Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India.

  • India. Sanitary Commissioner.
Date:
[1883]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    80/432 (page 68)
    which will he found in full in the Appendix. The report besides contains much useful information regarding the natural history of the country, and the remarks regarding the Pipsu fly and the nature ot’ the poison used by the Akas in their arrow-heads are especially interesting. The bites of the Pipsu flies caused con¬ siderable inconvenience. The poison used on their arrows is believed to be derived from a species of monk’s-hood (Aconitum ferox). The chief causes of admission into hospital among the troops were ague and dysentery; but the followers suffered in addition considerably from diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. Only one death from disease occurred among the soldiers, and that was from pneumonia. Medical transactions of the In¬ dian Division, Egypt Expedition¬ ary Force. 79. Since the publication of the last Annual Sanitary Report, in which details regarding the health of the troops engaged in Egypt during 1882 were given, the Principal Medical Officer of the Indian Division has submitted a full report of the medical transactions of that division. As this report would doubtless interest many medical officers, it is reproduced in the Appendix. 80. An abstract of the sanitary sheets supplied by medical officers in charge of regiments is given below. These sanitary sheets Abstract of Sanitary Sheets. i • i j ,. ., . n ,, were devised to elicit information regarding the local causes of sickness in individual regiments and stations, hut in many cases the information given is meagre and sometimes not to the point. Summary of the Sanitary Sheets of Native Troops in the three Presidencies. Batio peb 1,000. Station. Corps. Ad¬ missions. Deaths. Sanitary Defects, Improvements, Suggestions, &c. BENGAL TROOPS. Fort William 17th N. I. 1,295 22-03 Regimental latrine was improved and heavy duty brought to notice. The undress clothing being light for the cold weather, compulsory adoption of wadded coats is suggested. Alipore 33rd N. I. L. W. 1,712 55-34 During the cold weather personal cleanliness is not so well cared for, as it ought to be. More fresh vegeta¬ ble diet is suggested. Site of latrine was changed and drainage improved. Heavy guard duty brought to notice. Ditto 4th N. I. 1,854 28-12 Long and narrow barracks. Cases of scurvy due to a deficient consumption of vegetables. Recommenda¬ tions were made in regard to the heavy duty and to men guarding against chills more carefully. Barrackpore 40th JSI. 1. 1,060 2209 Overcrowding. Efficient drainage is difficult. The country is low-lying, damp, and unhealthy. Duties were heavy. Barracks and cook-rooms were repaired, and the barrack-floors raised above the ground. Shillong . 43rd A. L. I. . 1,391 27-19 Barracks are too small, with irregular mud walls, and their re-construction on improved principles has been recommended. Dibrugarh . 42nd A. L I. . 1,260 10-87 The huts are ill-ventilated and dark, and have no corre* sponding openings for ingress and egress of air. The Goorkhas are dirty in their persons and habits ; bathing parades have been recommended for them. Surroundings consist of tea gardens, rice-fields, and jungle, which may act injuriously during the rainy season. Kohima (Naga 44th S. L. I. . 1,243 17-90 Wattle-and-daub huts with thatched roofs. Hills). The surroundings are low and marshy. During the rains the parade-ground was sometimes flooded ; there was an excessive rainfall, and the country was gene¬ rally inundated in May and August. The latrines have been improved. Silchar (Cachar) . 12th K. I. G. . 1,867 36-32 Sadiya 42nd A. L. I. . Iucludec figures rugarh. l in the for Dib- There are no latrines; men and women resort to the sur¬ rounding jungle. Water is supposed to produce goitre, from which some of the men have suffered. Lines have been improved, wells cleaned out, and huts repaired.