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What generally happened was this, the personal assistant to the Inoculating Officer having ascertain-
ed that one or two lambardárs or other officials would come forward with their families, the village was
visited, and perhaps 50 or 100 inoculations performed, and this was reckoned a good result for a first visit ;
some days afterwards when the people were satisfied that no harm had resulted from the operation and the
previously inoculated had persuaded their friends to come forward a second visit would result in perhaps
another 100 ; when this had been done, it usually happened that one or two cases of plague occurred among
the inoculated, if these recovered, the third visit usually results in a good haul, but if a death occurred the
desire for inoculation was at once quenched until the people actually saw for themselves that, although one
or more casualties had occurred still the large majority had escaped and they saw the thing was good, a
petition would then arrive from the village and a third visit would result in 2 or 300, often more ; by this
time the epidemic was probably nearly over and once it stopped the desire for inoculation stopped also,
although probably not more than a quarter or perhaps third of the village had been inoculated.
Towards the spring the fears of the people with regard to the operation were allayed in many parts
and villages would petition for inoculation at the beginning of an outbreak, sometimes on the appearance of
an unusual mortality among rats, and occasionally a healthy village would come forward.
The Malkowál incident.
4. Doubtless this unfortunate accident had in the larger towns and centres a greatly deterring-
influence and destroyed, at any rate for a time, any
faith in inoculation that had been partially aroused, and
this influence spread to villages near and in close com-
munication with these towns.
But this was not so in the majority of villages and I will give an instance. I had done a certain
number of inoculations before the accident occurred in a village, Vairka, the first in the district to be badly
attacked ; they had become convinced of the value of the operation and had asked me to go out again. The
cessation of operations prevented my doing so for some time. I however borrowed from Dr. Browne, C.M.S.,
a few doses of the original prophylactic of March brew and when the account of the accident had appeared in
the papers, I went out to the village and found a large number ready for inoculation. Before I inoculated I
gave them an account of the accident, but all they said was that they had heard of it but that they had seen
for themselves the good effect of inoculation and that the sooner I stopped talking and began operating the
better they would be pleased. I had soon finished the few doses I had with me and the genuineness of their
feelings was evidenced by the reproaches of those who had to go away unsatisfied, the reproaches of some of
the women taking the form of abuse which was evidently heartfelt. No, in my opinion, the Malkowál
accident, bad as it was and severe blow as it was to all those who had the success of the operations at heart,
did not make the situation an irretrievable one ; lost ground, caused by the unavoidable delay of waiting for
new prophylactic to be made, could of course never be made up, but once the issue of this, which j udging
from previous experience in Jullundur and elsewhere, could be absolutely depended on, began, it was hoped
that a strenuous effort would be made to redeem the scheme from failure.
It soon became apparent however that Malkowál had effectually quenched the enthusiasm with which
the operations were started and native officialdom soon perceived that whether they assisted or stood aloof
mattered little, and instead therefore of a small army of zatldirs, lambardárs, &c, working for us and opening
the gates of villages to the Inoculating Officer, we had to depend on the efforts of the personal assistant to the
Inoculating Officer to worm his way into a village; with the latter, the 2,000 inoculations done in the district
up to the middle of December was increased to 60,000 before operations ceased; with the former I believe our
figures would have been four or five times as large. The unfortunate delay caused by the accident, and the
cessation of inoculation from November 7th to December 12th, was utilized by Inoculating Officers in visiting
Villages, treating sick, preaching disinfection and making themselves generally known in that part of the
district in which they were to recommence inoculation as soon as the fluid was received.
Other influences
5. It was seldom that one could inoculate more than half a village even after two or three visits ;
although those inoculated had become firmly convinced
of the value of inoculation, they could not convince the
remainder, and when asked the reason they said that the others had temporarily left the village because
they were afraid of the " Punjábi Doctor, " a term they seemed to apply to any native armed with a little
brief authority and some disinfecting apparatus. Village factions were another difficulty in the way, one
lambardár working for and the opposite faction against : a lambardár would report that a hundred or
so in a village were ready and a day would be fixed ; the evening before, the opposite faction would concoct
and circulate an enormous lie, the more ridiculous the better, which would completely put the applicants
off and destroy any chance of inoculation in the village.
Other difficulties due to incomplete staff, delay in receipt of equipment and removal of staff and
equipment to Delhi will be noticed under Section D (not reproduced here.)
The fact of having to confine one's operations to villages where plague was rampant resulted in a
large number of cases of plague in inoculated, which doubtless had a certain deterrent effect.
Education did not spread from a favourable village to others near it to the extent that I hoped,
and as a rule every village had to be separately educated.
With few exceptions, the attitude of the higher and educated classes, to whom we had a right to look
for example and help to their poorer brethren, was one, if not of hostility, of complete apathy.
Number of inoculations.
6. The total number performed was 62,773 ; rather more than 6 per cent. of the total population.
Of these 43,619 were males, 19,154 were females.
Only 4,243 were performed with the " new " fluid before November 7th. Of "these 2,335 were done
in the city and only 1,908 in the district, the reason for this poor result being that operations could not be
started in the district till October 23rd owing to non-arrival of necessary equipment.
The highest number performed by a single officer in one day was 1,380 by Dr. Mayer, the nearest
approach to this being 711 by the same officer, 605 by Dr. De'Renzi and 611 by myself.