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
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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![DISEASES OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS. Under this class are comprised in the preceding Table—• Admissions. Deaths. Proportion of Deaths to Admissions. Inflammation of the Bowels. . 3 1 1 in 3 Acute Dysentery. 53 21 I „ H Chronic „ . 317 34 1 „ 9 Indigestion. 9 • • 0 „ 9 Colic. 25 • • o „ 25 Diarrhoea ........ 250 18 1 „ 14 Constipation. 263 v • 0 „ 263 Cholera Morbus. 9 2 1 „ Total .... 929 76 1 in 12 Annual Ratio per 1000 of Mean) Strength./ 504 4U3 • • This table shows that more than half the troops have been under treatment, and that the deaths from these diseases have averaged 41 per thousand of the force annually. As usual, dysentery was the principal source of mortality, and of so aggravated a character were the acute cases, that nearly two-fifths of them proved fatal, a degree of intensity which, so far as we can learn, has never been surpassed elsewhere. The previous sufferings of some of the troops while stationed on the Gold Coast, may probably have induced a certain degree of susceptibility to this disease after their arrival, but as the same feature continued to manifest itself long subsequent to that event, it may safely be assumed that other causes must also have been in operation. The Sierra Leone Commissioners, who possessed the best means of investigating the subject on the spot, were of opinion that the large proportion of salt rations had mainly contributed to the sickness and mortality; and the following statement of the marked reduction which took place in the deaths by this class of diseases immediately after the introduction of the fresh meat diet which they recommended, shows their con¬ clusions to have been well founded. PREVIOUS TO ALTERATION IN RATIONS. SUBSEQUENT TO ALTERATION IN RATIONS. Y ear. Mean Strength By Diseases of the Stomach and Bowels. Ratio per 1000 of Mean Strength. Year. Mean Strength By Diseases of the Stomach and Bowels. Ratio per 1000 of Mean Strength. Admitted. Died. Admitted. Died. - Admitted. Died. Admitted. Died. 1825 571 235 32 411 56 182S 1829 232 114 139 50 1 • • 600 439 t 1 1826 471 256 26 543 56 18301 5T'(7 1827 345 209 13 606 38 i to 1 1836J 42 22 1 524 Total 1,387 700 71 Average 50 5 51 Total 388 211 2 Average 543 Thus though the prevalence of these diseases remained nearly the same, their character became so much ameliorated after the more liberal use of a fresh meat diet, that the mortality from them was reduced to a tenth of its former amount; similar results have attended the recent increase in the issue of fresh meat to the Troops in the West Indies, a circumstance which seems to warrant the adoption of a similar remedy in other Colonies, whenever there is reason to believe that the character of these diseases has been influenced by a similar cause. DISEASES OF THE BRAIN. Under this class are comprised in the preceding Table— Proportion of Admitted. Died. Deaths to Admissions. Apoplexy.. 10 6 1 in If Palsy. 3 1 I „ 3 Madness. 5 • • 0 „ 5 Epilepsy. 14 1 1 „ 14 Total .... 32 8 1 in 4 Annual Ratio per 1000 of Mean] Strength.j 18 4-3 • i C 2 Western Coast of Africa. Sierra Leone](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30449935_0021.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
