Report on the medical topography and statistics of the southern division of the Madras army.

  • Madras. Medical Board Office.
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the medical topography and statistics of the southern division of the Madras army. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    disease of the lungs is also frequently met with, during the same season. cholera. Cholera for several years prior to 1834, occur- red in an epidemic form generally twice in the year, at the commencement of the rains in May or June, and at their final cessation after the N. E. monsoon, but as in intermit- tent fever, isolated cases are met with throughout the year. It used to he observed that every heavy fall of rain, particularly if unseasonable, was followed by the appearance of this disease. Since 1833, cholera as an epidemic has oc- casionally occurred, but not so severely or extensively as in former years. Fort. On the western bank of the river, and rather to the south of the town, stands the old mud fort of Salem, the ramparts of which have been partially thrown down, and the ditch filled up. The houses of the few Europeans re- sident here are at some distance west of the fort, which is chiefly inhabited by peons. Jails. Jail No. 1, or the old jail, is situated on the right bank of the river, detached from all other buildings except the hospitals. The site is slightly elevated and sloping; soil thin, red and dry, resting on a rocky base; it is a bomb proof building with an arched roof, having walls of great strength and thickness, composed of burnt brick and chunam, with a partition wall dividing it into two parts lengthwise. It has, besides three small cells, seven apartments of equal size, ventilated by 19 grated windows of moderate dimensi- ons, and is calculated to contain 146 prisoners, allowing 2 feet, by 6 or 7 for each person; but were the number of the prisoners complete, so limited a space would evidently be in- compatible with health. The particular dimensions of the wards is exhibited in the annexed sketch. Within the walls are two wells of good water. This jail was first occupied in 1805, and has undergone no material alteration, or repairs