Medical and surgical Journal of Her Majesty?s Ship Iris for 1 October 1844 to 2 October...

ADM 101/105/2

1844-1845

Medical and surgical Journal of Her Majesty’s Ship Iris for 1 October 1844 to 2 October 1845 by Mr R Austin Baukier, Surgeon, during which time the said ship was employed in the Chinese Division of the East India Station.

Folios 1 – 7: Daily Sick Book.

Folios 7 – 9: Daniel Underdown, aged 37, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, vulnus (abscessus). Put on sick list, 27 September 1844, Hong Kong. Discharged, 9 October 1844, to HMS Minden. He fell and hurt his knee while on leave on shore.

Folios 9 – 10: James Holmes, aged 18, Boy 1st Class; disease or hurt, febris remittens. Put on sick list, 7 October 1844, Tytam Bay, Hong Kong. Discharged, 10 October 1844, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 10 – 13: Richard Turner, aged 37, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, dysenteria. Put on sick list, 30 October 1844, at sea. Sent to military hospital at Chusan, 19 November 1844. Died, 25 November 1844. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 13 – 17: William Lester, aged 20, Boy 1st Class; disease or hurt, febris remittens. Put on sick list, 6 November 1844, Formosa Channel. Sent to military hospital at Chusan, 3 December 1844. Died, 7 December 1844. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 17 – 18: George Simpson, aged 24, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, fractura. Put on sick list, 7 December 1844, Chusan. Died, 12 December 1844. Fell from the rigging to the deck, about 36 feet, with injuries to his head and limbs. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 19 – 21: John Martin (1st), aged 41, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, febris remittens. Put on sick list, 3 November 1844, at sea. Discharged, 15 December 1844.

Folios 21 – 23: Joseph G Bickford Esquire, aged 29, Lieutenant; disease or hurt, dysenteria. Put on sick list, 5 December 1844, Chusan Harbour. Discharged, 21 January 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 23 – 24: John Chisholm, aged 35, Quarter Master; disease or hurt, rheumatism. Put on sick list, 10 December 1844, Chusan. Discharged, 28 January 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 25 – 28: Mr John Millar, aged 46, Boatswain; disease or hurt, bronchitis phthisis. Put on sick list, 30 August 1844, Hong Kong. Died, 31 January 1845. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 28 – 29: Nicholas Chinn, aged 30, Ordinary Seaman, Supernumerary; disease or hurt, diarrhoea. Put on sick list, 21 November 1844, Chusan. Discharged, 7 February 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 29 -31: Mr E P H Ussher, aged 28, Lieutenant Royal Marine; disease or hurt, rheumatismus. Put on sick list, 2 January 1845, Chusan. Discharged, 11 February 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 31 – 32: Charles Shapter, aged 56, Captain’s Cook; disease or hurt, bronchitis et diarrhoea. Put on sick list, 1 March 1845, Hong Kong. Invalided, 10 March 1845, and discharged to HMS Agincourt for a passage to Singapore.

Folios 32 – 34: Henry Mickenden, aged 32, Blacksmith; disease or hurt, dysenteria. Put on sick list, 20 March 1845, Hong Kong. Discharged, 24 March 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 34 – 35: Philip Phillips, aged 17, Boy 2nd Class; disease or hurt, diarrhoea, bronchitis chronica etc.. Put on sick list, 25 February 1845, Hong Kong. Discharged, 5 April 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship.

Folios 35 – 37A: James Noseworthy, aged 24, Ordinary Seaman; disease or hurt, rheumatismus et syphilis. Put on sick list, 2 April 1845, Hong Kong. Discharged, 18 June 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship. Was sickly and unhealthy looking the whole time he was in the ship, had been treated for chancre with indurated base and bubo.

Folios 37A – 39: Mr David Bennett, aged 36, Carpenter; disease or hurt, dysenteria. Put on sick list, 23 June 1845, Hong Kong. Invalided and discharged to HMS Minden Hospital Ship, 30 June 1845.

Folios 39 – 41: George Jennings, aged 20, Boy 1st Class; disease or hurt, febris remittens. Put on sick list, 28 July 1845, at sea. Died, 4 August 1845. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 41 – 43: Mr F Marryatt, aged 19, Midshipman; disease or hurt, syphilis. Put on sick list, 15 May 1845, Chusan. Discharged, 14 July 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship for further treatment and to await the arrival of his own ship, HMS Samarang. Folios 43 – 48: Samuel Earworth, aged 27, Captain of the Mizzen Top; disease or hurt, bronchitis etc. Put on sick list, 24 July 1845, at sea. Died, 3 September 1845. With results of a post mortem examination.

Folios 48 – 50: George Rapp, aged 23, Marine; disease or hurt, diarrhoea. Put on sick list, 8 August 1845, at sea. Discharged, 1 September 1845.

Folios 50 – 51: James Foy, aged 23, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, dysenteria. Put on sick list, 21 August 1845, Chusan. Discharged, 7 September 1845.

Folios 51 – 52: Richard Burt, aged 25, Able Seaman; disease or hurt, diarrhoea. Put on sick list, 1 September 1845, Chusan. Discharged, 5 September 1845.

Folio 52: James Noseworthy, aged 25, Ordinary Seaman; disease or hurt, syphilis secondary. Put on sick list, 24 September 1845, at sea. Discharged, 1 October 1845, to HMS Minden Hospital Ship. Folio 52: A nosological synopsis of the sick book kept during the period of this journal, in conformity with the 30th article of the Surgeon’s Instructions.

Folio 53: A list of men who have received wounds or hurts, lists 7 men, none of whom were granted pension certificates.

Folios 53 – 91: Surgeon’s general remarks. Folios 53 to 59, Relate the voyages of the Iris between Hong Kong and Chusan and the weather, month by month. Discusses the bilious diseases, dysentery and diarrhoea, which afflicted the ship’s crew and how ship’s crews in that part of the world may be healthy in harbour and become ill at sea. Remittent fever is discussed, its origins obscure. Two men died in the Military Hospital at Chusan. In April a party of men from the Madras Artillery were on board, their poor health is contrasted with the good health of the crew, and their illnesses in the preceding year are discussed. Folios 59 to 62, discuss ‘Medical Topography’, particularly in ‘Kulangsu Island’[Gulangyu?], with descriptions of the soil, geology and climate. Folios 62 to 64 describe Amoy [Xiamen], described as dirty and ‘eminently favourable to the spreading of contagious diseases’. Folio 65 describes the port of Foo Chow Foo [Fuzhou]. Folios 65 to 76 discuss the island of Chusan in some detail, with its medical history since its occupation and a chart on folio 66 showing the number of sick in the 18th, 26th and 49th Regiments and the Madras Artillery. The opinion of the ‘most respectable native medical practitioner in the city of Tinghae’ as to the common diseases is given and also intelligence gathered through a local priest, given in French. Opthalmia is said to be prevalent due to a practice of the barbers of cleaning the eyelids with bamboo. Cholera in the region is discussed. The local agriculture, irrigation, climate and the way of life of the people are all described. Folios 72 to 81 discuss ‘Pyrexiae’, the cases of fever encountered, with reference to particular cases. Folios 81 to 91 discuss the other diseases, in nosological order.

Public Record(s)

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Topics

Army

Asia

Maps and plans

Pay and pensions

Disease

Navy

Armed Forces (General Administration)