16

REPORT ON THE

Total treated, &c.

     2. During 1875 there were 2,905 Christian patients treated, with an average daily
number of sick of 161.68, and a death-rate (inclusive of all cases of mortality) of 58.17 per
mille of total treated.

     The total number treated was considerably in excess of 1874, or of that of any
one year in the past decennial period, with the exception of 1872, when dengue was
prevalent.

Of men.

     3. The total number of male patients (Christian) was in excess of that of any year of
the past decennium, 1871 and 1872 excepted.

Of women.

Of children.

     4. The total number of women treated was considerably in excess of that of any year
of the past decennium, with the exception of 1872 (the dengue year), and the number of
children treated was very much higher than that of any year of the same period.

     On this very marked increase of in-door patients Dr. Ewart thus expresses himself:—
"The in-door sick have greatly increased, notwithstanding the opposing operations of the
out-door department,"—and "the pressure upon the ward set apart for women and children
has undergone great increase during the past year. The average admissions of women and
children during the ten years ending 1874 accumulated to 287.1 and 151.9 respectively, but
we have already seen that they have risen in 1875 to 361 and 296. The truth is that during
the sickly season the demands upon the space available are excessive, and we have frequently
been reluctantly compelled to say to applicants that we have no available beds for them. I
had hoped that when the Canning Home was built the nurses would have been located there,
and that the portion of the women's ward now occupied by them would have been thus set
free for the accommodation of sick women and children. It seems, however, that this arrange-
ment is not to be. The only alternative is to build quarters for the nurses. The subject is
under consideration."

Mortality of
Christian
patients.

     5. The rate of mortality per mille on the total number treated (including cholera
cases) has been 58.17, which is a higher ratio than that of any year since 1868. The
disturbing influence which cholera has exerted on the hospital statistics has been alluded
to in former reports, and from the table at the head of this summary it is at once seen
that this pestilential disease contributes largely to the number of deaths, as during 1875
nearly one-third of the total mortality of Christian patients was caused by cholera.

     Excluding the cholera cases from the returns, the total number treated was 2,828, of
whom 119 died, or at the rate of 42 07 per mille of total treated, which is a higher rate of
mortality than that of any year since 1868, and is also slightly in excess of the average
mortality of the preceding decennial period. No explanation has been offered as to the cause
of the higher rate of mortality in 1875.

Cholera.

     6. There were but 77 cases of cholera treated during 1875 among the Christian patients,
a number which was 9.6 less than the average of the preceding ten years.

     Of the 77 cases treated 50 proved fatal, or at the rate of 649.35 per mille. This rate of
mortality is higher than that of any year since 1865, with the exception of 1866 and 1869, and
is also considerably above the average rate of mortality of the preceding ten years. No
explanation on this point has been offered. In the native wards there were ten cases of cholera
treated, with four deaths, or with a mortality at the rate of 400.00 per mille of cases
treated.

Localities from
which cholera cases
were admitted.

     7. The following table shows the localities from which the male patients (European and
native) suffering from cholera were admitted into hospital, as also the admissions of each
month:—