10
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Socks
necessary.
Duties and
employment.
Hospi tal.
Sickness, mortality an
d invaliding.
Compar i son
with 36th
Native
Infantry.
Principal
causes of
sickness.
may be recommended as the best suited for the use of the sepoy, yet it may be seen from
experience that until stout woollen socks are worn with the ordinary ammunition boot,
there will . always be a large number of admissions for blisters of the feet. The boot should
be well greased or oiled, to make the leather soft and pliable, and should be fastened by a strap
passing once round the ankle, as recommended at page 234 of the Medical Sanitary Report of
the Native Army of Bengal for 1874.
XI. Duties and employment.— The duties have been heavy, owing to the number of guards,
but less than during the previous year. Nights in bed 4.6
.
XIV. Hospital.—The hospital is an excellent building, which has been previously
described.
XV. Sickness, morlialily and invaliding.—S t r e n g t h
o f t h e r e g i m e n t -
Present
574.5
Absent
60.2
Total
634.7
STATION.
P E R I O D .
Strength.
TOTAL NUMBER
OF
Daily
average
number
of sick.
PER'CENT. OF STRENGTH
PER ANNUM.
From
To
Admis-
sions.
Deaths.
Admis- sions
.
Deaths.
Daily
average
sick.
Barrackpore (Head-quarters) 1st Jan. 1877 31st Dec. 1877
549.1 1,383
57
58.39 251.8
10.3 10.63
Dum-Dum (Detachment)
Ditto
30th Mar. 1877
104.5
79
3
5.59 310.04 11.77
5.34
Total
. . .
. . .
574.5 1,462
60
59
254.48 10.44 10.27
Compare the above with 36th Native Infantry :—
36th Native Infantry, head-
quarters at Barrackpore
1st Jan. 1877.
31st Dec. 1877
344.4
435
4
11.21 126.2
1.16
3.25
Number of deaths in hospital, 60; out of hospital, 19 ; total 79 ; per cent. of total strength
1 2 . 4 4
,, of men invalided 78 ; ,, ,,
1 2 . 2 8
,, sent on sick leave 54 ; ,, ,,
8 . 5
,, of days spent in hospital, 21,535 ; per admission 14.8 ; per man of total strength
3 3 . 9
,, on sick leave, 11,880; per man 220 ; ,, ,,
1 8 . 7
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
5 2 . 6
From the preceding figures it ma y be seen that here are two native infantry regiments
-
the 38th Native Infantry occupying the east or right lines, the 36th, the west or left lines—
the former having a percentage of sick more than three times that of the latter. The detach
- m e n t a t D u m - D u m h a d o n l y h a l f t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f s i c k o f h e a d - q u a r t e r s . T h i s w o u l d p o i n t
to some local cause to account for the excessive sickness of the regiment, and that cause the
unhealthy position of the lines. The cavalry detachment, too, whose lines are quite close to the
36th Native Infantry on the west, have not had an inordinate amount of sickness. In 1875
the 10th Native Infantry, when quartered in these lines, had a daily average sick of 15.5 per
cent. of strength present, about 5 per cent. more than the 38th Native Infantry in 1877.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness.— The principal causes of sickness are shewn in the
following table, and contrasted with the preceding year :—
A g u e .
1 5 a .
H y p e r t r o p h y o f t h e s p l e e n .
5 2 8 .
D e b i l i t y .
9 0 5 .
B l i s t e r s o f f e e t .
1 , 1 4 8
D y s e n t e r y .
4 6 6 .
D i a r r h o e a .
4 8 4 .
B r o n e h i t i s .
3 0 5 .
I t c h .
8 9 4 .
H e r p e s .
8 6 1 .
S p r a i n .
1 , 1 1 6 .
C h o l e r a .
1 8 .
O t h e r d i s e a s e s .
T o t a l .
Admitted in 1876
1,405
12
53
95
148
75
21
25
. . .
. . .
4
337 2,175
Admitted in 1877
761
146
81
69
55
50
37
29
21
21
4
188 1,462