NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
257
APP. IV. ] Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Áct.
Disposal of
corpses.
plague or an ordinary burial place distant from habitations or sources
of water-supply, it shall be sufficient to bury the body six feet deep.
If the place of burial be a graveyard in which by reason of its prox-
imity to habitations or water-supply special precautions are necessary,
the Health Officer may, in addition, require the disinfection of the
grave by placing a layer of chloride of lime in the grave. In this
case, 2 feet of earth shall be interposed between the lime and the
corpse, so that lime shall not come in contact with the corpse. The
coffin and cloth used to cover the corpse, when not interred with the
corpse, shall be disinfected by the relatives under directions of the
Health Officer, such directions being in accordance with the religious
observances and customs of the family. In cases v/here cremation
is the custom, the body shall be completely burned at the usual burn-
ing ghat or other isolated locality in accordance with custom, the
cloths brought in contact with the body being either burnt according
to custom or disinfected.
42. All police officers shall give to the Health Officers such
assistance as he may consider necessary in carrying out these rules.
Memorandum by the Sanitary Commissioner for the use of
Police Officers and others in case of the occurrence of
plague in Villages and smaller Towns.
Symptoms oí
plague-.
1. The symptoms of plague are fever of recent commencement,
violent headache, severe pain in the back and limbs and lassitude. The
glands in the groin, or in the armpit or neck, are generally swollen and
tender. Cough and pain in the lungs are frequently observed and
delirium often comes on early in the disease. Death often occurs
in two or three days.
2. The great majority of people attacked by plague die of the
disease. The main object therefore should be to keep as far away as
possible from people infected with plague.
3. If plague exists in a village the inhabitants of all the surrounding
villages should abstain from all dealings with that village till the
plague ceases. They should neither go into the infected village nor
allow any person from the infected village to come into their village,
4. In like manner in an infected village a family free from the
disease should not go near a house in which the disease exists.
5. The best way of preventing the plague from spreading is to
segregate the sick person till he recovers or dies ; and, as the
plague takes ten days to incubate, the attendants on the sick
person should be kept apart for at least ten days,
b33
258
Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act. [ APP. IV.
Method of
segregation of a
person suffering
from plague and
of his attendants.
6. (1) If the person who is suffering from bubonic plague is living
in a large roomy house in which he can occupy a separate room,
and if he and his attendants can be kept separate from others in
that house, then he should be allowed to remain there.
(2) If the person who is suffering from bubonic plague be living
in a hut or such a small house that he cannot be kept separate from
others in that house, then he should be removed at once to a small
chappar hut to, be constructed of grass screens and erected well
away from habitations. The sites should, if possible, be shady,
and near a well. This well should not be used by other people, if there
are more than one well in the village. The sick person's relatives and
friends may accompany and remain with him, provided that they
remain apart and abstain from communication with other people in
the village. The village authorities should see that arrangements
are made for the supply of food, fuel, etc.. Ample accommodation
should be provided separately for males, females and families when
the house is temporarily abandoned.
7. In all cases, the chief zamíndárs or their agent, the patwári, the
village head man and chaukidár should take steps to see that these
orders are carried out without interference with the religious or
social customs of the family.
8. A " chappar " hut, after occupation by a person suffering
from plague, should be burnt, and this should also be done to the
chárpái upon which the person is carried to, or which he uses in the
hut. The well should, if possible, be completely cleaned out and
disinfected.
Method of
disinfection of
houses in which
a death from
plague has
occurred.
9. If the house be a small hut of small value, and this can be done
safely, it is best to burn the hut ; but, in the case of better houses,
the following measures should be adopted :—
(a] The floor of the rooms used by the sick persons should, if
of earth, be dug out to a depth of two inches and removed
to a spot well away from habitations.
(b) Half a seer of sulphur should be burnt in the room, the
doors and windows being closed during the operation.
* Where possible, the sulphur employed for burning in huts
and rooms should first be well moistened with methylated
spirit. A large wide-mouthed metal vessel containing
at least a seer of water should be placed over a slow
charcoal fire in the room and the water be allowed to
slowly boil away, at the same time that the sulphur is
burning. The object is to keep the air moist. Sulphur
is recommended for the disinfection of huts and houses,
* Notification No.
414_ , dated 17th June 3897.
XVI—404-B.
259
APP. IV. ] Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
because it is cheap and generally procurable. But it
should be remembered that a very slight covering pro-
tects germs of disease from its action, so that the other
measures of disinfection, especially the thorough limewash-
ing of roofs, floors and walls, should be very thoroughly
and carefully carried out.
(c) The roof, floor and walls should be thoroughly limewashed.
(d) All the drains should be washed down with the best dis-
infectant available at the nearest dispensary or thana,
which will be supplied without payment.
(e) All doors and windows should be then thrown open and
the house vacated for fourteen days.
Method of
disinfection of
clothes and
bedding.
Disposal of
bodies.
10. Upon the recovery or the death of a person suffering from
plague, the clothes and beddings of the sick person and his attendants
should be thoroughly boiled and then spread out in the sun and wind
for 48 hours. Clothing and bedding of small value should be burnt.
The corpse of a person known or suspected to have died from
plague should be disposed of by the friends in accordance with the
usual customs. In case of cremation the body should be completely
burnt in an isolated place,
In case of burial, the body is to be buried at least 6 feet
deep. The place of burial should be well away from habitations and
sources of water-supply.
No. 48.
GOODS ARRIVING FROM UNINFECTED AREAS.
Notification No.194/XVI-404-B., dated the 23rd 1897.
Examination
before entry into
Municipal or
Cantonment,
limits.
î. Any goods originally consigned from Bombay, Karachi or
other place notified as infected with plague, and believed to have
been packed in such place, may, before admission into a municipal-
ity or cantonment in these provinces, be detained for examination by
the municipal or cantonment authority at an octroi post, at the
nearest railway station or at such place on the outskirts of municipal
or cantonment limits as may be appointed by it for the purpose.
Opening of
packed goods
for examination.
Destruction of
dangerous
packing stuff.
2. Any case in which such goods are packed may be opened by
the municipal or cantonment authority for the purpose of exam-
ination, and if, in the opinion of the Health Officer or of an officer
deputed by him for the purpose, the materials used for packing, such
as rags, straw, grass, paper, etc., are likely to convey infection, they
may be destroyed.
Notice to
consignee.
3. Immediately on the detection of such goods, written notice
shall be given to the consignee in order that he may attend to witness
26o
Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act. [ APP. IV.
the examination, and to take delivery of the goods subsequently.
No examination of goods shall be made except in the presence
of the consignee or his authorised agent.
RAGS.
No. 49,
Notification No. 339/XVI-404-B.-458, dated the Ist May l8 97.
In exercise of the power conferred on this Government by
Notification No. 302, dated 4th February 1897, of the Governor Gen-
eral of India in Council, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North»
Western Provinces and Chief Commissioner of Oudh is pleased to
make the following rules under Act No. III of 1897 (an Act to pro-
vide for the better prevention of the spread of Dangerous Epidemic
Disease) :—
Disinfection
and destruction of
rags.
1. The Magistrate of the district may cause to be disinfected
or, with the concurrence of the Health Officer, des-
troyed any collection of rags in rag-pickers' houses,
rag stores, paper mills, or elsewhere.
Inspection of
place where rags
are collected.
'
A
U
'
2. Any place in which rags are collected shall be open to the
inspection of the Magistrate of the district, the Health
Officer, and any official appointed by the Magistrate
of the district, for the purpose.
Method of disin-
fection.
3. To effect disinfection, rags should be soaked in a solution of
corrosive sublimate (1 in 1,000) or carbolic acid (1 in 40),.
and then be well exposed to the sun for some hours.
Owner of a
collection of rags
to obey order
under rule I.
4. The owner of a collection of rags shall comply with any order
issued by the Magistrate of the district under rule 1.
Regulations issued by the Government of the
Punjab.
CONTROL OF TRAFFIC.
No 50.
Regulations for the control of Railway Traffic,
Notification No. 146, dated the I2th February 1897.
Preamble.
In exercise of the powers conferred by the Notification of the
Government of India, No. 302, dated 4th February 1897, the Hon'ble
the Lieutenant-Governor being satisfied that the Punjab is threat-
• ened with an outbreak of a dangerous epidemic, namely, bubonic
plague, and that the ordinary provisions of the law are insufficient
for the purpose of preventing such outbreak, is pleased to prescribe
the following Regulations for the inspection of persons travelling
26 1
APP. ÎV.] Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
by railway and the segregation of persons suspected of being in-
fected with bubonic plague, and for other matters under sub-section
(1) and sub-clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 2 of the Epide-
mic Diseases Act, 1897:—
I.—In the following Regulations :-—
Definitions«
" Place of inspection " means any place which may be notified
by the Local Government to be a place of inspection.
" Inspecting Medical Officer " means a person appointed by
an order in writing by the Local Government to be an
Inspecting Medical Officer.
Notification of
inspection sta-
tions.
II.—The Local Government may notify any railway station or
any place in the vicinity thereof to be a place of inspection, and may
by order in writing appoint one or more Inspecting Medical Officers
for the same.
Deputation of
functions by In-
specting Officer.
III.—Every Inspecting Medical Officer who is unavoidably pre-
vented from discharging all or any of his functions as such may by
order in writing appoint any Assistant Surgeon or Hospital Assistant
temporarily to discharge such functions, and every Assistant Surgeon
and Hospital Assistant so appointed shall so far as such functions
are concerned be deemed for the purposes of these regulations to be
an inspecting Medical Officer.
Platform in-
spection.
IV.—An Inspecting Medical Officer may at his place of inspec-
tion direct any person travelling by railway to leave the carriage in
which he is travelling and come on to the platform or on to the line,
and may prohibit any such person from leaving the platform or any
other portion of the place of inspection.
Examination
oí passengers.
4.
*
i
V.—-(1) An Inspecting Medical Officer may at his place of
inspection make a medical inspection and examination of any person
travelling by railway in such manner and to such extent as he thinks
necessary in order to ascertain whether there is reason to believe
or suspect that such person is or may be infected with bubonic
plague : provided that such inspection, or examination shall not be
made in any manner or to any extent to which such person objects.
Questioning
passengers.
(2) An Inspecting Medical Officer may put to any such person
any questions he thinks fit in order to ascertain whether there is
reason to believe or suspect as aforesaid, and such person shall be
bound to answer truly any question so put to him.
Segregation of
suspect cáses.
VI.—Where, as the result of such inspection or examination or ¡
otherwise, the Inspecting Medical Officer considers that there is
reason to believe or suspect that any person is or may be infected
with bubonic plague, or where any person makes any objection under
the proviso to clause V, sub-clause (1) of these Regulations, the
262
Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act, [ APP. IV.
Inspecting Medical Officer may direct that such person be removed
to and detained in any building, tent or other place, whether near the
place of inspection or elsewhere, until the Inspecting Medical Officer
or some other Medical Officer empowered in this behalf by a written
order of the Local Government certified in writing that in his opinion
there is no longer any reason for believing or suspecting such per-
son to be infected as aforesaid.
Attendants
permitted to ac-
company segre-
gated persons.
VII.—Any person in respect to whom a direction has not
been given under clause VI may apply to the Inspecting Medical
Officer to be allowed to attend upon any person in respect to whom
such a direction has been given, and the Inspecting Medical Officer
shall, except for reasons to be recorded by him in writing, grant
such application.
Detention of
attendants.
VIII.—Any person who has made an application under the last
foregoing clause and whose application has been granted shall be
detained in such building, tent or other place, whether near the place
of inspection or elsewhere, as the Inspecting Medical Officer may-
direct until the Inspecting Medical Officer or some other Medical
Officer empowered in this behalf by a written order of the Local
Government certifies in writing that in his opinion there is no longer
any reason for detaining such person.
Persons de-
tained until cer-
tified to be safe.
IX.—No person in respect to whom a direction under clause VI
or VIII of these Regulations has been given shall leave any building,
tent or other place in which an Inspecting Medical Officer has direct-
ed him to be detained until such Inspecting Medical Officer certifies
in writing that in his opinion there is no longer any reason for
believing or suspecting such person to be infected as aforesaid, or
that there is no longer any reason for detaining such person as the
case may be,
Destruction or
disinfection of
articles.
X.—The Inspecting Medical Officer may order the destruction
or disinfection of any article which is or has been in the possession
of any person in respect to whom a direction under clause VI or VIIÏ
has been given, or which is or has been in the possession of any per-
son whom the Inspecting Medical Officer considers to have been in
dangerous proximity to such person :—•
Payment of
compensation.
Provided that compensation may, in the discretion of the officer
Notification No. 634
of the 8th April 1897.
hereinafter empowered to award the same, be
paid for the destruction or injury of any article
under this clause.
Application for
compensation to
the District
Magistrate.
XI—Applications for the payment of compensation under the
last foregoing clause may be made to the District Magistrate who
shall upon receipt of any such application determine by order in
263
APP. IV. ] Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
writing the amount of such compensation, if any, and such order shall
•be final.
Incidence of
expenditure.
XII.—The Local Government may determine in what cases or
classes of cases any charges for the provision of accommodation,
diet and treatment for persons detained under these Regulations
and any sums payable as compensation under them shall be
defrayed or paid by any Local Body : and such Local Body shall
thereupon become liable to defray such charges or pay such com-
pensation accordingly.
Payment by
Local Govern-
ment.
XIII.—In every case in which any charges are to be defrayed or
any compensation is payable under these Regulations for which no
Local Body is liable under an order issued under the last preceding
clause or under any other law or rule having the force of law, such
charges shall be defrayed or compensation shall be paid by the Local
Government.
Recovery.
Provided that nothing in this clause shall be deemed to prevent
the Local Government from recovering any moneys thus paid from any
Native State or Railway Administration or Railway Company when
such moneys are by agreement or otherwise so recoverable.
Control.
XIX.—The powers conferred on the Inspecting Medical Officer <
by these Regulations shall be exercised subject to the control of the
Magistrate of the district, the Commissioner of the Division and
of the Local Government.
Notification No. 296, dated the 2nd March 1897.
No. 51.
Preamble.
In exercise of the powers conferred by the Notification of the
Government of India, No. 302, dated 4th February 1897, the
Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor, being satisfied that the Punjab
is threatened with an outbreak of a dangerous epidemic disease,
namely, bubonic plague, and that the ordinary provisions of the law
are insufficient for the purpose of preventing such outbreak, is pleased
to prescribe the following Regulations under sub-section (1) and
sub-clause (b] and sub-section (2) of the Epidemic Diseases Act,
1897 :-
Conveyance oí
suspect case to
next inspection
station.
I.—A station master, at a railway station which is not a place
of inspection, or at a railway station which is a place of inspection,
in the absence of an Inspecting Medical Officer duly appointed by
order in writing to such place of inspection, may direct any person
travelling by railway or being on any portion of the railway premises,
who, he sees reason to believe or suspect, is or may be infected with
bubonic plague, to proceed to the next station which is a place of
inspection to which an Inspecting Medical Officer has been duly
264
Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act. [ APP. ÏV.
appointed : and such person shall thereupon be bound to proceed to
such station.
No extra charge
to traveller.
II.—No additional charge shall be made by any Railway Admin-
istration to any person in respect to whom a direction under the last
preceding clause has been given, on account of the journey from the
station at which such direction was given to the station to which
he was directed to proceed ; and if at the station to which he
was directed to proceed an Inspecting Medical Officer declares that
he sees no reason to believe or suspect that such person is or may
be infected with bubonic plague, the Railway Administration shall
give to such person a free pass to return by railway to any station for
which he holds a ticket.
Notification No. 822, dated the 2gth April 1897.
Preamble.
No. 52.
In exercise of the powers conferred by the Notification of the
Government of India, No. 302, dated the 4th February 1897, the
Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor, being satisfied that the Punjab is
threatened with an outbreak of a dangerous epidemic, namely, bubonic
plague, and that the ordinary provisions of the law are insufficient
for the purpose of preventing such outbreak, is pleased to prescribe
the following Regulations under sub-section (1) and sub-clause (b)
of sub-section (2) of section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 :—
Prohibition
against leaving
railway limits at
specified places.
I.—The Local Government may by notification prohibit all per-
sons or any class of persons travelling by railway or all persons or
any class of persons travelling by railway from or towards any
specified local area, or from or in any specified direction, from leaving-
the railway limits at any place or places specified in such notification :
and no person shall leave the railway limits in contravention of such
notification.
Preventing
evasion of rule,
II.—When any person who holds a ticket for any place at which
he is prohibited by a notification under the last preceding clause
from leaving the railway limits does not leave the railway limits
before arrival at such place, the Railway Administration concerned
shall convey him by railway, without additional charge, to the next
nearest station at which he is not prohibited from leaving the railway
limits.
No extra charge
to traveller.
III.—When a Railway Administration has conveyed any person
to any station under the last preceding clause, and the station for
which such person holds a ticket is not a place at which he is prohi-
bited, when travelling from the station to which he was conveyed
under that clause, from leaving the railway limits, such Railway
Administration shall, if desired by such person so to do, convey him
by railway, without additional charge, to the station for which he
265
APP. IV.] Regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act.
holds a ticket, without any further delay than is required or authorized
by any law, or any bye-law, rule or regulation having the force of law,
for the time being in force, or is necessitated by the timing of the
trains.
Person can only
claim to be
carried by
advertised trains.
IV.—Nothing in the two foregoing clauses shall be deemed to
require any Railway Administration to convey any person to any
station otherwise than by a train advertised in the published time
tables of such Railway Administration and intended by such Railway
Administration for passenger traffic.
No. 53
Notification No. 823, elated the 29th April 1897.
Prohibition
against alighting
between Sind
frontier and
Khanpur.
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause Í of the Regula-
tions published with Notification No. 822, dated the 29th April 1897,
the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor is pleased to prohibit all
intermediate and 3rd class passenger by up trains from the province
of Sind from leaving the North-Western Railway limits at any place
between the northern boundary of the province oí Sind and the rail-
way station of Khanpur.
No. 54.
Railway stations notified to be places of inspection,
Notification No. 147, dated the I2th February 1897.
Bhatinda.
Whereas His Highness the Maharaia of Patiala has granted to
the British Government full jurisdiction within the lands which lie
within his State and are occupied or may be hereafter occupied
by the Rewari-Ferczcpore State Railway (including the lands occu-
pied as stations, out-buildings and for other railway purposes) :
and whereas in exercise of this jurisdiction and of the powers
conferred by sections 4 and 5 of the Foreign Jurisdiction and
Extradition Act, 1879, and of all other powers enabling him
in this behalf, the Governor General in Council declared by
the Notification in the Gazette of India, No 3927-1 , dated the 5th
November 1886, that all laws for the time being in force in the
Hissar District of the Punjab were thereby extended to the said
lands : and whereas in virtue of the said Notification the Epidemic
Diseases Act, 1897, and the Regulation made under sub-section
(1) and under sub-clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 2 of
the said Act, and published with the Notification in the Punjab
Gazette, No. 146, dated 12th February 1897, are extended to the
railway station of Bhatinda on the Rewari-Ferozepore State Railway
and the lands occupied as out-buildings and for other railway pur-
poses at and in the neighbourhood of the said station ; the
b 34