2
5. In September, 50 capillary tubes of lymph filled in England were re-
ceived through the Principal Medical Store-keeper. These were distributed in
October to the Medical officers of the 19 districts of these Provinces, and to the
Resident Medical Officer at Bhopal.
In the hands of 12 officers this lymph proved successful; in five instances
it was unsuccessful, and with regard to the remaining three information is
wanting.
6. In the following week supplies of lymph collected at Nagpur were dis-
tributed to the same officers; and this lymph proved successful in 14 instances, in
three it was unsuccessful; and with regard to three information was not given.
Supplies of lymph were also received in the early part of November from
the Superintendent General of Vaccination, North-Western Provinces, and these
supplies were reported to have proved successful in those districts from which
reports were received.
7. But although operations were thus successfully commenced early in the
season in the majority of districts, in some the work was not thoroughly satisfac-
tory until much later.
In Seoni satisfactory vesicles were not obtained till the 11th November. In
Jabalpur Dr. Rise considered the work of doubtful character during November,
and attributed the number of failures to the unusual continuance of damp close
weather. In Raipur, good vesicles were not established till the 28th November,
Dr. Trimnell attributes the want of success in the early part of the month
(which he has also observed to occur in former years) to the general prevalence
of malaria at that season. In Mandla the results of operations were not thoroughly
satisfactory until the beginning of January.
8. I have given these details to show that it is not advisable to commence
vaccination before the season favourable for it has fairly set in. The arrival
of this period varies from year to year, in 1870 it was apparently delayed by
rainy and damp weather, which is unusual in November. I may remark too
that in 1870-71 small-pox, which after reaching its minimum of prevalence in
September and October usually commences to spread again in November, did
not increase in prevalence till January, indeed the slight prevalence of small-pox
throughout the season was very remarkable.
9. The total number of persons vaccinated in the year over the whole
Province amounted to 125,337, against 127,690 operations in the previous year;
but in the season of 1869-70, 37,711 operations were performed by the special
establishment for Sambalpur, for which sanction was not again obtained. If
then the operations by the Sambalpur establishment be excluded from the total
number for 1869-70, the returns for 1870-71 show an increase of 35,448 on the
operations of the previous year.
10. The number of operations performed by the establishment paid from
Imperial funds during the year amounts to 49,204,—the largest number performed
in any year since the establishment was formed: of these 4,085 were performed
in the latter part of the season 1869-70 in the Chanda district and in the city
of Nagpur, and 45,119 between the beginning of November and the end of March
by the three parties under the superintendence of the Civil Surgeons of Seoni,
Betul and Chhindwara.