ABSTRACTS OF REPORTS OF CIVIL SURGEONS.
75
on, and to report immediately, if they found small-pox following their proceedings in any
case, but not in any other way to interfere with them. Native doctors attached to dispen-
saries were also directed to inspect the cases, as far as possible, but not to interfere other-
wise.
Number of men em-
ployed.
"Eighty-one applied to me and were furnished with purwannahs
and vaccine
materials. Most of these were old men, Kaists and Gowallas by caste, about three-fourths
of them residents of the district, chiefly the northern part about Mudehpoeoa, the others
chiefly from the adjoining districts, Purneah and Tirhoot. Many of them have by custom
obtained hereditary rights; and though now living far away, in some cases, in other and
distant districts, their ancestors in more than one instance, for as many as seven generations,
have performed the office of inoculator in the same place.
"In addition to these, 20 men were furnished with purwannahs
by the deputy magis-
trate of Soopole, one by the deputy magistrate of Banka, and four men were kindly furnished
and set to work in Katwa, the extreme south of the district, by the civil surgeon of the
Sonthal Pergunnahs, whose head-quarters are within a few miles of Chandwa, a place
where their services were urgently required; some of these did excellent work, one having
vaccinated more than a 1,000 persons.
Number of success-
ful operations.
"The result has been that 8,036 cases of vaccination have been returned as success-
ful by these men. As regards the number, I see no reason whatever for disbelieving it;
indeed, I have no doubt that it is below the number operated on, because the men making
their reports only some time after the cases have been done in all probability return only
the successful ones, considering, as the persons operated on would also do, that the vacci-
nation had not been performed at all, unless some result was obtained; again, not being
paid for their services, there is no inducement for them to make a false return ; and when-
ever I have inspected them I have always found a number corresponding with the reports
made previously.
Value of the vacci-
nation.
"As regards the value of this vaccination as a preventive to small-pox, it is, perhaps
easy to form a fair opinion ; but as yet no cases of the disease occurring after recovery from
vaccination have come to my notice, and as many of the people, especially the upper classes,
are still bitter opponents of it, I think, if this had happened, and as small-pox is so large-
ly prevalent, it most probably would occur, I should certainly have been made aware of
it; at any rate, I feel certain from the result of my own inspections that it is fully equal
to ordinary dispensary vaccination.
Reasons for believ-
ing in the trust-
worthiness of the
ex-inoculators.
"As to the trustworthiness of the inoculators within the municipal district, the
Inoculation Act is in force, but beyond it there was nothing, but the discouragement given
by the sub-divisional officers and police to prevent inoculation being carried on, yet these
only two instances have come to my knowledge where these men have certainly employed
inoculation instead of vaccination, and of these one was the case of a man who had received
authority from a sub-divisional officer to vaccinate, but had not been supplied with the
necessary material. Within municipal boundaries, where the Act is in force, five cases were
detected in which, undoubtedly, small-pox followed immediately after operations by three
inoculators, and these men were prosecuted summarily and punished, and their proceedings
put a stop to ; this was at the end of the season, when the heat had greatly increased, and
vaccination was becoming difficult; and as all these men had previously employed fine vac-
cination, it seems quite probable that it was rather the fact of finding their stock of vac-
cine lymph failing in effect in consequence of the heat, than a wilful intention to break
the law; another evidence of this is the absence of a desire on the part of the parents of
these children for inoculation in preference to vaccination ; again, these cases were brought
forward by the police, who were stimulated by the expectation of half the fine imposed
being awarded to them to bring forward as many cases as possible, yet these were all they
could find; all the deputy magistrates of sub-divisions, the superintendent of police, and
subordinate police officers in every portion of the district in which I have been able to
make enquiries, and the native doctors, have expressed to me their belief that vaccination
only and not inoculation has been practised by these men; and all these officers had been
called upon previously to report any instances to the contrary that might come to their
notice. A stronger reason than any of these, however, for believing that inoculation has
not been practised is the fact that small-pox, though largely prevalent within the muni-
cipality, and nearly all over the southern portion of the district, has scarcely appeared in
that portion of it north of the Ganges, neither has the disease increased at all in propor-
tion to the work of the operators, it having re-commenced some months before it is cus-
tomary for them to begin inoculating, and it has not materially declined since their
operations were suspended.