Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding among the troops in the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean, and British America / 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:
- 1839
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Statistical reports on the sickness, mortality, & invaliding among the troops in the United Kingdom, the Mediterranean, and British America / 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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![II. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Table V. Showing the In¬ fluence of Age on the Mortality by Epidemic Cholera among Troops of the Line serving at Halifax. This Table only includes a part of the deaths, as those which occurred among the Ordnance cannot be traced. We find it stated, that prior to the appearance of cholera there was more easterly wind than usual, and that the progress of the disease was greater during and after a long con¬ tinuance of rain than in dry weather; but the meteorological observations are not suffi¬ ciently detailed to warrant the accuracy of that assertion. The epidemic does not seem to have extended beyond the limits of Halifax, at least the troops were exempt, and we can find no record of it having prevailed in any other quarter among the civil population. Age. Strength. Total Deaths by Epidemic Cholera. Ratio of Deaths per 1000 at each Age by Epidemic Cholera. Under 18 . 18 • • • • 18 to 25 . 502 1 2* 1 25 „ 33 . 829 30 36-2 33 „ 40 . 158 14 88-6 40 „ 50 . 37 4 108- Total . 1,544 49 34*7 DISEASES OF THE BRAIN. Under this head are comprised in the preceding Table,— Admitted. Died. Proportion of Deaths to Admissions. Brain Fever .... • • 20 6 1 in 3| Headache. 11 • • 0 99 11 Apoplexy. 46 18 1 99 H Palsy. 43 7 1 39 <4- Fatuity. 21 • • 0 99 21 Madness. 41 5 1 59 si Brain Fever of Drunkards • • 217 18 1 33 12 Epilepsy. • • 109 2 1 99 541 Total. • • 508 56 1 39 9 Annual Ratio per 1000 of Strength. Mean) 11 1-3 • • This class of diseases appears to be twice as prevalent, and twice as great a source of mortality, as among troops in the United Kingdom, principally owing to the general pre¬ valence of delirium tremens, under which nearly half the cases, and a third of the deaths, are reported. Though the baneful consequences of intemperance on the constitution can scarcely be recognized in the other classes of diseases among the troops, yet here they become suf¬ ficiently evident in the frequent occurrence of a disease which directly results from that vice. It is much to be regretted that, notwithstanding all the regulations adopted to diminish intoxication, the cases of delirium tremens have of late years undergone no diminu¬ tion, but seem rather on the increase. DROPSIES. Under this head are comprised in the preceding Table,— Proportion of] Admitted. Died. Deaths to j Admissions. Subcutaneous Dropsy.... 41 11 1 in 3f Water in the Chest .... 9 5 1 „ H Abdominal Dropsy .... 28 7 1 „ 4 Total .... 78 23 1 55 Annual Ratio per 1000 of Mean! O ' 5 Strength ...... J 6 l TT • • These form but a very small proportion of the sickness and mortality in this Command; they are rather more frequent than among troops in the United Kingdom, but not to such an extent as to merit any particular notice. The other classes which rarety prove fatal, though frequently a source of considerable inefficiency, will be referred to when we come to investigate their prevalence in Canada, to which the diseases of these provinces will be found in many respects extremely similar. 3 C 2](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30449625_0157.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
