Medical Sketches of the Expedition to Egypt, from India

by Sir James McGrigor

SEPTEMBER.

Early in this month, the greater part of the army was encamped in the neighbourhood of Rosetta. The 86th regiment and two companies of the 7th Bombay regiment went into garrison at Ghiza. Separate regimental hospitals were provided for every corps in Rosetta: but the number of sick appeared to be gaining ground, particularly the cases of ophthalmia, which disease was nearly confined to the 10th and 88th regiments. The number occurring in the artillery, 61st and 80th regiments, was inconsiderable; and the disease was very rarely seen among the Sepoys. Dysentery and hepatitis prevailed very generally in every corps; but the appearance of another disease occasioned the greatest alarm throughout the army.

On the morning of the 14th, I discovered a case of the plague in the hospital of the 88th regiment: Anthonio, one of the hospital-cooks, who had for thirty hours laboured under febrile symptoms, shewed me two buboes in his groins. He had no venereal appearance, and the fever was now attended with extreme irritability of the stomach. At the same time, I was shewn another hospital-servant, a Hallancore, who lay next to Anthonio. The Hallancore had been attacked in the night time, and, when I saw him, had much fever and pain in the axilla, though I could discover no swelling of the glands. As speedily as possible these two men, and six other hospital-servants, who slept in the same apartment, were removed to a house at the extremity of the town. A room was immediately allotted, in the hospital of the 88th regiment, for cases under observation.

To this every soldier, or follower, with febrile symptoms, was sent the instant that the symptoms were discovered. A minute examination was made, on the evening of the 14th, of all the men in the hospital, amounting then to one hundred and sixty-two, in order to discover whether any laboured under suspicious symptoms, but nothing was observed.

On the morning of the 15th, I discovered six men with fever, most of them had been attacked in the night-time; they were sent without delay into the observation-room, and most strictly guarded. By frequent observation, in the course of the day, I discovered buboes in one, and pain in the axillary and femoral glands of all the others: all were therefore sent to the pest-house, which was now established.

Early on the morning of the 16th, the cook and Hallancore, first attacked, died. It was found necessary in the course of the day to send nine more men into the observation-room, where the nitrous fumigation was very liberally used. After an emetic, I gave mercury very liberally to the whole nine; but the symptoms, on the morning of the 18th, were so unequivocal, that I sent them all to the pest-house.

Our situation now became very alarming. There were the clearest proofs of the hospital which the 88th regiment occupied being thoroughly infected, consisting of about fourteen or fifteen rooms, but all the cases had hitherto come only from three of the rooms. Lamps for the nitrous fumigation were kept constantly burning both in them and in the observation-room. A very large building was procured near Rosetta; and, with all possible haste, the men were moved to it.

No man left the old hospital till all his clothes were washed; his hair was cut short, and himself bathed. On coming to the outside walls of the new hospital, every man stripped himself naked and went into a warm bath before his reception into the hospital. He was then provided with new clothing and bedding; the clothing brought with him was received by a non-commissioned officer, who saw it repeatedly washed and baked, after which it was received into the hospital store-room. On the evening of the 18th, I sent four more men into the observation-room, and, on the 21st, three of them were sent into the pest-house. The other did well in the observation-room.

On the 23d, Littlejohn, a boy, was sent in the morning to the observation-room, having been attacked the night before with rigours. On the 25th, Egan, another suspicious case, was also sent there. In both of them a severe ptyalism was excited in less than forty-eight hours by mercury and nitric acid, and they afterwards did well.

On the 28th, Craig, with febrile symptoms, was sent from the new hospital to the observation-room of the old. His gums were speedily affected; but it was found necessary to send him to the pest-house. This was the only instance of the plague which appeared in the 88th regiment after their removal to the new hospital.

The six native followers, first sent off, had no symptoms of the disease for eight days after their arrival at the pest-house; but, on the 9th and 10th days after, all of them were attacked, and none survived the attack three days. Four more of the Indian servants, sent to the pest-house to attend the others, shared the same fate. The case of the Mukadum of the Dooli-bearers was the most rapid.

On the 17th, he was attacked about nine o’clock in the morning with rigours, and died before four o’clock. No instances of the plague appeared in any other corps of the army during this month. Though they attempted to conceal it, we discovered that some accidents (as they call it) had occurred about the beginning of September among the people of the town.

The weather still continued the same during this, as the whole of last, month. The same winds prevailed, without rain or anything remarkable. On the 15th, 16th, and 17th, it blew from the westward: after this, we had close calm weather.

After the 15th, the Nile at Rosetta began to recede. The general range of the thermometer, in a house in Rosetta, was from 73° to 83° 50´.

After the plague, the most formidable disease in the army, from its general prevalence, was ophthalmia. In the 10th and 88th regiment there were upwards of three hundred and fifty cases. The total number in the army exceeded six hundred. Dysentery and hepatitis prevailed very generally among all the European corps; and the mortality of the month was very considerable.