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ABSTRACT OF REPORTS BY CIVIL SURGEONS.
Beerbhoom.—In this district vaccination was carried on by one dispensary vaccinator,
who received no pay, and 13 ex-inoculators. The former vaccinated 127 cases, of which
118 were successful. His work lay chiefly out of the town of Soory in thana Mahomed-
bazar where small-pox was reported, as the town-people, though not opposed to it, prefer to wait
till such time as the disease works it appearance when they flock in to be vaccinated. The 13
ex-inoculators who were granted licenses by Dr. Issur Chunder Roy, Civil Surgeon of Beer-
bhoom, but who worked under the superintendence of the metropolitan circles, operated chiefly
in thana Doobrajpore which merges into the Sonthal Pergunnahs. Here they found lymph was
easily procurable, as the Deputy Superintendent of vaccination was at work in the neighbour-
hood. Notices were issued by the Magistrate to the police to help the men in vaccinating
this part of the country. They operated on 11,392 cases, of which 11,248 were successful.
The Civil Surgeon says that this has been the healthiest year as regards the prevalence of
small-pox. The total number of deaths from it between the months of May and August
1878 was 36 or .05 per mille. No deaths have been recorded from August 1878 to February
1879, and only eight in March, and the total number of attacks reported since, does not
exceed 28. Vaccinators were sent to Mahomedbazar, Bhulpore, and Sacoolipore to stamp
out the disease as soon as its appearance was reported. The small number of operations
in the dispensary was owing to the introduction of the self-supporting system of vaccin-
ation. The ex-inoculators found it difficult to obtain a living, as the people objected to be
vaccinated there being no small-pox, and therefore, in their opinion, no need for protec-
tion. The practice of inoculation was prohibited in this district in the year 1878 when
Act IV (B.C.) of 1865 was enforced.
Midnapore. —This district comes within the area operated upon by the Superintendent
of the Metropolitan Circle. Dispensary vaccination was abolished by Government orders of
1st April 1878, and municipal vaccination was carried out only at the sudder station where
an operator is permanently employed, the remaining townships being seemingly indifferent
to the advantages of vaccination or unable to pay for the services of a licensed vaccinator.
Dr. Gilligan, the Civil Surgeon, has addressed a note to each of these, urging them to
sanction the entertainment of a special officer for this duty for four or six months during
the cold season. There were 3,027 operations, of which 2,854 were successful, but these
figures do not include 35 successfully vaccinated cases at the central and district jails.
More would have been done had not ill-health interfered with the work of the perman-
ent vaccinator. The opposition of the people was not more than usual. At the end of
the year when small-pox, the casualties from which were 649, became prevalent, a large
number of people were willing enough to obtain protection, but much disinclined to pay
for it. Inoculation is not practised as it is forbidden by law.
Hooghly.—The vaccine operations of this district were carried on by one permanent
vaccinator employed by the municipality throughout the year, and another temporarily
employed for 4 months and 19 days, at Rs. 10 a month each. They vaccinated within
the limits of the Hooghly and Chinsurah municipalities, and when required were also sent
into the interior. The children from whom the lymph was taken were shown to the Civil
Surgeon, Dr. W. H. Gregg, who supervised the work. The people generally appear very
willing to have their children vaccinated. The practice of inoculation has been discontinued
for sometime in this district, but no inoculators were trained during the year under review.
There were 80 deaths from small-pox during the year; and whenever an outbreak was reported
as having occurred in the interior, information was invariably sent to the Superintendent of
Vaccination, Metropolitan Circles.
Howrah.—The arrangements for vaccination in the municipality were more complete
this year than they were in the last, as in previous years four vaccinators were temporarily
entertained, but these are now employed permanently throughout the year. Each vaccinator
has a division of the municipality, and his head-quarters are located in the vicinity of the
police thana. The demand for vaccination by the inhabitants is general, but the imported
coolie labourers employed on the railway, mills, and docks, are very averse to it. The
railway authorities have issued stringent orders regarding the vaccination of their employés,
but which in the case of natives is not enforced. In the case of Europeans, Mr. J. G. Pilcher,
Civil Surgeon, verified the operations in nearly all cases, as also a large number on natives.
The total number of primary vaccinations was 2,663 and of re-vaccination 161, of which 2,441
and 116, respectively, were successful. The work has been fairly well done, and the register
of each vaccinator is recorded for future reference when opportunity occurs; but
vaccination was not so general as in the preceding season. Small-pox prevailed in all the
divisions of the town, and during the month of May last was epidemic in the Gollabaree
thana, where Mr. Pilcher saw ten cases within a comparatively small area. From the
1st October last to the 31st March 1879 there were eight deaths from this disease in Bally,
six at Gollabaree, one in Howrah, and four at Sibpore; and the total number of deaths during
1878 was as follows:—Bally, 20 ; Gollabaree, 42; Howrah, 23; and Sibpore, 33. Consider-
ing the number of deaths and the probability that many were not registered at all, the
disease must have been very prevalent; and the number of deaths also show that a
considerable proportion of the population of Howrah is unprotected. As far as it could be
ascertained, it seems that inoculation is not prohibited nor are inoculators trained.
Serampore Sub-division.—From Biddabatty, Ooterpara, and Bhudepur, the vaccinators
of which are employed by the municipality, no returns were received, and Baboo Udoy
Chand Dutt, the civil medical officer, finds from his office records that their operations