9
natural activity and to an easier worked district or the converse. As an instance
of a good and active vaccinator doing, comparatively, a small number of opera-
tions than in previous years, I may mention the man employed in the Wáí táluká,
Sátárá zilhá, who has vaccinated only 1,428 persons or little more than half the
number vaccinated in the previous year and certainly not half the average of a
series of years. Small-pox had prevailed to a great extent during the previous
year and had diminished the number of unprotected so very much that, in a con-
siderable number of villages no subjects remained for operation. The cause and
origin of this outbreak of small-pox was clearly the inoculator. At least two men
were traced by the vaccinator and in one village the pátil had actually had his
children inoculated. These matters were referred to the magistrate of Sátárá but
no reply has yet been received.
Sex.
6. Taking the returns of the past ten months, I find that 51.3 per cent.
of the total vaccinated are males and 48.7 per cent.
are females—i.e., a difference of 2.6 per cent in favor
of males or very nearly the same as in the preceding year. In the matter of
sex I believe these returns are very reliable—not more certainly than one mistake
per thousand. There appears to me to be very little if any prejudice with regard
to the vaccination of either sex, but whether the proportion of the sexes vaccinat-
ed, agrees with that of the sexes, born I am unable to say, not having any relia-
ble statistics of the district to refer to.
Caste.
7. In the Central circle all castes more or less avail themselves of the
services of the vaccinator but lingáyat wánís and
bráhmins are the most difficult to deal with.
The
former are in great force in the neighbourhood of Bársi and Sholápur and during
the past month I have made some proposals for measures to induce them to submit
their children to vaccination. Of these proposals I shall say more in a future
paragraph.
Age.
8. Small-pox, it is well known, attacks, generally, young children, more
especially children under two years of age. It is therefore of the greatest import-
ance that infants should be vaccinated early ; before
they are exposed to the noxious influence of the
small-pox virus. This subject has constantly engaged my attention and I am
happy to say that my subordinates have generally done all in their power to carry
out my directions. Their efforts have I think been wonderfully successful and have
resulted in a large increase in the number vaccinated under one year of age. This
will be best seen when the returns of the past ten years are compared with the
returns of the current year. But even those of the present compared with the
previous year show an increase of no less than 9 per cent—the numbers being re-
spectively 37.5 and 28.5 per cent. Nine per cent. on 94,632 shows, I think, a very
satisfactory increase indeed and were the birth registers kept correctly the increase
would be still greater. But I regret to say that these registers are still far from
perfect—some may many of them, showing little more than 20 per thousand, little
more perhaps than one-half of the number born. But notwithstanding this draw-
back birth registers are, and will be, of the very greatest use and assistance to
the members of the vaccination department ; and but for the more regular and
extended use of them I think the increase shown in the present year would
have been much less. The increase is, I think, principally due, however, to great-
er completeness of the vaccine arrangements, and consequently to talukas or
villages being gone over more frequently. Most tálukás having during the past
two years been gone over, the number of children above one year of age, available
for vaccination has been much reduced and in future this will be still more so.
I am of opinion that with the present system and establishment, 50 per cent. of
the children vaccinated should be under the age of twelve months. As to the cor-
rectness of the figures, I believe them to be substantially correct and to be very
creditable to the vaccinators generally.
2 VAC