| Description | Notes on dissections of fatal cases in the hospitals in the Severn and South-West districts in the summer of 1811.
Pages 1-6 contain a copy of a letter written by McGrigor to J. Reed, Secretary to the Army Medical Board, dated Portsmouth, 18 August 1811, detailing the number and types of cases together with the mortality rate which occurred in each corps in the districts under his superintendence for the last summer quarter. He provides statistics relating to the number of sick and the proportion of deaths among the sick (1 in 30), noting the most prevalent causes of death among the 23 patients as being pulmonary phthisis (7), pneumonia (3) and continued fevers (4). He also notes that the sickness and mortality rate, as in the previous season, has been highest at the garrison at Bristol, and comments on 130 cases of continued fever: 27 of these were ephemeral fever and 2 were typhus and he describes the results of the post-mortem examination carried out on one of the four fatal cases. He discusses cases of intermittent fever, of which there were 111, and notes that certain regiments brought the disease with them from their previous quarters. There were 68 cases of ophthalmia: 29 occurred in the Sussex Militia and 8 in the East Middlesex Militia. McGrigor also refers to 40 cases of pneumonia and describes the results of a post-mortem examination carried out on one of the three fatal cases. He reports on 14 cases of phthisis pulmonalis and lists occurrences of these in different regiments: 'The appearance of so much Phthisis Pulmonalis not unnaturally follows and gives some support to the opinion that Pneumonia is the most frequent cause of Phthisis among soldiers'; comments that although the mortality rate from this disease is very high it is much less than the previous summer season and provides details of 8 post-mortem examinations conducted. Notes that there were 6 cases of hepatitis and gives account of the depot at Hilsea for the last quarter which was not included in the district return: 233 patients were admitted, 13 of whom died, with the most prevalent diseases being continued fevers (19), pneumonia (13) and intermittent fever (9).
'Abstract of the dissection reports from the 6th May to the 28th July 1811'. Each entry notes the name of the patient, their regiment, the disease from which they died and provides a summary of the postmortem examination. The page reference for the full dissection report provided later in the volume is also provided.
The detailed dissection reports generally list the name and age of the patient, the regiment to which they belonged and their date of admission to the hospital before providing a daily account of the effects of the disease and the progress of the patient, together with the treatment administered. Information relating to the diet of the patients is sometimes provided. The report also records the appearance of the body following dissection and occasionally describes any operations performed on the body. The reports are signed by the surgeon or assistant surgeons of the different hospital stations.
At the end of the volume is a table showing the number of cases admitted into the Hilsea Hospital from the 6 May-28 July 1811. This records the number and type of diseases that prevailed in each regiment and notes the cause of death in certain cases. On the reverse is a list of the names of the men who died during the summer quarter. Also included is a statement of the admissions and deaths for the troops stationed in the Kent district from the 20 February-20 May 1811, with a similar table for the period 20 November 1810-20 February 1811. |