49

Zealand is, that the troops are not mixed up
with the inhabitants of densely inhabited towns
as in Great Britain, and because either from the
nature of the soil, or the elements of the climate,
there are no cases of ague.

The comparative exemption of the troops from
typhus and common continued fevers, is another
proof added to the many which already exist,
that these maladies result chiefly from the im-
proper crowding together of human beings.
Consumption of New Zealand may be thought to
have something to do with this, but I do not
think it has, for this reason, that I have seen
cases of typhus and common fevers among the
civil population, living in low, badly drained,
and badly ventilated houses in the town of
Auckland; and scarlet fever, a malady which
is generated by malaria, appeared for the first
time in New Zealand, at Auckland, in 1848, but
it did not extend itself among the Native popu-
lation.

As diseases of the lungs in New Zealand pro-
duce less than one-half the mortality which they
did among infantry soldiers in the United King-
dom, I shall therefore enter into a more minute
examination of this class of maladies.

TABLE Number 2, showing the Specific Dis-
eases of the Lungs which occurred among
the Troops in New Zealand during the Three
Years ending March, 1853, and the Pro-
portion which each bears to what occurred
among Infantry soldiers in the United King-
dom for the Ten Years subsequent to 1837.

From this table it will be seen, that the low
mortality among the troops in New Zealand
arises from the few attacks of inflammation of
the lungs, and catarrhs, diseases which lead
directly and indirectly to the production of con-
sumption. It will also be seen that the num-
bers admitted into hospital under the head of
consumption are fewer than in Great Britain,
and men affected with this malady live longer
than I have ever seen similar cases in Great
Britain, and the disease is occasionally ap-
parently checked. The following is an indirect
numerical proof of this. Out of 1,657 cases of
consumption admitted into the hospitals of the
infantry regiments stationed in the United
Kingdom, 1,241 died, or 74 per cent.; out of

19 cases admitted among the troops in New
Zealand (see table No. 2), 10 died, or 52 per
cent.

I could detail several cases of consumption I
have seen, which appeared to me to be checked,
I do not say cured, in this country, but to
remove any impression that I have uninten-
tionally looked at such cases with a partial eye
and prejudiced mind, I make the following ex-
tract from the Medical Report of Surgeon
Prendergast, of the 65th Regiment, for the year
ending March, 1853. "Of this disease" (con-
sumption) he observes "only three cases have
been treated at head quarters" (Wellington,
New Zealand) "during the past year, and none
of these proved fatal. In each of these cases it
was astonishing to see how well suited the
climate of this island is in arresting and keeping
in abeyance the rapid progress of this disease,
and the little tendency there is to excite or aid
the development of Pulmonary affection."

Before leaving this subject, it is necessary to
bear in mind that soldiers suffer more from
consumption than civilians, a result which is
chiefly produced by the tainted air they are
obliged to respire in the barrack-rooms. I
adduce the following examples as a proof of the
correctness of this statement.

During the three years ending March, 1853,
there has been an aggregate strength of 455
married women attached to the military in New
Zealand, who have lived in small places
detached or away from the barracks with their
husbands. Out of this number only one died
from pectoral disease, which is at the rate of 2.2
deaths annually out of 1,000, or nearly one-
half less than what occurred among the soldiers.
During the three years ending March, 1853,
there was an aggregate strength of 150 officers,
between the ages of 20 and 40, in New Zealand,
and not one died from any disease of the lungs.

Since 1836, seventeen Missionaries and their
families have been resident in the North Island
of New Zealand, and among the few deaths
which have occurred among them, I cannot find
that one was caused by consumption.

Since the establishment of the Registration
of Deaths in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1848,
I have been able to make out that about one-
fourth of the mortality was produced by pec-
toral disease among civilians between the ages
of 20 and 40, whereas among the soldiers one-
half of the whole mortality arose from this class
of maladies.

3.—NOTICE OF THE EPIDEMIC INFLUENZA.

During the latter part of the year 1852 and
the beginning of 1853, an Epidemic Influenza
of singular severity prevailed all over New
Zealand. On referring to table No. 1, it will be
seen that 45 soldiers were admitted into hospital
with this disease, but many more were ill who
managed to do their duty. On the old and the
young it bore most heavily, and several of both
classes died. This remark refers to the Anglo-
Saxon and New Zealand races. There was
nothing very peculiar about the elements of the
climate when the disease prevailed, if I except
an unequal distribution of electricity, and a
large amount of rain and moisture in the air.