Water supply.
Food.
Clothing.
Duty.
Principal
causes of
sickness.
Principal
causes of
mort al i t y.
168
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Hospital.
provided. Great care is taken to secure a pure water supply by means of covered
cleansing tanks, pucca ducts, &c. Food supplies were plentiful ; and the men on
the whole well fed. Knickerbockers and "patties" are now worninstead of trousers,
and with advantage. Ammunition boots are worn in cantonments, but the "com-
mon native shoe" on the march. This regiment marched long distances during
the year, and there were very few cases of foot-sore admitted. Woollen socks
and gloves would be a great comfort on such march. Duties were not excessive ;
nights in bed 4.79 in 7 . The march up the Miranzai Valley, which is described
in detail, involved much hard work, but does not appear to have affected the
men's health prejudicially. The hospital accommodation at Dera Ismail Khan
is said to be inferior, but steps are about to be taken to improve it.
Sickness,
mortality and
invaliding.
Special
observations.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding. —Strength,—present 611.37 ; absent 119.08 ;
total 730.45.
PERIOD.
Strength.
T O T A L
NUMBER 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
ANNUM.
From
To
Admis- s i o n s .
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 s c k .
Head-quarters at Kohat ... 1st Jan. ... 31st Dec.... 588.80 1,111
8 22.83 188.6 1.3 3.87
Detachment at Bahadur
Khel.
3rd Jan. ... 9th March... 59
11 ...
. 1 8
102.8 ...
.30
Ditto
ditto
... 3rd July ... 8th Sep. ... 59
26 ...
2.20 236.7 ... 3.73
Ditto
at Zam
. . . 26th Dec. ... 31st Dec. ... 71
. . .
. . .
. . . . . .
. . .
. . .
Ditto
at Jutta
... 26th Dec. ... 31st Dec. ... 21
. . .
. . .
. . . . . .
. . .
. . .
TOTAL
. . . ......
......
611.37 1,148 8 25.21 187.8 1.3 4.12
Number of deaths in hospital, 8 ; out of hospital, 4; total; 12 per cent. of total strength ... 1.64
„ invalided,
23 ;
,,
„
. . . 3.15
„ sent on sick leave, 22 ;
" "
. . .
3.01
„ of days spent in hospital, 11,884; per admission 10.35 ; per man of total strength ... 16.27
"
" " on sick leave
2,420 ; per man 110 ; „
"
. . . 3.31
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength
. . .
... 19.58
The year under report, though slightly worse than the previous year, is on the whole a
healthy year and much above the average. The large number of rejections made by the inva-
liding committee at Peshawar has helped to swell the sick list. Of the 42 sent up, 19 were
rejected. Of these 19, 13 were sent up for medical reasons, and up to date (9th February)
they have contributed as under—
A d m i s s i o n s , 2 8 .
Number of days in hospital 914=70.31 per man.
Death 1 (in January from phthisis.)
Sick leave, 101 days.
At present in hospital, 5.
Sick in other hospitals, 4.
One man has been away from the regiment since July. He is now sick in the 1st
Goorkha hospital and unable to rejoin. A special committee has been sanctioned for him.
XVI. Principal causes of sickness. —The principal causes of admission were fevers (666),
rheumatic affections (63), chest diseases (82), diseases of the digestive system (116), injuries (74)
skin diseases (83), all others (60).
XVII. Principal causes of mortality. —Simple continued fever, phthisis, remittent
fever, chronic bronchitis ; pleurisy and pneumonia have each contributed one death. Conges-
tion of the spleen adds two fatal cases, both from rupture of the greatly enlarged organ,
though in neither of the cases was it possible to obtain a post mortem examination to verify the
diagnosis.
Mr. Saunders, under the head of special observations, gives a table showing
that the Punjabis are the healthiest men in the regiment ; the Dogras, Sikhs, and
Pathans following in order. He remarks on the difficulty of getting rid, by
means of invaliding committees, of men who, though fit for the ordinary du-
ties of a sepoy, are quite unequal to the arduous duties incident to service on the
Punjab frontier.