10
with the lymph ; and this fact may be taken as a proof that the system is sound, and that
if properly managed the results would be as good as those obtained in England, Germany
and many other countries on the continent of Europe. It has to be remembered that
almost every Vaccinator in the province hates this system. It simply cuts away his profits
when out in the villages, as if it is good he has only to take out his tubes, vaccinate there
and then, and when finished go on to the next village. This, of course, is entirely against
his principle, he cannot sit down, in a village, wait for calves to be brought, be fed free by
the villages all this time, and also while the vaccine is maturing ; nor has he opportunities
of fighting with lambardárs and others, and making complaints of obstruction to cover his
failure to do work. Naturally, therefore, it is altogether to his interests to make the stored
vaccine a failure as much as he possibly can, and it must be admitted that he has
succeeded in many instances, and thus enabled those who oppose the system to call it " only
a partial success," and to wait for more favourable results before any pecuniary aid is
given to perfect it.
It is therefore of the highest importance to see that the vaccine is prepared under
the best conditions, that it goes out in the tubes in a pure state, and if this is done, those
vaccinators in whose hands it fails can then be marked down and REMOVED.
For all these reasons, I consider the depôt should be located at Lahore in the cold
season, under the immediate supervision of the superior officers of the Vaccination Depart-
ment, when they are at head-quarters.
The actual preparation of the lymph should be under the personal supervision of
either a Military Assistant Surgeon or a VERY FIRST CLASS Native Assistant Surgeon. I
again repeat that if success-is to be ensured, the vaccine must not be left to the Vaccinators to
prepare. They are one and all against it for the reasons I have given, and because double
the number of vaccinations can be performed with it in the same time. Consequently more
work can be get out of the District Staff, and this they object to.
With regard to the amount of money which the districts may be fairly supposed to
contribute, I think the best way is, in the first instance, to ascertain what it has cost each
district for calves, &c., during the last five years, and then to strike a fair average, and
agree to supply each district with stored lymph for the same amount of money which it
cost to procure calves in the villages. This could be tried as an experiment for two or
three years, and as soon as the vaccinators began to understand that they must work with
stored vaccine only, they would see how useless it was for them to go on opposing it; for
any cases of marked failure should be carefully enquired into, and the delinquents prompt-
ly dismissed if they did not explain fully, or amend their conduct.
Proposed Scheme for
supplying lymph to all
districts.
18. On this note I worked out a scheme, for supplying lymph to
all the districts in the Province, but as I could do nothing
without the co-operation of the civil and medical authorities
I drafted my proposals to them in the following terms :—
"Vaseline vaccine having been tried in this Province during the past two
years, and having proved a fair success, it now remains for me to see in what way
and by what means the present system of supplying it can be improved and expand-
ed, so as to supply vaccine to the whole Province. This as regards lanoline and
glycerine vaccine has been done in other Provinces, and has proved a great success.
2. There were several complaints last year about the inefficiency of the
lymph and the small supply sent from the depôts. On inquiry I found that
this was due to two causes : (a) the difficulty of procuring a sufficient number
of buffalo calves at Amritsar on hire, and (2) carelessness and neglect on the
part of the Vaccinators employed in preparing the vaccine. As the very
greatest care is required in the preparation of vaseline vaccine it has struck me
that these difficulties would be obviated if the Amritsar depôt were removed to
Lahore, where the depôt could be placed under the supervision of the officers of
this Department, and where buffalo calves can be purchased more readily.
Hire of house at Rs. 30 ... ...
Pay of Medical Officer at Rs. 25
Purchase of calves ... ...
Extra establishment
...
...
Apparatus and tribes, &c. ...
Feed and keep of calves ...
Contingencies
...
...
...
Total ...
Rs.
180
150
850
180
200
250
150
1,960
3. The cost of an enlarged depôt at Lahore for supplying the whole of
the vaccine required for the Province will be approximately Rs. 1,800 for six
months (October to March) as per details noted in the margin. The average
expenditure during the past three years in all the
districts of the Province has been Rs. 2,966 for
the purchase and hire of buffalo calves for vacci-
nation purposes. I enclose a statement prepared
from information afforded by all Civil Surgeons.
The amount, you will see, varies very considerably
in each district, for instance, while Gurdáspur
spent Rs. 591 on an average, the expenditure
in Hazára and Muzaffargarh was only Re. 1, and in Hoshiárpur and Shahpur
Rs. 7 and Rs. 4, respectively, but spreading the entire expenditure over the