48
VACCINATION IN THE BENGAL PRESIDENCY.
[Part II
accorded to strangers. I have no doubt that some of them may not be honest, and practise
inoculation on the sly; but many of them do good work. The returns show an increase in the
operations performed by these men—12,961 against 12,531.
Small-pox is an annual occurrence, and the disease is generally present more or less
from March to June. During 1873,706 deaths were registered, viz., 81 in the municipality
and 625 in the district.
*
*
*
In conclusion Dr. Purves remarks :—
" Unless, however, some pecuniary encouragement be given by Government to these ex-
inoculators, I fear much that they will get tired of working for nothing, and may revert to their
old occupation in despair."
Subsistence allowance
to ex-inoculators.
The Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal favours the idea of granting a subsis-
tence allowance to ex-inoculators, but " once trained, they must distinctly
understand that it is to their own exertions that they must look for support."
Essentials of success-
ful utilization of ex-
inoculators.
Then, again, with regard to thorough supervision of their work, a difficulty
arises. It is universally admitted that active supervision is essential to
success even when we have to deal with the best class of highly trained operators.
Although Bengal has taken the lead in this, perhaps the most important of all
the points in connection with vaccination, other provinces have not been un-
mindful of it; but the same facilities for establishing the nucleus of a self-
supporting system are not to be found elsewhere. Even in distant Peshawur,
we read that inoculators voluntarily solicit initiation in the art of vaccination,
and everywhere, to a greater or a lesser extent, conversions are recorded.
Punjab hakeems.
The district hakeems of the Punjab do not provide a good working
material. They appear to be lazy and untrustworthy to a degree. Possibly
they consider themselves as physicians, learned in the ancient system of medi-
cine, above the practice of the simple art of vaccination. Be that as it may,
it is certain they do not afford the same basis upon which to commence a self-
supporting system as do the inoculators, whose calling in life is but little
changed by their adoption of a new and very similar system so far as appear-
ances are involved.
Female vaccinators.
As in former years, a few experiments have been made to establish
a female agency. The original idea was to procure a means whereby to
penetrate the sanctity and prejudice of the zenana, and thus obtain, more
readily, access to the children of the more respectable portion of the commu-
nity ; but the result, so far, has been discouraging in the extreme. In the
Punjab two female vaccinators worked for a short time and produced the most
miserable results. So in the North-West at Bareilly a trial was made, with a
very similar termination. Honest, patient trials have now been conducted for
some years past, and it would seem abundantly certain that good is not to be
attained through a female agency.
Selection of vaccina-
tors according to
caste.
The importance of selecting vaccinators for service in particular localities
according to their castes is a very essential matter, but one which, as a practical
detail, it is not always easy to carry out as desired for want of materials. In
the Darjeeling hills, local men possessing the necessary qualifications were not
forthcoming, and although good vaccinators were imported from Calcutta, their
want of knowledge of the people, of their language, and of their customs, as
well as their physical defects for travelling in such a country, very seriously
diminished their utility. Dr. Richardson of the Agra and Meerut circle
observes:—
It has not unfrequently been a question whether the Mussulman or the Hindoo is the
better vaccinator. This has generally been decided in favour of the Mussulman, on the
grounds that he is more energetic and capable of undergoing greater fatigue; whilst the
Hindoo is slower and has much of his time taken up with his complex cooking arrangements.
My own opinion is, that there are localities in which Hindoos would fail, whilst Mahomedans
would succeed, and vice versâ. For instance, Hindoo vaccinators have never been found to
succeed amongst the rough Jâts and converted Rajpoot Mahomedans of the Meerut and
Moozuffernugger districts; whilst in the part of the Muttra district on the right bank of
the Jumna, Mahomedan vaccinators would probably not be tolerated. In the Agra district,
likewise, Mussulman vaccinators have not been successful. Excluding the hill country and
the Doon, in which there are no Mahomedan vaccinators, and which, from the great difference
in climate could not be fairly compared with the other district, I find from the returns that,
whilst each of the 29 Hindoo vaccinators on an average operated upon 1,037 persons, with a
percentage of 92.7 successful cases, each of the 96 Mahomedan vaccinators operated upon
1,172 persons, with a percentage of 87.4 successful cases. From this it would appear that the
Mahomedan is justly credited with greater energy, but that whilst the Hindoo does less work,
he does it greatly better.