Army Medical Department Report for the year 1871
House of Lords Paper 1873 vol. 34
Whilst working on the House of Lords Parliamentary Papers
the overwhelming impression is the amount of detailed information in
each report. The amount of work to
collate all the tables and material when there were no computers to help is
quite staggering and must have been so time consuming.
In this report there are 6 pages of contents, starting with
the health of the troops serving in the United Kingdom in 1871.
One example of this is “Of Infantry Regiments the 2nd
battalion 16th, at Canterbury and Aldershot, had the highest ratio
of admissions, the excess being chiefly in cases of febricula, bronchitis and
tonsillitis, gonorrhoea, skin diseases and accidental injuries; the 82nd
Regiment at Portsmouth and Aldershot, the highest ratio of deaths.”
They are also detailed accounts of the health of the troops
overseas such as China, Japan, India and Mauritius to name a few.
An account from Japan states “local diseases – there was a
reduction in the prevalence of diseases of the circulatory and digestive
systems, and a very marked one in cases of gonorrhoea, included with diseases
of the urinary system; and there was a moderate increase in diseases of the
respiratory and cutaneous systems.”
I particularly like the written examinations held at the
Army Medical School, Netley.
Questions range from subjects such as medicine, surgery,
botany, languages and military hygiene such as :
“What are the chief points to which you would direct your
attention in examining whether the ground, round and under any habitation, is
likely to be injurious to health?”
And “what are the methods of examining air?” What amount of air should be given per hour
to a healthy man? On what principle is
this rule based and how is the amount attempted to be given in barracks in
England?”
This is just a tiny sample of the amazing and detailed amount
of information that can be found in the reports from the House of Lords
Parliamentary Papers.
