The same plan of collecting children at a central village and vaccinating
fresh cases " arm to arm " week by week, in a defined circle round each Regis-
tration circle, was continued this year as in former years, and I think I may fairly
say, with even better results than before. The people now come very readily, and
few, if any, objections to the operations are made.
During my inspections I have frequently met with families of 2, 3 and 4
children being vaccinated at the same time, who were not brought up in past
years, owing to fear on the part of the parents of the amount of suffering borne
by children during the process, and this appears to me now the greatest ob-
jection to the operation the people have.
I do not think that the payment of money would have much influence in
inducing the people to bring up their children for vaccination to a neighbouring
village more readily than they do now, except perhaps to the very poorest, such
as Gonds and Mahras, but these people as a rule make no objection whatever.
The principal body of objectors are well-to-do ryots or Kashtkars, Hindu Banias,
and a few Malguzars, principally Hindus and Brahmins, the latter of whom object
to vaccination, not so much on the score of suffering to the children, but to the
loss of their own influence over the people as well as of the customary offerings
to the deity which they appropriate on the outbreak of small-pox in a village.
My experience goes to show that more can be done in this way by District
Officers who, are constantly moving about the district, and who, by their own en-
quries at the villages through which they pass or encamp at, can easily discover
how far vaccination has been carried out, and have in many instances removed
difficulties for the Vaccinators which no mere money payments could ever have
done.
If, however, it be ultimately decided to make small money payments, it would
have to be made under the immediate supervision of the Medical Officer, as other-
wise the probabilities are that much of it would not find its way to those for
whom it was intended.
The advantages of arm to arm vaccination is, I think, beginning to be under-
stood by the people more generally than heretofore, and the Vaccinators have
also learnt to appreciate its superiority over the more convenient methods by
crusts and points, in the greater number of successful cases they can command
from their work.
A glance at the village lists will show this more clearly, as in hundreds of
villages the operation thus performed has proved successful at the first attempt,
and no further trouble incurred in re-vaccinating the unsuccessful cases, which
happens so frequently in other methods of vaccination. Added to this, I was
enabled personally to collect a large supply of fresh lymph for the use of the
Sanitary Commissioner and for use in the district. Last year a supply of fresh
lymph was forwarded to Nagpur, but its employment proved a failure; this fact led
me to employ a solution of thick gum as a varnish over the tubes, by which I was
hopeful that the lymph would remain a longer time in a perfectly fluid and trans-
parent condition without losing any of its virtues.
In the district this measure answered very well, and no failures were reported.
If the expreience of other Medical Officers to whom Chhindwara lymph was.
supplied coincides with mine, perhaps it would be a good plan to get the capillary
tubes from England coated with either gum or a quickly drying spirit varnish, as
I baheve that from the extreme tenuity of the ordinary tubes, the lymph soon
deteriorates or dries up.