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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    Cape of Good Hope. The deaths reP°rted durinS that Pel'lod Were- -; From Diseases after specified.14 Sickness and IVlor- ^ not known.1 tali y of Officei s. j)ome^ or on tpe passage, from diseases! 3 contracted at the Cape.J From Suicide.. Shot in a Duel.1 Drowned.3 Total ... 23 Table XI. Showing the Mor¬ tality and principal Diseases among Officers serving in the Cape of Good Hope Command. Making the ratio of mortality 14 per thousand of the strength annually, even including accidental deaths, in no way attributable to climate, a sufficient evidence certainly of the general salubrity of the Colony. The extent of sickness will also be found extremely low, but owing to the difficulty of ascertaining the number under treatment at the smaller detachments on the frontiers, several omissions may probably have taken place, for which it will be necessaiy to make some al¬ lowance in any comparison with the sickness of the troops. The diseases, so far as can be ascertained from the Medical Returns, will be found in the Abstract befoi’e referred to, of which the principal results are exhibited in the following | Table:— 1822 to 1836 inclusive, Annual Ratio treated per Annual Ratio! Aggregate Strength Idol admitted into Hospital CLASSES OF DISEASES. 1000 of Mean per 1000 of Troops, as on p. 7. Numbers Numbers Strength of Officers. Treated. Died. Fevers. 83 3 50 88 Diseases of the Lungs. 108 3 65 98 ,, Liver . 26 1 16 22 „ Stomach ] & Bowels J 167 • • 101 126 „ Brain . 14 5 9 10 Dropsies. 2 • • 1 2 Rheumatic Affections . 67 * ■ 41 64 Venereal ,, 73 • • 45 ■ 210 Abscesses and Ulcers.' 70 • • 42 118 Wounds and Injuries , 116 1 70 126 Diseases of the Eyes . 16 • • 10 32 „ Skin . 7 • • 4 14 All other Diseases. 47 1 28 46 Other cases before specified • • 9 • • Punished 35 Total 796 23 482 991 We have here compared the prevalence of the same diseases among the officers and the troops, for the purpose of shewing, that if allowance is made for cases on the frontier, which may have been omitted among the former, and for which probably 10 per cent, should have been added, there is no great disproportion in the influence of the principal diseases on either rank, though in the less important ones, such as venereal, ulcei's, diseases of the eyes, &c., the reverse is the case. So many of the fatal diseases among the officers are unknown, that it is impossible to bring them into comparison with those of the troops without the risk of erroneous con¬ clusions, and we shall therefore not pursue our enquiries on this subject farther at present. SECTION VI. On the influence of the Seasons in producing Sickness and Mortality among the Troops sending in the Cape of Good Hope Command. Influence of the In Abstract No. VI. of Appendix, is submitted a statement of the admissions and deaths in Seasons. each montp from 1822 to 1834, being the only years for which this portion of the inform¬ ation can be made available, because during the disturbances on the frontier when the Colonial militia were in the field, that force was sometimes included in the same returns with the troops of the line.