r 



364 



Observations to accompany the Annual Return of Sick and Wounded of 

 H. M. 15 thy or King's Hussars, from 1st April 1844 to 3 1st March 

 1845. By F. Mouat, M.D. Surgeon, H. M. 15th Hussars. 



[The most valuable contributions that have hitherto been made to 

 the statistics of disease among European troops within the Indian 

 presidencies, are undoubtedly the tables furnished by the late Dr. 

 Murray to the second Volume of this Journal : unfortunately only 

 two of them had appeared, when they were put a stop to, by the close 

 of his active and energetic career. 



The following elaborate report by Dr. Mouat, now acting Inspec- 

 tor General at Madras, gains additional weight, from the great ex- 

 perience which he has had of the diseases of soldiers, of the climate 

 of India in general, and especially of Bangalore, at which station he 

 has so long resided. It is especially interesting at the present time, 

 when a plan for assimilating the returns of all the presidencies is 

 believed to be under consideration, as being quite a model of an 

 annual report, and as affording information on every head on which 

 it can be required. 



There has been for the last three years a general tendency towards 

 the assimilation of the forms of the returns of the Queen's and 

 Company's troops in Bengal, and the particular form, under which 

 the matter of this report is arranged, has been in use among the 

 Company's troops in Bengal since November, 1842. 



At least six years ago, Major Tulloch and Dr. Marshall declared 

 all the Indian returns which they had seen, to be quite useless for 

 general statistical purposes, and accordingly they have not included 

 any portion of India (Proper ) in their statistical reports. 



We do not know that measures of any consequence have been 

 hitherto adopted to improve this state of things, as regards the Com- 

 pany's troops, and it does not redound to the credit of any one, that 

 up to the present date, owing to the imperfection of our returns, we 

 are not able to ascertain many points of the utmost importance, as 

 regards the health and welfare of our vast and widely scattered 



