g e n u m b e r o f s i c k .
PER CENT. OF
STRENGTH PER AN-
N U M .
From
To
Admis-
sions.
D e a t h s .
Admis-
sions.
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 Sirdar-
pore.
1st January
1874.
31st Decem-
ber 1874.
386
352
1 12.14
91.2
. 2 6 3.15
Deaths.
Number of deaths in hospital, 1; out of hospital, 3; total, 4; per cent. of total strength . . .
.67
" invalided,
16 ;
"
" " . . .
2.7
"
sent on sick leave,
7 ;
" ",
" . . .
1.18
"
days spent in hospital, 4,431 ; per admission, 12.59, per man of "
" . . .
7.47
"
on sick leave, 854 ; per man, 122 ;
"
" " . . .
1.44
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength . . .
8.91
As there are no statistics of the sick of the detachment procurable, I add the following :—
Number of days in hospital per man of strength at head-quarters. . .
11.48
"
" "
o n s i c k
l e a v e " " . . .
2.21
Total temporary loss per man of strength
"
"
. . .
13.69
The remarks I made last year on the unreliability of the statistics of sickness of the
corps as affording a criterion of the salubrity of the station of Sirdarpore, apply with equal
force to this year's report.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness.— The corps being a local one, and its circumstances
remaining the same year by year, the causes of disease vary little, and I have little to add on
this head to my last year's report. The chief causes are exposure to malarious influences, more
especially when on detachment duty at unhealthy outposts, exposure to cold at night, and
defective physique. Under Section X the issue of a blanket to each man is mentioned, and
the result has apparently been very satisfactory. To this almost minimum amount of night
covering even, I attribute in a great measure a diminution in the number of cases of fever,
rheumatism, and diarrhœa and dysentery ; and, though there is an increase in the number of
cases of affections of the respiratory system for the entire year, only three of those have
occurred since the issue of the blankets in July.
The issue of shoes in place of half-boots seems to diminish the number of blisters of the
feet.
XVII. Principal causes of mortality.— One man has died in hospital of quotidian ague
complicated with congestion of the spleen and very obstinate hæmorrhages from the gums ;
one on sick leave of phthisis pulmonalis ; and on detachment duty one died of dysentery,
aind another was killed by lightning.
XVIII. Epidemics.—There has been no epidemic. One woman and two children had
mild attacks of small-pox, not more than one of the cases occurring at a time.
XIX. Vaccination.— All previously unprotected children in the corps and station gen-
erally are vaccinated every year. During 1874 there were 123 vaccinated, when vaccination
had to be stopped for want of subjects ; of the 123 cases, 119 Were known to be successful ;