Exercise, &c.
Gymnasium.
Hospital.
Sloughing
sores.
Prevalent dis
-
eases.
Fevers.
OUDH DIVISION. 77
X. Clothing.—In winter the uniform consists of woollen material, in summer of white
cotton. Both are suitable. Strong ammunition boots are in use. They are got ready made
and do not fit well, and consequently great inefficiency was caused during the year by foot
sores. The use of stockings might lessen the number of cases.
XI. Duty, &c.—The guard duties at head-quarters were increased by the absence of
men on famine relief duty, but they were never excessive.
Clothing.
Duty.
XII. Exercise, &c.—The men have not many opportunities for amusement. The recruits
practise running and jumping every morning as exercise. Many of the sepoys have been
attending the gymnasium and some have become first-rate gymnasts.
XIV. Hospital.— The state of repair of the hospital is good. Its site is salubrious. No
overcrowding occurred during the year. Ventilation was sufficient. From some cause not easily
explained, sores of all descriptions were inclined to take an unhealthy sloughing action for
the last six weeks of the year. Owing to this, many sores, at first trifling, have become ser
i -
ous. The hospital has been whitewashed and its floor has been always kept perfectly clean.
The men had been in the habit of shutting up all the hospital doors at night from the
beginning of the cold weather. The presence of a large number of sores under these circu
m -
stances might give rise to unhealthy action and sloughing. As soon as the practice was dis-
covered it was put a stop to. Moving of some of the patients into tents is contemplated.
Neither the houses for hospital assistants nor a dead-house have as yet been built, though badly
wanted. The bath-room constructed by order of the Commander-in-Chief is never used by the
men of their own free will. It is, however, useful when a hot or cold bath is required reme
-
dially. One or two small rooms for particular cases would be desirable.
XV. Sickness, mortality and invaliding.— Strength of the regiment—present, 548.87
absent, 145; total, 694.70.
Bath-room.
Sickness, mor
-
tality and
invaliding.
STATION.
PERIOD.
S t r e n g t h .
TOTAL
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-
sions.
D e a t h s .
A d m i s - s i o n s .
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 Lucknow
1st January
1874
31st Decem-
ber 1874.
548.87
577
1 22.45 105.12
18 4.09
Number of deaths in hospital, 1 ; out of hospital, 1; total, 2 ; per cent. of total strength . . . 0.28
" i n v a l i d e d , 2 1 ; " " " . . . 3.02
" s e n t o n s i c k l e a v e ,
6 ; " " " . . . 0.86
" of days spent in hospital, 8,200 ; per admission, 14.21; per man; " " . . . 11.80
" on sick leave, 709 ; per man, 118.16 ; " " " . . . 1.02
Total temporary loss of service per man of total strength . . .
12.82
XVI. Principal causes of sickness.—Malarious fevers. As in former years, fevers were
the most fruitful source of sickness. There were, however, only 153 admissions this year,
against 287 for 1873. This large number of admissions in the latter year was caused by the
climate of Baxa and its out-stations, as stated in report for 1873. During 1874, the men
seemed to have shaken off wonderfully the bad effects of the Bhootan climate. Few exhibited
malarious cachexia. None of the cases admitted were severe, and, on the whole, the regiment
did not suffer more than the average in a station such as Lucknow.
2. Blister of the feet caused much inefficiency. There were 71 admissions during the
year against 33 in 1873. During 1874 the men were not allowed "leave from boots", but
had either to parade with boots, or go to hospital. This accounts for the great increase over
last year in the number of admissions. The character also of the foot-sores was much More
severe than in 1873. The worst cases occurred in men returning from Fort Muchee Bhawan, and
station guard duty. In some instances the injured parts looked inclined to slough on admission.
Sometimes, a blister, small apparently on admission, in a few days formed a slough, having
evidently been bruised by the boot. In this way many ulcers most difficult to heal were for
m -
ed. Several slight cases were not admitted but kept on the convalescent list.
Blister of the
feet.
3. Syphilis yielded 38 admissions, viz.: 36 primary and 2 secondary cases.
Up to November 15th, there had been only 19 admissions. The return: of men from
famine duty in Lower Bengal made sudden increase in the number. Of the first 33 men
who returned, 7 had syphilis, or 21.21 per cent. of strength. These 33 men had returned from
Durbhunga or its neighbourhood. Amongst 80 men who afterwards returned from other parts
of Bengal, though all were examined, only five cases were discovered, or 6.25 per cent. of
strength. It would seem from this that, in Durbhunga especially, syphilis is prevalent. In
Lucknow itself, with an average annual strength of 548.87, there were 24 admissions from
primary syphilis, or 4.37 per cent. of strength per annum. Many of the men stated that they
contracted the disease in the chowk when on duty at Fort Muchee Bhawan. It seems probable
that in native regiments many more men suffer from syphilis than actually come to hospital.
Syphilis.
Cause of
increase.
Concealment
of the disease.