ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS OF CIVIL SURGEONS.
57
" 13. One inoculator came from Dantoon, on the border of Balasore. This man is an
Oorya brahmin, and remained in Midnapore for several months. He was very anxious to
learn, and eventually left, being provided with a lancet and pamphlet. It is remarkable that
this man should have taken so much trouble travelling so great a distance, and remaining
away from his home for so long a period, inasmuch as Ooryas are supposed to hold an
unconquerable aversion to vaccination. He will commence working next season, and I
hope to be able to ascertain from personal observation how far he has succeeded in over-
coming the prejudices of his countrymen.
The Subung inocu¬
lutors.
" 14. In previous letters and reports I alluded to a large settlement of inoculators
who lived near the Subung police station, and it was my intention to have spent a
considerable portion of the working season in that neighbourhood.
"In my letter No. 161, dated the 30th of August 1872, I mentioned the large extent
of country through which these men were in the habit of working, and how desirable it
was to enlist them on the side of vaccination, if possible. On my arrival at Subung
I saw some 40 of the inoculators, and after explaining to them the object I had in
view, they requested to be allowed a day for consultation before coming to a decision.
They returned at the end of 24 hours, and said that they declined to practise vaccination.
They said that they had not inoculated for many years past, and that they had taken to
other means of gaining a livelihood since Government had prohibited inoculation.
Refusal to practise
vaccination
"They informed me that there were hundreds of villages within the jurisdiction of the
Subung thannah where no inoculation had been carried on for the past 10 years, and
I subsequently visited villages where I found many grown up people without any form
of protection. At the time I was trying to induce the Subung inoculators to learn
vaccination, I was endeavouring to check the spread of small-pox at Moyna, where that
disease prevailed to a serious extent. My attention was to open a school of vaccination
for the Subung inoculators at Moyna, distant from Subung about 12 miles, where
two of the most experienced and active of the paid vaccinators were at work.
" 15. Having so far failed at Subung I proceeded to Moyna. Table C shows the
result of the season's operations.
Small-pox in Moy-
na pergunnah.
"Since May 1872 small-pox had been hanging about the Moyna pergunnah, but at
first in a very mild form. The origin of the disease could not be traced. It seems to
have subsided during the rains; but early in the October following it re-appeared, and
spread from village to village with great rapidity. The vaccinators reported the dis¬
ease in 23 villages, and that it was rapidly spreading in every direction. The people
refused vaccination, never having heard of it before, and at the end of nearly two months
only some 500 children had been operated on. The vaccinators found the greatest diffi-
culty in keeping up a supply of lymph, and in fact matters wore a very unfavorable aspect.
The magistrate had been in correspondence with the Moyna Rajah regarding the prevalence
of the disease, and fortunately succeeded in enlisting his interest and influence on behalf
of the vaccinators.
Vaccination started
Satisfactory
pro-
gress and results.
" 16. On my arrival at Moyna, the Rajah received me very courteously and promised
me every assistance. He allowed me to vaccinate 19 members of his family, including three
of his sons. He sent for the head men of the villages and ordered them to render every
assistance in collecting the children, &c , and I have no hesitation in saying that the suc-
cess that attended my subsequent efforts in trying to overcome the prejudices of the people
was due in a great measure to the exertions of that gentleman. Before I left Moyna, up-
wards of 300 children were vaccinated, and arrangements for stamping out the disease
in the effected villages were organized. I found that small-pox had broken out in 23
villages, and owing to the large number of unprotected people living in the pergunnah I
dreaded that the disease would spread to a serious extent. The type was for the most part
mild, and I saw very few cases of confluent small-pox; but many deaths had taken place,
and in some villages panic was very marked. The protection afforded by vaccination was
undoubted, and although some of the vaccinated contracted the disease, no casualty
occurred amongst them, and the people seemed satisfied with the results obtained.
Difficulty of carry-
ing out arm-to-
arm vaccination
" 17. The work would have progressed much more rapidly were it not for the difficulty
connected with the lymph supply. The work from beginning to end was carried out on the
arm-to-arm system, and it was found necessary to vaccinate some well grown lads in
every village who were more or less independent, and who were not likely to listen to the
objections raised by their female relatives. These boys were paid by the relatives of each
child vaccinated, and one individual, when I was at Moyna in February last, received one
afternoon four Rupees at the rate of about one pice for each child vaccinated from the vesi-
cles on his arm. This was the expedient generally resorted to, and it answered, on the whole,
15