( 4 )
previous year. The number of vaccinators employed in municipalities and
dispensaries in 1878-79 was 159, against 192 in 1877-78, the decrease being
due to the abolition of the staff of Government vaccinators attached to
dispensaries. The total number of operations performed by these men and
by medical subordinates attached to dispensaries was 122,822, of which
114,781 are reported to have been successful. The Lieutenant-Governor
agrees with Dr. Irving that all vaccine operations carried on within a vaccin-
ation circle should be entirely directed and superintended by officers of
the Vaccination Department. Dr. Lawrie's report on the ex-inoculators in
Monghyr is now the subject of a separate correspondence with the Surgeon-
General.
9. Of the 394,186 operations in the Metropolitan circle, 291,745, or
about 75 per cent., were verified by the Inspectors, while the Deputy Superin-
tendents inspected 135,198, and the Superintendent 29,270 cases. In the
Darjeeling circle more than one-third of the operations performed by the paid
vaccinators were inspected by the Superintendent and his deputy. Nearly
half the work turned out by both paid and licensed vaccinators in the Ranchee
circle was examined. In the Sonthal Pergunnahs circle, out of 36,287
vaccinations performed by the paid establishment, 10,241 were verified by the
Deputy Superintendent, and about the same number by the Inspectors ; while,
out of 3,942 operations performed by the licensed vaccinators, 635 were
inspected by the Deputy Superintendent and only 425 by the Inspectors. Very
little work appears to have been done by the Inspectors in this circle. In
the Eastern Bengal circle, out of 184,854 operations by the paid staff,
25,275 were verified by the Superintendent. More than 50 per cent. of the cases
in the Orissa circle, and more than 78 per cent. of those in the Behar circle
were examined by the Superintendents of the respective circles. On the whole,
a fair amount of inspection work appears to have been performed during
the year.
10. The epidemic of small-pox which visited Calcutta in 1877-78
continued with unabated severity during the early months of the past year.
The registered number of deaths from the disease in April 1878 was 338, against
287 in the previous month. In May the number was 331, and in June 253. In
July, August, and September the mortality diminished considerably, the
total number of deaths in those months being 114. In the last quarter of the year
there were 46 deaths, in January 63, in February 133, and in March 212. The
epidemic thus extended over two years, a circumstance of very rare occurrence,
there being in the office of the Superintendent-General of Vaccination only
one other recorded instance, viz. the epidemic of 1849 and 1850, when
1,724 deaths occurred in the former year, and 4,492 in the latter. The
contrast between the high figures of 1850 and the much lighter ones of
1879 is so far satisfactory that it points strongly to the increased pro-
tection against small-pox afforded to the general population since 1850.
Dr. Charles attributes the exceptional prevalence of small-pox in May and June
1878 to the coolness of the season, and expresses the opinion that the hot
weather usually met with in those months " desiccates and renders inert the
contagion of small-pox and of all other contagious diseases." A tempera-
ture of almost 70° F., he states, allows small-pox to spread with fatal
freedom, a temperature of 80° checks its progress materially and decreases the
death-rate, while a continuance of a temperature of 85° for two or three weeks
even arrests the progress of the epidemic in a most peremptory manner.
This view regarding the influence of temperature on the spread of small-pox
is not, however, in accordance with the statistics of the disease in many parts of
Northern India, nor does it appear to be borne out by the returns for Lower
Bengal. In the mofussil, the recorded number of deaths from small-pox in
1878 was 12,410, against 8,088 in 1877 and 10,746 in 1876.
11. The question of introducing a measure to make vaccination compul-
sory in Calcutta and in municipalities has been separately submitted to Govern-
ment, and in connection with that subject the proposal for legislation in order to
compel notice being given on the occurrence of a case of small-pox will receive
consideration. Orders have already been passed that all candidates for admis-
sion to the police force or as jail warders must be vaccinated, if they are not
already protected against small-pox. The Lieutenant-Governor is awaiting a