NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
46
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
only incubating and as regards cleansing Bombay city experience
shows that it cannot check plague unless accompanied by detection
of all new cases for which large staff and organisation are required
than can be supplied in most mufassal towns whose only hope of
protection therefore lies in quarantine. As regards third point in your
telegram there is no intention of stopping third class railway traffic
generally and this will not be done in any particular case without
most cogent reasons. As respects disinfection of clothing of pas-
sengers suggested by Government of India, this Government will en-
deavour to arrange.
No. 16.
Telegram No. 1089, dated Calcutta, the 35th March 1897.
N
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Depart-
ment.
Your telegram No. 975-P., dated 17th. Land Quarantine. Gov-
ernment of India adhere to opinion that absolute quarantine at one
place, against another, should not be established. They agree,
however, that all suspicious persons should be stopped and placed
under observation, and class of persons mentioned in your telegram
who, when they enter a town, can neither be traced nor depended on
to give information of plague amongst them, should be treated as sus-
picious. Similar remarks apply to third class railway traffic. Only
suspicious persons should be prevented from travelling or detained,
but widest latitude should be given to inspecting medical and other
officers in determining whether an individual is suspicious or not.
With regard to particular case of Palanpur about which Agent to
Governor-General has telegraphed to you, no suspicious person should-
be allowed to book from Palanpur, but absolute quarantine should not
be established against Palanpur. Government of India will be glad to
be kept informed of condition of affairs at Palanpur.
No. 17.
No. 1167, dated Calcutta, the 29th March 1897.
N
From—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department.
I am directed to address you in continuation of my telegram No.
1089 (Sanitary), dated the 25th March, and to explain somewhat more
fully the views of the Government of India on the subject of the land
quarantine.
2. It appears to the Government of India that the general objec-
tions against land quarantine which they consider to be overwhelming
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
47
and which were indicated in my telegram No. 934, dated the 12th
March, hold good in the case of the imposition of quarantine by one
local area against another local area. Such quarantine, besides being
opposed to the principles that have been repeatedly affirmed by those
who have most studied the subject, is sure to be ineffectual, to give rise
to hardship and oppression, and very possibly it may foster outbreaks
of the disease. The only circumstances under which the imposition
of strict quarantine is possible and likely to be effectual is when the
outbreak occurs in a small place, the inhabitants of which can be easily
and surely isolated and then the isolation must be most carefully regu-
lated and controlled and proper sanitary precautions must be taken.
The recent outbreak in the village of Khandraoni in the Gwalior State
affords an instance of this kind. An account of the outbreak and of
Telegram from the Government of the North-Western
Provinces and Oudh, dated 15th March 1897.
Telegram to the Agent, Governor-General in Central India,
No. 962, dated 16th March 1897.
Telegram to the Government of the North-Western Provinces
and Oudh, No. 963, dated 10th March 1897.
Telegram from the Government of the North-Western Pro-
vinces and Oudh, dated I7th March 1897.
Telegram from the Agent, Governor-General, Indore, No.
2767, dated 18th March 1897.
Telegram to the Agent, Governor-General, Indore, No. 998,
dated 18th March 1897.
Telegram from the Agent, Governor-General, Indore, No.
2804, dated 18th March 1897.
Telegram to the Government of the North-Western Provinces
and Oudh, No. 1021, dated 19th March 1897.
Telegram from Surgeon-Major Crofts, dated 21st March
1897.
Telegram from Surgeon-Major Crofts, dated 21st March
1897.
Telegram from the Agent, Governor-General, Indore, dated
21st March 1897.
Telegram from Surgeon-Major Crofts, dated 22nd March
1897.
Telegram from the Medical Officer to the Maharaja
Scindia, Khandraoni, Gwalior State, dated 23rd March
1897.
Telegram from the Agent to the Governor-General, Central
India, No. 2952, dated 23rd March 1897.
Telegram from the Agent to the Governor-General, Central
India, No. 2996, dated 24th March 1897.
Telegram from the Medical Officer, Maharaja Scindia, dated
24th March 1897.
the measures
adopted
to
stamp it out is
given in the
corres pon-
dence which
is forwarded
with this let-
ter for the in-
formation of
the Governor
in Council.
The circum-
stances were
exceptionally
favourable in-
asmuch as the
village is
small, it was
found easy to
isolate the in-
habitants, and
a Commissioned Medical Officer of experience was deputed to the
spot, and the adoption of all possible sanitary precautions and the
prevention of extortion and oppression thus secured. The larger the
place and the less complete its isolation, the greater become the difficul-
ties and the point is very soon reached when they are insurmount-
able.
3. It is these considerations that have led the Government of India
to consider that the rules framed for the protection of local areas
48
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIIT.
should not go beyond the grant of a wide discretion to the inspecting
officers to detain and place under observation all suspicious persons.
No. 18.
No. 1289, dated Simla, the I4th April 1897.
From—J. P. HEWETT, Esq., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of India,
Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay.
I am directed to refer to Rules 26 and 29 of the new edition of the
General Rules under Act III of 1897, published in the Resolution of the
Government of Bombay, No. 1728—1201-P., dated the 29th March
1897. Rule 26 empowers District Magistrates, when they consider it
necessary, to impose quarantine at anyplace or places against any other
place or places. Rule 29 empowers District Magistrates, with the
sanction of the Commissioner, to prohibit intercommunication between
any place and any other places. I am to point out that these rules
which authorise the imposition of absolute land quarantine are not in
accordance with the instructions contained in this Department tele-
gram No. 1089, dated the 25th March 1897, and this Department letter
No. 1167, dated the 29th March 1897, which conveys the views of the
Government of India on the subject of land quarantine. The Gov-
ernment of India will be glad to learn whether the rules in question
have now been modified.
No. 19.
No. 1680-P., dated Bombay Castle, the 27th April 1897.
From—J. DEC. ATKINS, Esq., I.C.S., Secretary to the Government of
Bombay, General Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
I am directed to forward, for the information of the Government
of India, the accompanying copy of a letter from Surgeon-Major W.
L. Read, A.M.S., Joint Plague Commissioner, dated
April 1897,
relative to the necessity for quarantine measures as a preventive
against the spread of bubonic plague.
Dated Bombay, the
April 1897.
From—SURGEON-MAJOR W. L. READE, A.M.S., Joint Plague Commis-
sioner to the Government of Bombay,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay.
With reference to General Department No. 1976—1449-P., views
of Government of India regarding land quarantine dated 12th April
1897, I cannot but think that the principles of local and general quaran-
tine should, for administrative purposes, be kept quite distinct, and
APP. VIII, ]
spread of infection by land
49
I would urge that in conceding the principles of land quarantine the
Government of India would not be inconsistent in the view which I
understand has been enunciated in their behalf at the Venice Confer-
ence, with regard to the quarantining of arrivals from India at
European ports.
That plague follows the lines of human intercourse and is spread
by human beings is written large in the Epidemiological History of
the human race, and every succeeding epidemic, including the present
one, amply bears this out ; it can only spread along these lines.
The great spread of the disease which has occurred in the Bombay
Presidency is due to the hurrying crowds of panic-stricken people,
who, as a rule, are rushing from the place of greatest infection, many
in their fear deserting their dead and dying relatives; it is these
panic-stricken people that it is so essential to catch, almost as much
as an individual enveloped in flames, who, by his flight, not only in-
jures himself, but may bring devastation on others. Unfortunately
the bacillus of plague is not of a luminant nature, hence the necessity
of quarantining all suspects.
Absolute quarantine is an admitted hardship, it paralyses trade
and dislocates the ordinary routine of every day life, it should there-
fore be enacted in a common sense manner and interpreted in a spirit
of expediency. By a liberal grant of what may be called sanitary
passes, the hardships of quarantine can be largely mitigated. The
scheme of quarantine is to impound all persons and effects, who, from
the locality they come from, and also from the purport of their journey,
are likely to be spreaders of the disease.
If the power to sign sanitary passes was given to a certain
number of responsible officials, the spirit and practical effects of
quarantine would be enforced. Because quarantine is not made
absolute it by no means follows that the measure is inoperative.
Every plague case is a possible focus of infection and every person
that is kept within quarantine limits is a possible centre of infection
that has been repressed. There is no disease that can so readily be
smothered in its initial stage, therefore an occasional case that may
escape the scrutiny of the quarantine officials would do but little harm ;
it is when many escape that the disease becomes heightened up into
epidemic dimensions and it becomes difficult to keep it in check.
Local quarantine may be divided into :—
(a) Camps of observation for people leaving an infected area to
prevent the spread of disease into the districts.
(b) Camps of observation for arrivals from infected districts to
prevent the reinfection of a place already infected.
c 7
50
'
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
(c) Camps of observation in districts which have not as yet
been infected for arrivals from infected districts.
In a well regulated quarantine camp, where strict disinfection
and supervision is carried out, the fear of the spread of the infection
is infinitesimal, and if it does spread it shows a badly regulated
camp. This has been amply proved in the Poona segregation camp,
where the average number of inhabitants have been as much as 800,
and yet in the period of over a month only some 30 cases have
occurred, and these were probably infected on arrival, for it must be
remembered that these people were all relatives or friends taken from
the infected houses.
The non-success of the camps at Karrachi was due to the fact
which I pointed out in my report on this place, that no preliminary
disinfection had been carried out and no supervision had been exer-
cised. They were camps minus any quarantine restrictions whatso-
ever. There is evidence in several instances in this epidemic of
infected clothes brought to a village previously clear and the plague
breaking out, although the people who brought the clothes remained
free from the disease.
The ideal attitude of a populace in plague time should be one of
quiescence, and it cannot be too earnestly impressed on all that this
disease can be successfully fought in the place in which it occurs,
and that every endeavour should be made to keep the people within
the infected area until the fight is over.
The principle of general sea quarantine is a much more involved
question, and it will vary according to the tanacity of life of the
bacillus which causes the disease. Fortunately the microbe, that is
responsible for the spread of this disease, is a microbe of very small
verile power ; it is killed in weak antiseptic solutions, and recent
bactereological investigations tend to show that this bacillus quickly
succumbs to the attacks of the other non-pathogenic bacteria who
are always present, that in fact infected clothing and rooms will in
time disinfect themselves.
In what time this auto-disinfection will take to carry out will be
for future researches to show, but there is some evidence going to
prove that this process is carried out in less than a week. That
clean merchandise can become infected is highly improbable, that it
can carry it for more than 24 hours is quite impossible, as the bacillus
must perish for want of pabulum. This may be asserted with abso-
lute certainty both from bactereological evidence and also the import-
ant negative evidence that no case of the transmission of the disease
to Europe through merchandise has been reported, or even so far as
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
51
my knowledge goes to Aden or Suez, although there was free com-
munication between these Ports and Bombay.
Had infection by means of merchandise been possible, it must
have occurred, as it is in my personal knowledge that cotton bales in
Karrachi were packed by a community who, at the time, were suffer-
ing greatly from the ravages of the plague. It may therefore be
affirmed that while local quarantine is necessary in combating the
disease ; that all evidence goes to prove that general sea quarantine
is unnecessary, when the port of arrival is a week distant from the
affected port, so that practically it may be said that quarantine out-
side Indian limits ought to be unnecessary.
I feel sure that it would be true and statesman-like policy to
freely accept the fact of the communicability of this disease along the
lines of human intercourse, a fact which stands out in every history of
this disease, and moreover a fact that will be emphasised when the
history of the present visitation comes to be written.
Should this be accepted and acted on by the Government of India,
it is quite certain that it would inspire the European Powers with a
confidence that the true nature of the disease is known and acted on
in India, and it would go a long way towards breaking down the pro-
tective quarantine which at present exists and which is liable to be
put on again in another epidemic of the plague in India.
The communicability of this disease must be well known to all
medical authorities on whom these Powers rely for advice, and the
rigorous quarantine which has been enacted is probably largely due to
the half-hearted acceptance of this fact on the part of the Indian
authorities.
I hope in this letter that it will not be considered that I have ex-
pressed my views too frankly. I have done so from an honest con-
viction of their truth.
No. 20.
No. 2565—1979-P., dated Bombay Castle, the nth May 1897,
From—J. DEC. ATKINS, Esq., I.C.S., Secretary to the Government of
Bombay, General Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 1289,
dated I4th ultimo, enquiring whether Rules 26 and 29 of the
General Rules under Act III of 1897, published in Government Reso-
lution No. 1728—I201-P., dated 29th March 1897, have been modified
to meet the views of the Government of India regarding land quar-
antine,
5á
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
2. In reply I am directed to state that the views of the Govern-
ment of India as contained in your letter No. 1167, dated the 29th
March 1897, were communicated to all the officers concerned with
the working of Rules 26 and 29, and to remark that absolute quar-
antine is not in practice imposed, and that the rules are worked in
such a way as the Governor in Council believes would not afford
ground for objection on the part of the Government of India. I am
to add that the difficulty of redrafting these two rules so as to literally
coincide with the views of the Government of India is so great that
Government would prefer to keep their own rules with proper safe-
guards against their abuse in practice.
No. 21.
No. 1602, dated Simla, the 28th May 1897.
N
From—J. P. HEWETT, Esq., C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of India,
Home Department,
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bombay, General Department.
I am directed to reply to your letter No. 168o-P., dated the 27th
April 1897, forwarding, for the information of the Government of
India, a copy of a letter from Surgeon-Major W. L. Reade, A.M.S.,
Joint Plague Commissioner, on the subject of quarantine measures as
a preventive against the spread of bubonic plague.
2. Upon the question of land-quarantine the opinions of the Govern-
ment of India have already been plainly expressed. They thoroughly
approve of the detention of suspicious persons under observation,
and fully recognise that such detention results in the detection of cases
of which there is no outward and visible sign at the time the passenger
is detained. But such detention is very different to the imposition of
absolute quarantine or the absolute prohibition of inter-communication
between different places such as are authorised in Rules 26 and 29,
respectively, of the new edition of the General Rules under Act III of
1897, published in the Resolution of the Government of Bombay,
No. 1728—1201-P., dated the 29th March 1897. It was pointed out
in my letter No. 1289, dated the 14th April 1897, that the rules
referred to are not in accordance with the instructions contained in
this Department telegram No. 1089, dated the 25th March 1897, and
this Department letter No. 1167, dated the 29th March 1897, an d it
was stated that the Government of India would be glad to learn
whether the rules in question had been modified. A reply to this
question is contained in your letter No. 2565—1979-P., dated the nth
instant, in which it is stated that the views of the Government of
India, as contained in my letter No. 1167, dated the 29th March 1897,
were communicated to all the officers concerned with the working of
Rules 26 and 29, that absolute quarantine is not in practice imposed
APP. VIII. ]
spread of infection by land.
53
and that the rules are worked in such a way as the Governor in
Council believes would not afford ground for objection on the part of
the Government of India. It is further stated that the difficulty of
redrafting the two rules so as to literally coincide with the views of the
Government of India is so great that the Government of Bombay
would prefer to keep their own rules with proper safeguards against
their abuse in practice.
3. In reply to these remarks I am to say that the Government of
India regret that they must adhere to the opinion that is open to grave
objection to maintain rules which authorise the practice, which they
consider to be most mischievous, of imposing absolute quarantine, or
the absolute prohibition of communication between different places,
even though orders are issued explaining that the rules may not be
carried out in their entirety. The Government of India are assured
that it is unnecessary to recall to the Government of Bombay the
orders that they have issued on the subject of land-quarantine and
they have no doubt that these orders are now being obeyed. But they
are unable to accept the view that it is not possible to give expres-
sion to these orders in such a manner as to obviate the necessity of
retaining Rules 26 and 29, which authorise an action which is really
contrary to them. The subsidiary orders issued in the Resolutions of
the Government of Bombay, No. 1976—1449-P., dated the 12th April
1897, an d No. 2I24-A.—1583-A. P., dated the 21st April 1897, are in
accordance with the views of the Government of India, and I am to
suggest that if orders issued applying the principles on which these
resolutions are based to persons leaving an infected area by railroad
or other means and to persons arriving at healthy places by any such
means from an infected area there would be no necessity for retaining
Rules 26 and 29. The Government of India trust that the Govern-
ment of Bombay will now cancel these two rules.
4. I am in particular to remark that the Government of India are
strongly of the opinion that it is undesirable to prescribe as in the
case of the rules for Mahableshwar and Panchgani published in the
Resolution of the Government of Bombay, No. 1496—955-P., dated
the 17th March 1897, that all except certain exempted persons, who
would no doubt be medically examined, should be treated as suspi-
cious. The detention of persons likely to carry infection should be
secured by giving to the medical officers deputed to inspect travellers
the widest discretion to stop any person who is at all suspicious,
whether by reason of his symptoms, appearance or the dirty condition
of his clothes, or who comes from an infected locality and belongs
to the class of people, who, on entering a town, can neither be traced
nor are likely to give information of cases of plague occurring among
54
Measures to prevent the
[ APP. VIII.
them. The general result in the two cases would probably not differ
greatly, but the Government of India consider that inspecting by the
inspection officer in the manner described above is the proper and the
fair way of arriving at that result, and that it is most inexpedient to
treat all persons except those belonging to certain exempted classes
as suspicious. The Government of India therefore think that the rules
for Mahableshwar and Panchgani referred to above ought to be modi-
fied so as to be brought into accordance with their views expressed
above.
NO. 22.
Government of Bombay Notification No. 5391—349-P., dated the 5th October
1897.
The following rules are sanctioned by Government under the
Epidemic Diseases Act (III) of 1887 :—
*1. When any town or village or group of villages has, in the
opinion of the Magistrate of the District, become so seriously infected
-with plague as to justify the measure, the District Magistrate may
declare such town or village or group of villages to be an infected area
and appoint one or more resident Plague Authorities, who should in-
variably be persons of known and approved character and responsible
position, for such infected area, and may give notice to the Railway
Authorities at any station within 20 miles of such infected area
not to book any passenger unless such passenger either produces a
pass signed by a resident Plague Authority, or a certificate from such
special officer as may be appointed in that behalf or, where no such
special officer has been appointed, from the patel and village account-
ant of his village (such village not being within the said infected
area) that he is a resident of such village and has only just quitted
it.
2. The District Magistrate may prohibit the departure of any
person or classes of persons from an infected area, except under
passes granted by a resident Plague Authority appointed by the
District Magistrate, and may set up the gates, chowkies, etc., and,
with the sanction of the Commissioner, employ the establishment
necessary to enforce this order : provided that any person shall be
entitled to a pass who has been segregated to the satisfaction of the
resident Plague Authority (t) in charge of the segregation quarters
for seven days without exhibiting any sign of infection. The pro-
hibition mentioned in this rule must not be issued until segregation
quarters have been erected outside the town or village. It shall
* As amended by Notification No. 5729—3726-P., dated 2oth October 1897.
t Inserted by Notification No. 5608-A.—3596.P., dated 14th Oötober 1897,