Circumference
of chest.
Length of
service.
Special
remarks.
Causes of the
diminution of
sickness.
RAWAL PINDI DIVISION.
145
neck, passed into the abdomen two inches below the navel, and a large mass of bowel pro-
truded, which was cut through in two places by large jagged wounds. He died in somewhat
under two hours. One man died while on furlough, and is reported to have been accidentally
drowned in crossing a nullah in the Sialkot district ; and one died at his home while on
sick leave : his home was in Jaghistan, beyond the Bristish frontier, and no particulars were
received as to the cause of death; but he had suffered from hæmoptysis, and it is probable that
he died of phthisis.
XVIII. Epidemics.—No epidemic of any kind occurred during the year 1877.
XIX. Vaccination.— There was no vaccination during the year. The vaccinator was daily
expected when the regiment left. In the course of the year I inspected every man in the
regiment, and revised all the medical history sheets. I only found nine men entirely unpro-
tected against variola. Of these men a note has been made, and there will be no difficulty in
having them vaccinated when an opportunity occurs. Very many of the men had been
inoculated, a few had been vaccinated, and the rest had more or less clear marks of natural
small-pox. In two cases there were marks of both inoculation and vaccination. I was not
satisfied, however, with the vaccination marks. In fully three-fourths the marks were very
slight, sometimes only one slight mark. I had proposed to have them re-vaccinated in some
numbers, and of these men also a note has been made.
X X . R e c o m m e n d a t i o n s . —
N o
f o r m a l o r w r i t t e n r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s h a v e b e e n c a l l e d f o r d u r i n g
the year, which has been in every respect healthy and uneventful, and which contrasts very
favourably with any recent year in the medical history of the regiment. I thought it needful
to advise a suspension of drills and parades during the extremest of the heat in August, and
this was at once carried out.
I.
XXI. Special remarks.—In reviewing the year 1877 it is clear that some reasons must
exist by which the great diminution of sickness in the regiment can be explained, and in my
opinion, they are easily found
—
1 s t l y .
— T h e r e i s n o d o u b t b u t t h a t T a l a a n g i s a v e r y h e a l t h y s t a t i o n ( t h e o n l y e x c e p t i o n
being as to very young children, who probably suffered from the extreme cold and from the
want of proper clothing); the cases of ague were nearly all of the simplest character, and during
the year there were not more than six cases of acute disease of any kind which presented fea-
tures of any gravity.
2ndly.—The duty was very light.
3rdly.—The regiment was exceedingly well clothed. The posheeens and ckogas are
excellent in kind and quality, and the bedding was sufficient.
4thly.—The men are young, and the old men have been weeded out since those who joined
in 1857 became entitled to their pensions. There is an excellent spirit among them, and the
class Company system appears to work exceedingly well, causing in many respects a whole-
some emulation between them which is advantageous to the public service.
5thly.—With rather more doubt I still venture to express my opinion that the moderate
use of spirits (on payment) has had a very good effect in promoting the health of the men.
In my opinion it is absolutely necessary in inclement weather, and if used in moderation and
with care, it is a good thing at most seasons.
To these reasons I attribute the improved state of things in a medical point of view, and
towards the end of the year, the regiment was put to rather severe test. It was in camp for
the last 57 days of the year, and though the weather was often most inclement and the rain
extremely heavy, though the water-supply was not always satisfactory, and the duty involved
much exposure, and though the encamping grounds were sometimes very unsatisfactory and
the marches were often arduous, the men suffered so little, that on the 57th day of camp life
there were only 4 men in hospital out of 610, and of these 4, one was wounded in action. The
other two men returned as "remaining" were with the Talagang detachment.
The constitution of the regiment may be roughly stated as half Sikhs, one-fourth Pathans,
rather more than one-eighth Dogras, rather less than one-eighth Punjabee Mahomedans,
with 18 Christians in the band.
Except these Christians all the men of the regiment are natives of the Punjab, or of the
adjacent districts beyond the British frontier.
All are returned as having followed agricultural pursuits previous to enlistment, excepting
8 men only, viz., 2 goldsmiths, 1 blacksmith, 1 carpenter, 1 barber, 1 durjee, 1 "service" and
1 " trade
. "
The 711 men in the regiment measured in height 48,070½ inches, giving an average of
67.60 inches, or 5 feet 7 6/10 i n c h e s . T h i s i s a v e r y g o o d a v e r a g e f o r a n a t i v e r e g i m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y
as it indicates an "all-round" average; only 75 men reaching to 5 feet 10 inches, and only
10 attaining to 6 feet.
The 711 men measured fairly round the chest, gave a total of 24,864 inches, or an average
all round of 34.43 inches. This average again is very satisfactory, as it is not swelled by a
number of immense men, only 13 reaching 38 inches and only 2 exceeding 40 inches.
The same number of men divide among them 5,068 years of service, or an average of
7.11 years for each. In triennial classes the following numbers are shown :—
Reco nun e Lida-
tions.
Use of spirits.
Constitution
of the regi-
ment.
Height.
Epidemics.
Vaccination.
SERVICE.
.3
4.6
7.9
10.12
13.15
16.18
19.21
22.24
25.27
Total.
Number
.
.
267
186
_
34
96
45
8
63
8
4
711
M