The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-14 00:00:00

HEALTH OF SHIPS.

(From the "Report on the Sanitary Condition of the
Labouring Population of Great Britain.)
The following examples are adverted to as to
the efficiency of preventive measures, furnished
by the naval medical service :
So dreadful was once the condition of the navy
that, in the year 1726, when Admiral Hosier
sailed with seven ships of the line to the West
Indies, he buried his ships' companies twice, and
died himself of a broken heart. Amongst the
pictures then presented, as in Anson's Voyages,
1740-44, were those of deaths to the amount of
eight or ten a-day in a moderate ship's company;
bodies sown up in hammocks and washing about
the decks, for want of strength and spirit on the
part of the miserable survivors to cast them over-
board. Dr. Johnson, in the year 1778, thus
describes a sea life :—"-As to the sailor, when
you look down from • the quarter-deck to the
space below, you see the utmost extremity of
human misery ; such crowding, such filth, such
stench !" " A ship is a prison, with the chance
a being drowned,—it is worse, worse in every
respect;,
.worse air, worse food, worse company."
elir. Wilson, in his preface to the " Medical
alttco
tult
ytuhr
an
Americans
century
uobservesry a gcoot,
mhlamots,at
nwidirt:lai
theinf
etwhcewelimits
o of
200 t: theoe xu t-
of 400 men by scurvy. During the years from.
1830 to 1836, the British squadron employed
South America, lost by diseases of everydcripm-
tion only 115 out of 17,254 men.
The mortality of the home force ships em-
ployed chiefly in harbour duty, &c. (where of
course they were not cut off from communication
or means of infection front the shore), in Great
Britain and Ireland, gives the rate of mortality
obtainable by sanitary means, even now con-
fessedly imperfect especially in ventilation,
amongst a male population ranging from fifteen
to fifty years of age, and may be taken as illus-
trative of the amount of health attainable on shore.
. ' In 1830 the deaths in the navy from disease in-
' dependently of external causes were—
Disease, All Causes,
per 1,000. per 1,000.
1830 .. 6.0 .. 8.7
1831 .. 11.5 .. 3.4
1832 .. 11.9 .. 14.0
1833 .. 6.3 .. 7.9
1834 .. 4.9 .. 6.7
1835 .. 5.9 • • 7.2
1836 .. 7.5 . • 9.5
•
Mr. Finlaison has lately calculated that the
deaths on shore out of 1,000 of the population of
twenty-nine years of age may be estimated at
about 12 per annum. Mr. Rickman calculated
that the deaths at that age in Essex and Rut-
land would be about 121 persons per 1,000 per
annum : for the metropolis it would be about
15f deaths. Out of 1,000 workmen in the Go-
vernment dock-yards, the number of deaths were
1:u ;in and
ber
of hitherto in the metropolitan police
force, Which is more select than the navy, the
deaths
the same number of men is appear to be about 9 per
annum ; but about
annually invalided from the force. The propor-
tion of deaths amongst the troops appears to be,
amongst the household cavalry, 14.5, amongst
the dragoons 15.3,
have been, in
amongst the footguards
amongst the depot, 18.5, and
21.6 Since the Guards
to that
the rate. of mortality has
been reduced
affected by peculiar circumstances.
the health of theatf guards is believed to be
iof.
ebtoutul:
setra regiments.
ncesi
As respects soldier y proper care, such epi-
demics as typhus,scarlet fever, are now scarcely
known as affecting
and such an largeoccurrence would groups in the army,
chiefs of the army medical board
denote to the
of some great neglect into oard the existence
which it would be ne-
cessary to make inquiry.

. . ,
HER MAJESTY.-It is expected that her Majesty,
Prince Albert, and the Court, will arrive at Buckingham
Palace from Scotland in the course of Monday next.