57
. inoculation among the educated classes, who after it preferred not to run any similar
risk, and that- their example had a considerable effect in checking the acceptance of
inoculation by the rural population.
The arrangements made in the Hoshiárpur District were that Inoculating Officers
were posted to certain areas, several of which were in charge of one Executive Plague
Officer who arranged for the inoculation of different villages. Usually several visits
were made to villages, inoculators working backwards and forwards over a limited area,
though the applications of particular villagers for inoculation were responded to as much
as possible, especially those of infected villages.
Inoculation was most freely accepted in those parts of the district in which the
people were familiar with it, for example the Garhshankar Tahsil, and except in the Una Tahsíl,
in which there was comparatively little plague or inoculation, inoculations were far
numerous in infected than in uninfected villages.
JULLUNDUR DISTRICT.
99, Captain Scott-Moncrieff, who was the District Plague Medical Officer of the
Jullundur District, reports that in spite of certain difficulties at first experienced inoculation
operations in this district started well.
At first it was decided to work from three centres, Banga in the Nawashahr
Tahsil, Phillour and Nakodar. At Banga three European Medical Practitioners, Drs.
Dickson, Gray and Miller, were posted under the direction of Mr. A. F. deMontmorency,
Assistant Commissioner. Captain Scott-Moncrieff directed the work in the Phillour circle,
to which Drs. Bond and Northcott were posted ; while Dr. Karm Singh, who had been
in this part of the district for some time and had secured the confidence of the people
worked alone in the Nakodar circle.
It was hoped that by beginning operations in those parts of the district the people
of which were familiar with inoculation large numbers would come forward for the Opera-
tion with but little persuasion, and that the example thus set would prove useful inother parts
of the district.
This plan was beginning to work well, especially in the Banga circle, where large
numbers of persons were Coming forward daily, when Orders were received for the sus-
pension of inoculation operations.
During this period some difficulty was experienced from the want of a second Exe-
cutive Plague Officer,
Captain Scott-Moncrieff remarks that the Malkowál accident itself made but little
impression upon the minds of the people as compared with that produced by the Suspension
of inoculation operations, and, although inoculation was again offered to the people in
December, it was long after they again began to avail themselves freely of it, not in fact
until plague began to be severe.
From January when a fresh supply of prophylactic was obtained, the System adopted
was for inoculators to visit as many villages as possible with the object of making inocu-
lation widely known, as it had been found by experience that although but few persons might
come forward for inoculation at the first visit of an Operator to a village subsequent
visits were attended w r ith more success. This System worked satisfactorily, though no-
where did the people come forward as freely as they had done before the break in the
operations.
Captain Scott-Moncrieff considers that, although the number of inoculations per-
forrned was not great enough to have any considerable effect in checking the epidemic
of plague in the district as a whole, certain villages and tracts in which the Operation
was largely availed of profited largely by the measure.
LUDHIANA DISTRICT.
100. Very little inoculation was done in the Ludhiana District.
At first, owing to the limited supply of prophylactic, it was possible to spare but
little for this district.
The cessation of operations severely affected the confidence both of the people and
of the officials in the safety of inoculation, and comparatively few of the former availed
themselves of it.
One reason for the disinclination of the people of the district to accept inoculation
was the much milder epidemic with which they were visited as compared with that of the
previous year,