Observations on the Diseases of SeamenBlane, Gilbert, Sir
History
Observations on the Diseases of Seamen
Blane, Gilbert, Sir
Medicine, Naval -- Early Works To 1800; Sailors -- Diseases
The following is an Account of the Men admitted at the Hospital at
Barbadoes in the Campaign of 1780, that is, from the 16th of March till
the end of June:
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| DISEASES. | Admitted. | Died. | Proportion. |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| | | | ONE IN |
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| Fevers | 277 | 43 | 6½|
| Fluxes | 70 | 22 | 4 |
| Scurvy | 199 | 47 | 4 |
| Ulcers | 92 | 16 | 5½|
| Wounds | 167 | 61 | 2½|
| Other Complaints | 129 | 23 | 5½|
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
| Total | 943 | 212 | 4½|
+--------------------+-----------+-------+-------------+
The fevers were chiefly from the five line-of-battle ships that came
immediately from Europe in March. Upon their arrival they sent on shore
one hundred and ninety-three men ill of fevers, only one with the
flux, fifteen with the scurvy, and five with ulcers.
When these ships returned to Barbadoes in May, along with the rest
of the fleet, the greater part of the sick were then also on board
of them. By that time the flux and scurvy had broke out. The former
prevailed chiefly in the Terrible; the latter in the Intrepid. That
part of the fleet which we found on the station sent on shore a very
small proportion of all the classes of complaints, except wounds.
Of the wounds, nineteen were amputations, of which there died nine,
mostly of the locked jaw. There were forty-six scorched by gunpowder,
of whom there died fourteen; so that, besides those who were killed
outright, and those who died on board in consequence of accidents of
this kind, before they could be sent to an hospital, about one fourth
of all the wounds, and the same proportion of all the deaths from
wounds, at the hospital, was owing to this cause. This circumstance
ought to induce commanders to take every precaution to prevent such
accidents. In the subsequent part of the war they were less frequent,
in consequence of that greater caution, and more accurate method of
working great guns, which were acquired by practice and experience[25].
In the account of the mortality, I have included only such as died
before the 1st of January, 1781; for if any were carried off after that
time, it was most probably by some incidental complaint. There were
sixty-five of them at that time remaining, and they were chiefly men
disabled by lameness waiting for a passage to England as invalids.
Out of the twenty-three that were killed by the fall of the house in
the hurricane on the 10th of October, eight were of the number above
accounted for; but these are not included in any of the classes of
deaths.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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