Health of the troops in zululand

Subject: Health of the troops in zululand Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:43 am

Hi all .
We have discussed this before but thought many may find this interesting . Again from the Diary Of Lewis . W. Reynolds .
Part of his entry for this day .
26th July . Made a medical inspection of the 1 / 13th - a large number of the men had red flabby gums , in some cases bleeding but
in none amounting to the scorbutic gum. This is probably the effect of a deficiency of fresh vegetables - Lime juice has run short & can not be issued to a whole Regt . Bad teeth were very noticeable - the climate is said to be bad for teeth but probably more damage is done from eating so much jam and other sweet things which is done in this colony - With soldiers it may also be put down
to the want of tooth brushes - & the tough meat they have consequently to eat '' .
cheers 90th.

Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 44

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Bit odd. I have read so much with regards to personal accounts of the Orange and lemon groves seen during the Zulu War. I would have thought it would have been easier to get these fruits in SA than in England back then.

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