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.
18/202 page 8
![United Kingdom. Ratio Ratio Died by each Disease. Died by per 1000 of per 1000 of Classes of Diseases. Specific Diseases. each class of Persons In¬ sured Died bj each class of Troops Died by same class of Diseases Diseases. Diseases as on pre- Annually. ceding page. Epidemic Choleic Water in the Brain. 1 ) • • • • 1-2 Diseases of the Brain . . . . , Brain Fever. 19 Epilepsy. 3 58 1*6 •7 Apoplexy.. . . . 29 Palsy. 6 Dropsies . . . j Water in the Chest. 4 l f 14 *4 Other Dropsical Affections . . . 10 •3 Aneurism. 1] Erysipelas. 3 Diseased Bladder. 3 Other Diseases < Oout •• 2 24 •7 Cancer. 2 | Atrophy. Anomalous. 4 9, ■ 2-7 ( Suicide. 3) Accidents, &c. . < Killed in Action . .. 2 12 •3 1 Accidents. 7j Total. • • 331 9*1 15-3 This comparison, though the best we can obtain, is exceptionable in one important point, as it exhibits the mortality among the higher classes only ; and, owing to the care with which the selection of those insured has been made, the deaths have been reduced to 9-jty per thousand annually, while that of the troops has been 15qV Soldiers are no doubt selected also, and undergo a rigid examination prior to enlistment, but this refers only to visible defects and not to constitutional or hereditary maladies, the existence of which may, in some instances, be ascertained by the inquiries instituted by insurers. This comparison, however defective it may be in this respect, is at least sufficient to show that there is no class of diseases but those of the lungs from which the troops suffer in a greater degree than the most select of the population. Cholera wras only known in this country in its epidemic form during a part of the last year included in the Equitable Tables when no cases had occurred among the insured. In regard to that disease, therefore, the comparison is not appropriate. The large proportion of suicides among this class of the military is a subject which par¬ ticularly claims attention. Out of a total of 686 deaths no less than 35, or upwards of I in 20 of the whole, have been from this cause alone, independent of many attempts which did not prove fatal; whereas among those insured in the Equitable the proportion of suicides was not one-fifth part as great, being only 1 in 110 of the deaths. This extreme tendency to self-destruction in the army will best be estimated by a comparison with the proportion of suicides in civil life in different countries, as stated by a recent statistical author.* D In France there is annually 1 Prussia „ 1 Austria ,, 1 Russia „ 1 State of New York 1 „ Boston 1 „ Baltimore 1 „ Philadelphia 1 rngoon Guards and Dragoons in the United Kingdom suicide to 18,000 inhabitants. ,, 14,404 ,, „ 20,900 „ 49,182 „ 7,797 „ 12,500 ,, „ 13,656 „ ,, 15,S 15 ,, „ 1,274 In cities, where a large proportion of the military are quartered, the ratio of suicides is greater than in the whole population of a country, but still much below that among our troops. In the Department of the Seine (Paris) for instance, between 1817 and 1825, the .suicides averaged annually.1 in 2,400 inhabitants. In Berlin, from 1813 to 1822 . 1 „ 2,941 „ Geneva, „ 1820 „ 1826 . 1 „ 3,900 „ London.1 „ 5,000 „ Even assuming, however, the very highest average in civil life in this country, it would appear that suicides are at least five times as numerous among this class of the military. It is necessary, however, to keep in view, that instances of self-destruction rarely occur amono- persons under the age of 18, and are by no means so frequent among females as males—cir¬ cumstances which must materially influence any comparison between its prevalence amoim a population of all ages and sexes, and a select body of troops from 18 to 40 years of age. ° The proportion of suicides is found to be higher among the Dragoon Guards and Dragoons * Quetelet, sur THomme, vol. ii. p. 147.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30449625_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
