The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-19 00:00:00

THE HEALTH OF THE _WAVY.

To the numerous valuable volumes of" sanitary"
literature recently presented to the public by the
Registrar-General, his excellent coadjutor Dr.
Farre, Mr. Simon, the medical officer of the Board
of Health, Dr. Grcenhow, Dr. Hassan (the exposer
of adulterations), and other medical gzntlemen,has
been added a " Statistical Report on the Health of
the• Royal Navy for 1856." This emanates from Dr.
4. •Bryson, and has been drawn up exclusively
from the returns lodged in the office of the Direc-
tor7General of the Medical Department of the
Royal Navy. The general report divides itself
into a series of branch reports, so to speak, on the
several stations—viz.,• the Home, the Mediter-
ranean, the West India and North American,
the East Coast of South America, the Pacific,
the West Coast of Africa, the Cape, the " East"
Indian and China, and the Australian sta-
tions. The total mean force (corrected) at all these
stations having been (in 1856) 51,730 ; the total
number of cases on board was 73,195, the number
of days' sickness on board 814,084 the number of
men sick per diem 2,230.4, the ratio per 1,000 of
mean force 43.2 ; the number of days' sickness in
hospital 329,235, and the average number of men
daily in hospital 902, the ratio per 1,000 of mean
force 17:4, the total- average of sick per diem
3,132.4, the ratio per 1,000 of mean force 61.7 ; the
number invalided 998, the ratio per 1,000 of mean
force 19.3, the number of deaths from disease 629,
and from all causes 801, the ratio per 1,000 of mean
force 15.5, and the number of cases per man 1,4 ; 9
were killed in action, 61 by accidental hurts, 87
were drowned, 1 was frozen, while 14 put a period
to their various sufferings, and found rest in the
grave by the commission of suicide. The -most fatal
disease in the force was fever, of which 199 cases
were fatal, including 130 of yellow fever. Next to
fever consumptive diseases were most fatal, the
deaths being in the ratio of 2.7 per 1,000 of mean
force. 21.9 per cent. of the deaths arose from dis-
eases of the respiratory organs, 4.9 from diseases of
the heart and arteries, and. 13.4 from diseases
of the alimentary canal. Dysentery is very fatal
on the coast of China. he mortality in the
whole force from all ordinary causes (a fact not
a little surprising) very little exceeds the mor-
tality in civil life, thus confirming the moral
of the • fable of Chambaud • which shows that
there is no more danger in "going to sea" than
in " going to bed." The aggregate loss of ser-
vice through wounds and sickness in the entire ser-
vice, estimated at 51,730 men, was about equal to
3,132 men, or 61.7 per cent., which exceeds the loss
in the metropolitan and city police by a little more
than one-third. This excess is not so great as might
have been anticipated, considering that the seaman .
is more exposed to the w adder. We are sorry to :
be informed, however, that with all the improve-
ments
in the navy the seaman, even when relieved :
and allowed to retire to his hammock, can seldom
either dry his clothes or obtain, especially in the
night-time (when most wanted) any kind of warm
food or refreshment. As regards yellow fever. Dr.
Bryson thinks that
in itthinea, be predicted that as
ist, s
cholera, cradled
op
yellowsed wf e evsetrw, auric
through Europe to America, el
peculiar scourge of a few warm regions in the West
will travel eastward from America until it reache3
the European communities settledenthe banks of
nCotu been
the Ganges. Yellow fever has hitherto
introduced into any region eastward of the
roni
Good Hope. How long it may be excluded Cape of
Asia must depend, the doctor thinks, upon the
re-
strictions imposed on infected ships sailing west-
o nesi
and thence to the eastern shores
ward from the coast of America to the P 1 an
islands - •
group of
of Asia and New Holland. We commend this re-
port to the attention of the authorities.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NO cEMBER 19, 1858.

steps of his predecessors. Having spoken of the
past, I will briefly allude to the future, as I do not
profess to look into the seeds of time. Ever since I
became possessed of this property, I have felt the
necessity of a better theatre, combining modern
comfort with increased powers of effect. A theatre
honoured by the marked patronage of her gracious
Majesty, and that real patron of the drama, the
Prince Consort, ought, with the finest site in the
metropolis, if not in the world, to be second to none
with proper means and appliances, and these I shall
strive to employ to general satisfaction."