4
The following table shows the number and classification of those brought to Hospital for the last
seven years :---
1882.
1885.
1884.
1885.
1886.
1887.
Police,
.........549
599
486
495
602
619
Board of Trade,..........116
110
60
100
132
103
Private paying Patients, 268
260
259
283
381
324
Government Servants,... 88
105
96
124
144
147
Police Cases,
.207
227
231
238
142
208
Destitutes,
.230
1,458
201
222
270
222
255
1,502
1,354 1,510 1,623
1,656
The increase in the number of admissions is principally among two classes. Police cases, an in- crease of 66 as compared with 1886. Destitutes, an increase of 27.
5
The vaccination of infants within six months after their birth is now compulsory by law, but there will, I apprehend, be some difficulty in carrying out the provisions of the new Ordinance among a travelling population like the Chinese who are here many of them for a short time only. This difficulty will be due to the number of infants of whom nothing is knowu constantly arriving from without, and to the many taken away soon after birth.
PUBLIC MORTUARY.
Table VIII shews the number of bodies brought to the Mortuary for examination i. e.; 183, of these 11 were Europeans, 1 coloured, and 171 Chinese. Of the latter 36 were children.
VICTORIA GAOL.
The following figures give the number of admissions into Gaol and the daily average number of prisoners for the past ten years.
Total No. admitted
Daily average No.
of Prisoners.
The admissions and deaths in Hospital for the last ten years are as follows:-
Admissions.
Deaths.
1878,.
..1,289.....
.50
1879,-
.1,071..
.55
1880.
..1,055....................
.44
1881.
.1,236.........
.49
1882,
1,458...
68
1883,
..1,502..
.70
1884,
..1,354...
.........50
1885,
.76
1886,
1887.
.79 .........89
1,510.. .1,623. .........................1,656..
The percentage of deaths relative to admissions was 5.37, the highest percentage in the last 10 years, Eighteen deaths were from injuries received, six of them were fractured skulls, and three from burns.
SMALL-POX HOSPITAL.
Small-pox became epidemic in the Colony towards the latter end of November, and between the 22nd of that month and the end of the year 40 cases had already been admitted to Hospital. The accommodation not being sufficient for the demand, three large matsheds were improvised and enclosed in the Hospital grounds and a Police Guard had to be put over them. Dr. ATKINSON had charge of these inflammable temporary buildings and they caused him no small anxiety in consequence of the dangers of fire to which they were several times exposed from the flying sparks of houses burning below the Hospital. In three months, ie: December 1887, January and February 1888, there were over 100 small-pox cases admitted to Hospital. For the use of European females I utilized the female ward of the Lunatic Asylum which happened to be vacant at the time. I had personal charge of these cases, of which three were only varioloid, and none very severe.
Table VIIa shows the number of small-pox cases, the nationality of the patients admitted in 1887, and the dates of their admission. There were 65 cases in all, of these 11 died.
The Medical Members and Secretary of the Sanitary Board together with the Registrar General met and made arrangements for daily vaccinations in different parts of the Colony and at all the Hospitals. All the prisoners in the Gaol were vaccinated and every one admitted to Gaol now is vaccinated.
Government orders have been given that all new members joining the Police Force shall be vacci nated. There was an extraordinary demand for vaccine lymph, and as it soon got very scarce it had to be husbanded with great care. The best vaccine that was procured was calf lymph from Japan which was excellently put up for travelling and arrived in very good condition, it was used with excellent results. There are very few Europeans now in the Colony that have not been vaccinated or revaccinated and if there are it is not from any want of facilities.
Another result of the recent experience was a recommendation from the Sanitary Board that the small-pox Hospitals both for Europeans and Chinese be removed to the outskirts of the City of Victoria. Small-pox is endemic among the Chinese in the winter months and notwithstanding all safeguards and precautions must inevitably be imported into the Colony by them. The recommendation therefore is one deserving of earnest attention. The Sanitary Board also drew up a set of rules and precautions to be followed on the appearance of small-pox in private tenements, this list was printed in English and Chinese and freely circulated and the Sanitary Inspectors visited all houses where cases occurred and saw the instructions of the Board carried out.
The Chinese Washerimen were also instructed in the disinfecting of wash-clothes in boiling water and Jeyes' Disenfecting Fluid and the latter was supplied to them the Sanitary Inspectors seeing that the instructions for its use were carried out.
to Guol.
1877,
.3,964....
.395.22
1878,
..3,803....
..519.22
1879,
.3,665...
.576.13
1880,
.3,530.
.575.25
1881,
.4,150.
.666.00
1882,
.3,498.
.622.00
1883,
.3,486.
.542.15
1884,
.4.023.
.552.00
1885,
.3,610..
.530.00
1886,
..4,600.
.674.00
1887,
..4,302.
.584.00
These figures show a decrease of nearly 300 in the admissions and a decrease of nearly 100 in the daily average number in the Gaol.
Table IX shows the number of prisoners admitted to the Gaol Hospital, the nature of their com- plaints and the number of deaths.
Table XI shews the rate of sickness and mortality of prisoners under treatment in Gaol. The record of prisoners in the prison Hospital last year shows an increase of 27 as compared with 1886, while the number of deaths shows a decrease of 3. In 1886 there were in that Hospital 239 cases and 9 deaths, in 1887, 266 cases and 6 deaths. In 1886 there were two suicides and two sudden deaths in the cells, in 1887 two suicides and one sudden death.
Table XIb. shows the number of opium smokers consuming one mace and upwards received into the Gaol, their age, consumption of opium, weight on admission and weight at the end of a month or on discharge,
Table XIc. shews the number of opium smokers admitted to the Gaol Hospital and the diseases they were suffering from; there were no deaths among these opium smokers.
As usual there were no evidences of suffering from the deprivation of the opium-pipe, though The exclusion of opium is rigidly opium in any form was carefully excluded from their treatment. adhered to unless the treatinent of the disease imperatively demands it; this however did not happen to be the case with any of the opium smoking prisoners under treatment last year.
I give the ages, consumption and weights of the largest consumers received into Gaol. They were six in number, all had habitually consumed 4 mace, ie., half-an-ounce of opium daily, the time they have been addicted to the habit of opium smoking is also set forth :-----
Number of years Opium
smoker.
Age.
Consumption per diem.
Weight on Admission.
Weight at end
of 4 weeks.
* 56
20 years.
4 mace.
110
106
103
109
* 67
40 73
52
30
4
120
114
22
21
4
96
96
78
35
11
70
36 12
*72
36 55
4 4
106
98
75
80
Those marked with an asterisk were under treatment for general debility, the others were under no treatment for other ailments. It will be gathered from these figures that the habit of opium smoking does not interfere with the digestive powers. These men all consumed an amount of opium equivalent in value to 30 cents a day or $9 per month. Therefore they must have been of a comparatively well to do class and when at liberty could afford better food than the diet of the Gaol Hospital, for in order to live well, (for instance as well as the best class of Chinesc servants,) it need not have cost them more than $3 per month for food.
343
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