144 DOMESTIC WATEB SUPPLY OF BRISBANE, ETC. 



at the close of the year, it was found that 43 different individuals 

 out of the 56 had been on the sick list on account of gastro- 

 intestinal disorders. Nine men and 1 woman had been 

 transferred on medical certificate. One patient was recom- 

 mended for four months' sick leave to India ; 5 others, who had 

 constantly been on the sick list, took all the leave which was 

 due to them. Seven voluntarily left the service on the termina- 

 tion of their agreements on account of ill-health, and one of 

 them subsequently died in Selangor. Another died at Kuala 

 Lipis. The spirit of the remaining 81 men of the original 

 Perak detachment was broken, and the general loss of tone was 

 very noticeable. 



Special points of interest in the clinical histories are : 

 "1. The fact that gastric symptoms predominated over 

 nervous symptoms. It is difficult to offer any satisfactory 

 reason as to why this should have occurred, except that it is a 

 common experience in the East that Sikhs suffer greatly from 

 irritative dyspepsia even under ordinary circumstances, and are 

 not often attacked with neuritis. As far as my experience in 

 Pahang goes, they have been notably exempt from the prevalent 

 form of peripheral neuritis which is very commonly met with in 

 beri-beri. 



" 2. The fact that all the Sikh patients had had their 

 diets prepared at the barracks, and had their drinking water 

 supplied from the contaminated tank all the time they had 

 been in the wards. This was on account of their religious 

 custom, which forbids them to use food prepared by others than 

 their own nationality, or to drink water unless it has been 

 carried by a Sikh. The Pathans, on the other hand, being 

 Mussulmans, were supplied with the ward diets and water by the 

 hospital cook, who is a Mohammedan. They were also accus- 

 tomed to eat and drink with their Mahommedan friends in the 

 town, but the Sikh soldiers had few opportunities of feeding 

 outside barracks. The hospital returns show that the Sikh 

 soldiers suffer in a proportion of almost 2 to 1 as compared to 

 the Pathans. 



" 3. The slow and deadly action of zinc poisoning by 

 administration in small but continuous doses was well exempli- 

 fied. In some cases it seems to suggest the possibility of zinc 

 being an accumulative poison. Emaciation was, generally 

 speaking, an evident symptom, and was so marked in the case of 



