Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding, among the troops in Western Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius / prepared from the records [by A.M. Tulloch, H. Marshall, and T.G. Balfour] of the Army Medical Department and War Office returns.

  • Great Britain. Army Medical Services
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding, among the troops in Western Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Mauritius / prepared from the records [by A.M. Tulloch, H. Marshall, and T.G. Balfour] of the Army Medical Department and War Office returns. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Mauritius. ?\Iean Sicli. the admissions, the number has increased very materially of late. Those results, however, apply to the White Troops only; we possess no similar information in regard to the Black Pioneers, as they are not included in the War Office Returns. From the preceding data the following conclusions may be drawn :— In the In the Mauritius. ’ United Kingdom. Average sick time annually to each soldier Average duration of each attack . Days. Days. 25 1U 20 10 Thus, each soldier is nearly twice as long in hospital as in the United Kingdom, and the duration pf each attack is also longer, most probably owing to the lingering nature of those diseases of the bowels to which the troops are so subject in this Command. . eni08 xu mnafiq od ot sorma , ( ,f .7;;; , •fj'&i :: ■ -nmotex 1o vhlio/imriq istnu (hhtir enoitntqmst sdt o.t l>s .« rbi/a do oqod omo3 hip fir, ,'tyibloa Inylyffb bar, yrltRod ydt no 02-g vIibo /iov. unno C3 v» V MS l On the Influence of ydJ Jud : noiJfisiixtttiilodK 70 ..b SECTION IV. Age and Length of Residence on Troops serving in the Mauritius. • ■ U r> f T t a [n ' 10 t O j the Mortality among Influence of A we Our conclusions on this subject are founded on the following results, obtained from Abstract &c. = ’ No. V. of Appendix, which exhibits the number living and deaths which took place at the undermentioned periods of life among each of the corps serving in the Command from 1830 to 1836 inclusive. Unde 18 18 to 25. ' 25 to 33. 33 to 40. 40 to 50. Total of all PERIOD. Y ears. j Ages. Strength Died Strength Died Strength Died Strength Died Strength Died Strength Died 1st January to 31st December 1830 . 3 m # 570 12 309 11 135 4 21 2 1,038 29 ,, ,, 1831. 3 • • 577 13 301 13 132 11 19 4 1,032 41 ,, ., 1832 . 13 • • 783 19 1 580 25 171 8 27 6 1,574 58 ,, 1833 to 31st March 1834 . 19 1 887 22 1,017 43 198 12 , 5-2 5 2,173 83 1st April 1834 ,, 1835 . 30 , , G40 12 1,170 45 198 14 57 2 2,095 73 ,, 1835 ,, 1836. 13 . . 274 3 983 40 169 11 61 3 1,500 57 ,, 1836 ,, 1837 . 8 161 3 1,001 34 212 6 63 5 1,445 48 Total for Years . . 89 1 | 3,892 84 5,361 211 1,215 GG 300 27 10,857 389 Deduct a twenty-ninth part of the] i Deaths to ascertain the Mortality , . . • • , j • • 3 . . 7 • • 2 • • 1 • • 13 of 7 years exactly.) ■ Total for 7 Years .... 1 89 | 1 .3,692 81 1 5,361 204 1,215 64 300 26 10,857 376 Converting these results into ratios, on the same principle as in previous*Reports, the relative degree of mortality at each of the above ages is found to have been as under:— Table'XI. Showing the In¬ fluence of Age on Mortality among tfre White Troops serv¬ ing in the Mauritius. Annual Ratio of Mortality per 1000 of Mean Strength. Excess of Mortality at each Age iu tiie Mauritius. AGES. Among Troops Serving in the Mauritius. Among Dragoon Guards and Dri.gwOiis Serv¬ ing in the United Kingdom. IS to 25 20 ’ 8 13*9 6-9 25 ,, 33 37*5 14* 235 33 ,, 40 52-7 17-3 35*4 40 ,, 50 S6-6 26 7 59-9 Average of 1 34-6 15-3 all Ages . ( 193 1 he deterioration ot constitution with the advance of age in the Mauritius, as shown by these results, must have been extremely rapid. To exhibit its operation in this respect more clearly, we have brought into comparison the progressive increase of mortality at the same ages among the Dragoon Guards and Dragoons serving in the United Kingdom, from which it appears that though, between the ages of 18 and 25, the ratio is but 7 per thousand higher than in this country, that difference increases, between the ages of 40 and 50, to nearly 60 per thousand. Consequently residence in this Colony seems to affect the oldest at least eight times as much as the youngest class of soldiers,—a very remarkable disproportion indeed, even within the tropics.