Doubtless many reports have been written upon the subject, they are not to be seen by those most interested, ' they cannot be of much use. but when This

Kegiment, composed

of

Mussulmen, Sikhs,

and

Paharees,

to Delhi in December 1864, and remained free from the scourge till the following June. The men occupied the same came

lines that the 4th X. I. had are

pucka, having

just

vacated ; the barracks, which washed as well as the

been cleaned and

P. W. D. would allow.- The water the men used was the same as that used by the 4th, taken from wells in the lines, and the Jumna which runs close by ; and except that great cleanliness observed in the lines and latrines, outward circumstances alike. The men were paraded weekly, stripped and exa-

was were

head to foot, and only in June observed.

mined from sore

was

the first Delhi

A small, slightly elevated, reddish spot makes it appearance, on the elbows and knees, and not unlike a spot of herpes, except that there is no contingent redness ; the spot may be often

very small at first, not larger than a pea or No. 4 shot, perfectly painless, with a roughish feel under the finger, and well called " the mosquito-bite stage." In this state the spot will remain peihaps for a week or two, when it will, if left alone, commence to spread; the surrounding skin will become infiltrated, and the sore itself rougher and ni'.ro scaly, and a slight pressure will

produce a peculiar sero-purulent discharge from beneath scab; after this the ulceration rapidly spreads; burrows beneath the skin, which becomes livid, and in time ulcerates, and an open fungating sore results, rarely attended with pain, so that often patients present a most unsightly appearance and hardly the least uneasiness ; these ulcerations are attended with an irritating discharge, which is capable of producing a similar action if applied to any open healthy sore ; after a time, however, the disease appears to exhaust itself, and the sores dry up and leave a scaly mass to peel away gradually, often leaving behind it an unsightly scar which is never effaced. It appears, however, that the disease in its very early stage is quite amenable to treatment, which, if allowed to go on to the

ulceration, becomes most intractable and difficult to cure, resisting all treatment, until it gradually wears itself out and dries up. Caustics and iodine, with pressure or irritating poultices, such as neem, covered with sheet lead, appear to answer best when the sore is open and fungating, or the ung : teruginis of

DELHI SORES. By G. 5.

Assistant-Surgeon,

25tix

Regiment,

Pharmacopoeia, Edin. peculiar 'spot' is observed,

Punjab Native

Infantry. The idea of putting upon rccord the experiences of Medical Officers attached to Regiments that may have occupied certain stations for some time in any other way than in the shape of

Annual Reports, which

Regiment

may

inaccessible,

march,

seems

to be

either carried about wherever the carefully stored, so as to be almost

are or

little thought of,

and it is

But in the early stage, when the there is nothing like "enucleation;" and this should be done before the skin ulcerates. Potassa fusa, nitrate of silver, or the actual cautery may be used for this purpose ; in my hands the latter has proved itself most effectual, the

POOLE, M.D.,

no

common

event for a Regiment to march into a fresh cantonment without the Medical Officer in charge having any idea, or the means of gaining information, as to the diseases he is likely to meet with, and their most successful mode of treatment as determined his predecessor, whom in many cases, perhaps, he never

by

sees.

In this way much valuable information, experience, and time may be lost, and lives perhaps jeopardized, as every one is aware of the different types disease assumes in different districts. With this view, then, it may not be out of place to make a few remarks upon a disease stated to be peculiar this part of the North-West, viz., Delhi sores; and I can only say that had I been able to have come across a record of any one's ideas upon the subject before my Regiment marched into cantonments here, I should have been only too glad; such record should have been in the Brigade Office available, or a to

copy furnished to every Medical Officer who wished to

see

it.

it has been condemned as barbarous and inelegant, yet most suitable for the large body of men with whom I am deal ing. The men themselves have full confidence in this treatment,

though

-

and it is

no uncommon thing for them, in the interval of my weekly inspections, to recognise the characterstic spot in its "musquito stage," as Dr. Murray calls it, proceed to the blacksmith's shop, and burn it out then and there. Poultices of

leaves, or linseed meal mixed with the boiled leaves of the common neem, are well-known useful remedies for Delhi sores among the hakeems of the city, who also use an "omnium gatherum" sort of ointment composed of caustics and astrinneem

gents. I have scarcely found it necessary to admit any Sepoys suffering from Delhi sores into hospital, but those that have been admitted have simply been treated with tonics, alteratives, and cleanliness, and it is to be observed that I may say, without

ex-

ception, every bad case of Delhi sore I have had, has not been seen through inadvertence in its early stage. "Whether the Delhi sore poison is of an animal or vegetable nature, or parasitic, I am not prepared to state. I do not believe the disease is, which stated, dying out; the fact is it is more looked after than

has been

formerly was, and early sores detected and treated. As to its contagiousness, I fully believe in this, as I have seen simple

it

THE INDIAN MEDICAL GAZETTE.

300 cases

of

"

foot sore" if

carelessly dressed along I speedily take on the same nature originality in the treatment of these sores

Delhi sore, to

,

-with, those of do not

pretend

any ; I only, as I stated in the former part of this paper, wish to put on record my practical observations, in the hope that they may benefit others. Subjoined is a tabular statement up to date. Statement

of

Delhi Sores in the 25th P. N~. to September 1866.

I., from January

186-5

Of this number a few cases were doubtful cases of Delhi sore, that is, they were cauterised before their true nature had shewn itself, and this I think, under the circumstances, is quite

Number of Cases.

justifiable.

103

162

Delhi,

15th

10

47

Sept. 1866.*

* We thank Dr. Poole for his communication. The subject is a most of view, as well as in its bearings important one, from a Military point on Pathology. Having personal experience in the matter ourselves, wp shall have something to say regarding it on a future occasion ; mean" Delhi-Sore Commiswhile we cannot but regret that the lteport of the sion" has never, so far as we know, been published.?Ed,, I. 21. O.

[October 1,

1866.

Delhi Sores.

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