38
MEDICAL AND SANITARY REPORT OF THE NATIVE ARMY OF BENGAL.
Sickness,
mortality and invaliding.
Sickness, mortality and invaliding.— Strength of the regiment—present 626.58;
absent 76.75; total 703.33.
PERIOD
S t r e n g t h .
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 ANNUM.
From
T o
Admis-
sons.
Deaths
in
hospital.
Admis-sions. Deaths.
Daily
average
of sick.
Head-quarters, Jhansi and
camp . . . 1st Jan. 31st Dec.
513
529
6
12.73
103.11
1.17
2.48
Depôt at Jhansi . . . 1st Jan. 9th.Feb.
180
21
1
8.50
106.45
5.06
4.72
Detachment at Sipri . . . 3rd Feb. 31st Dec.
26
4
. . .
.28
13.91
. . .
1.08
L a l i t p u r . . . 12th Feb. 31st Dec.
73
92
1
3.27
142.38
1.54
4.48
TOTAL . . . 1st Jan. 31st Dec. 626.58
646
8
17.27
103.10
1.28
2.75
Number of deaths in hospital, 8; out of hospital, 2; total, 10; per cent. of total strength . . . 142
" invalided, 11; per cent. of total strength . . .
1.56
" sent on sick leave, 4; per cent. of total strength . . . .57
" of days spent in hospital, 6,435; per admission, 9.96; per man of total strength . . . 9.15
" on sick leave, 330; per man, 82.50; per man of total strength . . .
.47
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength . . . 9.62
Principal
causes of sick
-ness.
Prevailing
diseases.
Venereal.
Commanding
officer's re-marks.
XVI. Sickness.— The principal causes of sickness throughout the year were as follows:
—1—fevers, 2—ulcers, 3—chest diseases, 4—venereal diseases, 5—bowel complaints.
Compared with the year 1873, the admissions from various causes stand as below:—
DISEASES.
1873.
1874.
A g u e ( A ) . . .
671
264
" ( B ) . . .
36
49
" ( C ) . . .
. . .
8
Remittent fever . . .
. . .
1
C h o l e r a . . .
. . .
1
S y p h i l i s ( A ) . . .
3
14
" ( B ) . . .
4
3
G o n o r r h œ a . . .
1
13
P n e u m o n i a . . .
12
9
Laryngitis . . .
. . .
1
Bronchitis . . .
23
14
Pleurisy
.
.
.
6
1
D y s e n t e r y . . .
22
10
Diarrhœa . . .
12
3
U l c e r s . . .
61
65
B l i s t e r s o f f e e t . . .
3
18
Total . . .
834
474
Syphilis has brought in a large number of admissions, 17 against 7 ; this is only to be
expected, as there is little, if any, control over the women who reside in the city, and the
distance between our lines and the Maharajah of Scindiab's territory is only a few yards.
Gonorrhœa shows an increase of 12 cases owing to the same cause.
On the question of the latrines the officer commanding the regiment
remarks:
—
" I quite agree with Surgeon Linton in considering the present latrine system most
objectionable; the soil in the neighbourhood of the native infantry lines certainly does not
exercise any deodorising properties over human excreta, and I look upon a continuance of the
present system as most hazardous. The question of shoes for the men is a difficult one; as
long as the regiment was in the Punjab the native shoe was the best, but it cannot stand the
wear and tear of a rocky soil like that of Jhansi."
Inspection.
Huts.
Trench
atrines.
Hospital.
Deputy Surgeon-General E. C. Thorp, M. D ., held the medical inspection
of this regiment on the 6th March 1875. He reports that the old huts were
badly built, and had defective ventilation, but the new huts for three com
-panies of the regiment afforded ample room for the occupants of each one, and
were well ventilated. The trench system does not answer in Jhansi, for the
reasons assigned by the officer in medical charge of the regiment; latrines
had been recommended, and Dr. Thorp says he has heard, since the time of his
inspection, they work well. The hospital is a well-ventilated building, and the
accommodation in it is generally sufficient, the sanitary arrangements and
general medical details were all satisfactory.