( 2 )
4. The amount of inspection work performed by the Superintendents of the
various circles was satisfactory. The number of cases personally examined
and verified with the registers was no less than 47,165 in the Metropolitan
circle, 29,754 in the Darjeeling circle, and 21,269 in the Dacca circle. In the
Ranchee circle the number was comparatively small, but the Superintendent
appears to have moved freely about the country and. to have been careful in
the supervision of his work. The Lieutenant-Governor observes that com-
plaints are made of the inferiority of dispensary practice, and of the difficulty
with which vaccinators who have engaged in it are induced to adopt correct
methods. The returns furnished disclose great variations in the number of
operations performed at the various dispensaries, and there seems to be little
doubt that some of the vaccinators entertained there are inefficient. It is
of the first importance that their work should be strictly supervised, more
especially in the municipalities where inoculation is prohibited by law; and
the Lieutenant-Governor trusts that the matter will have the continued atten-
tion of the Medical Department. He would wish that in future reports
a statement should be given of the amount of the work personally examined
and verified by the Civil Surgeon, similar to that rendered in the case of the
Circle Superintendents.
5. Judged by the number of operations performed on an average by each
vaccinator, there has been, the Lieutenant-Governor is glad to notice, an
improvement in the efficiency of the establishments entertained. The work
performed in the Metropolitan circle and in the Sonthal Pergunnahs, which
amounted on an average to 3,931 and 2,506 cases respectively, was particularly
satisfactory. In the Darjeeling and Eastern Bengal circles some difficulty has
been experienced in bringing up the staff of vaccinators to the full sanctioned
number. In Julpigoree and the Hill Tracts of Darjeeling it is with difficulty
that men are got to serve at all; but the Lieutenant-Governor trusts that
Dr. Lidderdale will not relax his efforts to obtain recruits from among the
resident population—a measure the importance of which he fully recognizes.
There was considerable sickness and there were also some deaths among the
staff employed in the Eastern Bengal circle; and, under the circumstances,
much credit is due to the Superintendent for the amount of work overtaken
and for the success of the operations performed. In the Ranchee circle
the apprentices attached to the various parties of vaccinators are reported
to have laboured creditably, and the Lieutenant-Governor will be prepared
to entertain favourably a proposal, if separately submitted, to give them
a subsistence allowance in accordance with the Surgeon-General's recom-
mendation.
6. The total cost of vaccine operations, as exhibited in the statement
appended to the present report, was Rs. 98,207, or Rs. 6,104 more than in the
previous year. Of the whole amount, Rs. 9,897 only was paid from local funds
or other sources, the rest being a charge on the State. The average cost of
each successful operation was two annas, or nearly half an anna less than in
the previous year. This result the Lieutenant-Governor considers satisfactory,
and he trusts that in future years an increased outturn of work will still
more diminish the average cost in Ranchee, and especially in Calcutta, where
it is still abnormally high.
7. It is impossible that Government should provide vaccination for the
whole of the people of these provinces, or even maintain permanently large
establishments in any of them; and the Lieutenant-Governor therefore watches
with interest the efforts which are made to introduce a self-supporting system
in certain districts. In Bankoora, Midnapore, Sonthal Pergunnahs, Gowhatty,
and the districts of the Chota Nagpore, Patna, and Bhagulpore divisions,
a considerable number of inoculators have been induced to change their practice
and undergo instruction in vaccination. These results are creditable to the Civil
Surgeons of these districts, who will doubtless continue to interest themselves
in the matter. The Lieutenant-Governor hopes that other Civil Surgeons will