NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
xvii
(a.) Infiltration
of sub-soils.
The soil along the river bank must necessarily be always moist, from the
fact of the percolation of moisture from land at a higher level. The
town is mostly built over a track which is subjected to subterranean
moisture for many months of the year.
(b.) Level of water
surface relative to
surface of towns and
in villages.
15. Position of
inhabited buildings
in regard to
Higher ground... The houses of the town are nearly all in the condition of having higher
ground near them. The fact of the moisture of their basements
is evident from the way in which nitrous earth forms about them,
corroding the brick-work of the walls, and permitting damp exhala-
tions to rise through floors and walls.
16.
Sub-soil
drainage.
The river running through the town is the chief drainage channel,
and being much lower than the town, it to some extent drains
the subsoil.
Depth of water-
line below surface
in
(a.) Wet weather. Near the river about seven or eight feet. On higher ground more.
(b.) Dry weather.
(c.) When Cholera
prevails.
(d.) Slope of
ground ?
Towards the river.
(e.)
Buildings
resting on roch ?
Rock is found very near to, and in some places quite close to, the
surface.
(f.) How long
does water lie after
rain ?
No stagnation of water after rain.
(g.)
Surface
drainage works?
A few street drains have been executed, leading sewage to the river.
17. Removal of
foul water from,
town or village.
No means available, except the surface channels just alluded to.
{a.) Average con-
sumption of water?
Not ascertained.
(b.) Drains, or
no drains ?
No underground drainage.
18. Surface drain-
age.
See Answer to 16,
Extent of stag-
nant water.
Does rain flow off
rapidly ?
19. Cleansing of
locality.
The streets are cleansed daily by hand labour, and the solid refuse
carted away. This refuse lias been largely used to fill up holes and
excavations in the surface soil in waste places of the town.
xviii
(a.) Condition as Salem is kept, externally, cleaner than the average of Native towns.
to cleanliness.
(b ) Latrine ac-
commodation.
Very defective. Square enclosures have been put up, for public use and
the sweepers I found were in the habit of burying ordure in the soil
of the latrine floor. Cultivated fields abound in the town, and these
are used by the people in preference to the latrines, which were
very offensive at the time of my inspection.
(c.) Court-yards
of dwelling houses.
Tolerably clean. The custom of keeping cattle in the back-yards exists
here. Amongst a population depending so much upon milk and
butter for its animal food, it is difficult to lay down rules for the
exclusion of cattle.
(d.)Streets, roads,
&c.
Most excellent roads and streets exist in Salem. The Municipality has
recently spent about 20,000 rupees in making and repairing roads.
(e.) Disposal of
excreta.
The latrine filth of the public latrines I found was never removed at
all, but buried in the soil, until the whole floor had become a putrid
and offensive mass. The town abounds with cess-pit privies, which
are either never cleaned at all, or on rare occasions only. So far
as I could learn nothing had been done for the removal of the filth
of the town. Ordinary rubbish, such as ashes, litter, &c, was used
for filling up hollows, and when the holes were full, a thin coating of
soil was put upon the top.
20. Water-supply. The town of Salem has between 2,000 and 8,000 wells, public and pri-
vate, and about thirty large bowries for the use of the public. Water
is found, according to the height of the ground, from six to thirty feet
from the surface.
The well water is mostly hard and brackish. The Natives drink it, but
many prefer to get their water from the Teromany river.
(a.) Sources
The river bed near the Upper Anicut is used as a place for washing
dirty linen. The banks also I found much fouled by human excre-
ment. The chief draught of water for domestic use occurs below the
spot where these nuisances exist in greatest abundance.
(b.) Quality as
ascertained by Mi-
croscopic and Che-
mical examination.
I tested several specimens for readily putrefiable organic matter, and
the results are appended.
SALEM WATERS.
Description of well.
Salem River (July)
Kitchapollem, Well No. 1
Do.
do No. 2 ...
Moodo Therevoo
Mr. Boulth's Compound
Mr. Prichard's Compound
Raja Moodelly Garden Well ...
Pariah Village, No. 2
Mr. Arunachellum's house
Near Police Lines
New Market place
Pariah Village, No. 1
New Jail, deep well ...
Do. Garden
Do.
(New well in Jail)...
Dr. Pearse's Well
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Oxygen required
per Gallon of
water.
0.0420
0.1540
0.0560
0.0350
0.0350
0.0420
0.0420
0.0280
0.0980
0.1050
0.0420
0.3360
0.0140
0.0140
0.0560
0.0420
Remarks.
Water opaque, earthy.
An impure water.
Bad.
Do.
A. very foul water.
xix
When Cholera oc-
curs does it spread
equally over the
whole area, or attack
certain localities?
Cholera is mainly confined to the ground near the river banks. An
old travellers' bungalow, close on the river, was, many years ago, so
notorious for the number of persons who were seized with cholera
in it, that it was abandoned, and a new bungalow built on higher
ground to the south of the town. In a house, belonging to the
London Mission Society, on the right bank of the river, two Mis-
sionaries have died within a few years, of cholera. A large upstair
house, on the left bank of the river, enjoys the unenviable title of
"Cholera Hall," owing to the number of native servants, &c., who
have died on the grounds. The old Jail in the same locality I have
elsewhere spoken of as a cholera haunted building.
As the ground rises towards the base of the Shervaroy Hills, the
cholera localities get fewer, until the site of the new Jail is reached-
Here cholera has only prevailed twice in the ten years of occupation.
The plateau of the Shervaroy Hills, not more than ten miles from
Salem, and in daily communication with the town, is practically
exempt from cholera.
21. Nature of
house accommoda-
tion
as to (a.) con-
struction,materials,
dimensions, &c..
Some of the better class of people have two-storied houses built of
brick and chunam, and terraced roofs, but the majority are simply
one-storied tiled houses, with mud walls.
(b.) Number of
floors.
Usually one, barely raised above the level of the ground.
(c.) Cleanliness... Average.
(d.) Privy ac-
commodation.
The better class of houses have cess-pit privies in the back-yards. The
common houses have often large excavations in the back-yards, made
originally to supply the mud for the house walls, which are used for
the deposit of house refuse and probably privy tilth as well.
(e.) Wells in re-
lation to privies.
The private wells and privies are generally in the same back-yard ;
often in contiguity.
(f. ) Inhabitants
crowded or other-
wise.
About five or six persons on the average to a house, according to Cen-
sus. Some quarters of the town appear to be more densely popu-
lated than others.
22. Inspected
houses.
Peculiarities ?
The old Jail and house known as " Cholera Hall" have damp basements,
indicated by the decay of brick-work, mortar, &c., for some distance
up the side walls.
Fungi on walls ?
23. Age of houses
in-relation to Oholera
There is a marked difference in the proportion of choleva attacks in
the old Jail building and the new, but this may be a consequence of
locality as well as of age of buildings. The town of Salem has ex-
tended very much since the beginning of the century, when it came
into British possession. There are no very old buildings in the town.
24. Food of the
people.
Raggy is the principal food grain of the district, but other millets and
rice are used also.
25. Diseases of
cereal and other
plants before out-
breaks of Cholera.
No information available.
XX
26. Epizootics ... Disease of horned cattle occasionally prevails.
27. Prevalence of
(a.) Fevers
(b.) Small-pox ...
(c.) Guinea-worm.
Malarious fevers are the most common diseases of the district.
Occasionally epidemic.
A very common disease in the valleys, but does not prevail on the
mountain ranges.
(d.) Parasitic af-
fections of skin or
intestines ?
Nothing unusual.
(e.) Other special
diseases.
None.
28. Remarks ... The sanitary defects of the station as regards conservancy, drainage,
and water-supply have been pointed out to the Municipality, and
measures are already in progress to remedy them. The Municipal
Commissioners contemplate the execution of drainage works for the
whole town, and measures are being taken to abolish cess-pit privies,
to improve the latrine conservancy, and bring in a supply of water.
The sanitary works necessary for the permanent improvement of the
health of the town will be costly, and probably beyond the means
of the Municipality to accomplish, unaided by the State.
MADRAS,
20th February 1871,
(Signed) W. R. CORNISH, F.R.C.S.
ANALYSES OF THE DRINKING WATERS OF PALAVERAM.
No. 1.— Well opposite the Sepoys' Place of Arms.
Colour
Taste
Smell
Transparency
Development
of
organized forms.
Reaction to test
paper. ...
Carbonic Acid ...
Solid matter in one
litre.
None.
Do.
Do.
Transparent.
None (after forty-eight hours.)
Neutral.
Free. .00440 grammes in a litre.
Volatile
Mineral
Total...
.030 grm.
.560 „
.610
Oxygen required for
organic matter...
Ammonia
and
organic matter...
Hardness (Clark's
scale ]°=1 Grain
Calcium Carbo-
nate
in
one
gallon)
Putrid
Decaying readily .
Do. in 24 hours.
Free ammonia
Albuminoid
Removable ...
Permanent .
...
Total ..
•0000750 grm.
•000150 ,,
.000350 „
.05 milligramme.
.09 ,,
6.3°8
.0°1
4.3°C
hlorine in one
litre
Nitric and Nitrous
Acid ...
...
Mineral matter .
.08496 as chloride of sodium. .14016 gramme.
Nitrogen estimated as ammonia .20 = .742 milligramme
Insoluble :
Silica and Iron
Calcium Carbonate
Magnesium ...
Soluble :
Calcium Sulphate
Magnesium do.
Sodium (as Sulphate)
Sulphuretted Hydrogen
Phosporic Acid
.002 grm.
.128 „
None.
.1704 grm.
Traces only (?)
.0983.
None.
Present.
No. 2 Well.—Drinking Water behind the Roman Catholic Priest's house.
Colour
Taste
Smell
Transparency
Development
of
organized forms.
Reaction ...
Faint blueish (like very dilute milk and water).
Agreeable.
Somewhat earthy.
Not quite transparent, very nearly so..
None.
Neutral.
xxii
Carbonic Acid
Solid matter in a
litre.
Free .0077 grms. per litre.
Volatile
Mineral
Total...
.050 grm.
.200 „
.250 ,,
Oxygen required for
organic matter...
Ammoniaand orga-
nic matter.
Hardness.
Putrid
Decaying readily
Do.
in 24 hours
Free ammonia
Albuminoid
Removable
Permanent
Total ...
Per litre.
.0000500 grm.
.000150 „
.000250 „
None.
.05 milligramme.
.3°4
.2°4
.5°C
hlorine in one
litre
...
Nitric and Nitrous
Acids estimated
as ammonia ...
Mineral matter.
.0210 grm.=.0348 sodium chloride.
•33 mille = 1.13 milligramme nitric acid.
Insoluble :
Silica and oxide of Iron
Calcium carbonate
Magnesium do.
Soluble :
Calcium sulphate
Magnesium sulphate
Sodium sulphate
Sulphuretted Hydrogen
Phosphoric Acid
.012 grm.
.008
None.
.046 grm.
Traces only.
.087 grm.
None.
Not in excess,
No. 3 Well.—Drinking Water, situated in a field.
Colour
Taste
Smell
Transparency
Development
of
organized forms.
Reaction to test
paper.
Carbonic Acid ...
Solid matter in one
litre
Oxygen required for
organic matter.
Ammonia and orga-
nic matter
None.
Not unpleasant.
None.
Transparent.
None,
Neutral.
Free. .0044 grm. per litre.
Volatile ..
Mineral ...
.
Putrid
Decaying readily
Do. in 24 hours
Free ammonia ...
Albuminoid
Total ...
...
...
...
...
.06 grm.
.31 „
.37 „
.000100
.000200
.000450
.02 milligramme,
.10
„
xxiii
Hardness.
Removable
Permanent
Total
...
2.1°4
.2°6
.3°C
hlorine in one
litre
...
Nitric and Nitrous
acid estimated as
ammonia
...
Mineral matter ...
.0567= .0934 sodium chloride.
.40 mille = 1.48 milligramme nitric acid.
Insoluble :
Silica and Iron
Calcium carbonate
Magnesium do.
Soluble :
Calcium sulphate
Magnesium do.
Sodium sulphate
Sulphuretted Hydrogen
Phosphoric Acid
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
.06 grm.
.031 „
None.
.0571 grm.
Traces.
.0593 grm.
None.
Present, not in excess.
No. 4.— Well No. 1 in front of the Midwifery Ward.
Colour
Taste
Smell
Transparency
Development
of
organized forms.
Reaction to test
paper
Carbonic Acid
Solid matter in one
litre
None.
Not unpleasant; slightly brackish
None.
Transparent.
After 48 hours, the more ordinary forms of Volvox and Rotifers.
Faint alkaline, almost neutral.
Free, .00440 grm.
Volatile
Mineral
Total
.060 grm.
.880 „
... .940
Oxygen required for
organic
matter.
Ammonia
and
organic
matter.
Hardness
Putrid
Readily decaying
Decaying in 24 hours
Free ammonia...
..
Albuminoid
Removable
Permanent
.
...
...
...
Total ...
.000050 grm.
.00010 „
.00020 „
. 05 milligramme.
7°.
8°.05
15°.05
Chlorine in one
litre ...
...
Nitric and Nitrous
Acids.
...
.2380 grm = Sodium Chloride
... .3944 grm.
.72 Milligramme ammonia = Nitric acid 2.59 milligrammes.
xxiv
Mineral matter
Insoluble :
Silica and iron
Calcium Carbonate ..
Magnesium do.
Soluble :
Calcium sulphate ...
Magnesium do.
Sodium
do.
Sulphuretted Hydrogen ...
Phosphoric acid
.003 grm.
.144 ,,
None.
163
Traces.
.1534 grm.
None.
Not in excess.
REMARKS.—Of the four samples of drinking water of this station that have been examined—
No. 1 is a fair sample.
No. 2 is undoubtedly the best, and will bear comparison with the best water of Madras.
No. 3 stands next, except in respect of the " Albuminoid ammonia " being .02 milligramme
higher than the standard of purity (.08 per mille) laid down in Wanklyn and Chapman's book.
No. 4, one of a number of wells situated in front of the European Barracks, is the worst sample,
containing much chlorides, deposits a large sediment of carbonates on boiling, consequently unfit for
cooking. The figures representing the " Albuminoid ammonia " are high and sufficient to condemn
the use of the water for drinking purposes.*
(Signed) R. HARVEY,
Honorary Assistant Surgeon,
Analyst of Potable-waters.
* The wells near the European Barracks, of which No. 4 is a specimen, are very unequal in quality of water-
Only a few of them are used for drinking purposes.—(W.R. C.)
APPENDIX II.
On the alleged Immunity from Cholera of Workers in Gunpowder Factories. By W. R.
CORNISH, F.R.C.S., Sanitary Commissioner for Madras.
Some time in the month of July last, when cholera was prevailing in the town of
Madras, it was mentioned to me that persons, whose duties led them to handle gunpowder, or
the several ingredients employed in its composition, were notoriously exempted from the ordi-
nary epidemic diseases of the country, and especially from cholera. The belief in the pre-
servative action of gunpowder is not confined to the operatives of the Madras factory. It is,
according to Colonel R. Cadell, R.A., an accepted belief amongst the artizans in English
factories also. In order to test the truth or ortherwise of the theory, Colonel R. Cadell,
Superintendent of the powder factory, has obligingly caused the records of his establishment
to be carefully searched for a period of twenty years, and the results are shown in the
tabulated form below. The records of strength and deaths have been kept with great care,
and, except in a few instances where the causes of death were reported as " unknown," are
thoroughly reliable. The total of deaths is strictly accurate. Although the statistical evi-
dence does not fully support the view as to the immunity of the employés of the establish-
ment from cholera, neither does it entirely disprove the alleged fact :—
TABLE I.
Mortality for 20 years, Madras Gunpowder Factory.
CLASSES OF DISEASE.
Orders of Disease.
Years.
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
Total ...
Average Strength.
124
196
197
143
117
116
116
116
193
200
200
211
214
211
193
177
173
169
163
164
3,393
Total Deaths.
6
4
2
7
6
2
2
19
1
2
2
3
1
1
2
3
2
2
3
70
GENERAL DISEASES.
Sub-Division
A.
Fevers.
1
1
. .
1
1
2
1
7
Typhoid Fevers.
...
...
...
...
1
1
Cholera.
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
12
Sub-Divi-
sion B.
Phthisis.
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
...
8
Dropsy.
1
1
2
Nervous sys-
tom.
Diseases of the
Brain.
1
1
LOCAL DISEASES.
Digestive Sys-
tem.
Diarrhoea.
1
1
Dysentery.
1
1
2
Colic.
1
1
Generative
System.
Disease of the Ge-
nerative System.
1
1
Child Birth.
1
1
2
Cutaneous
System.
Carbuncle.
1
1
INJURIES.
Accidental.
Killed by explosion.
3
17
1
21
Sudden Death.
1
1
2
No appreciable
disease
Unknown.
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
8
9
xxvi
Ratio per 1,000 of Strength.
CLASSES OF DISEASE.
Orders of Disease.
Years.
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
Total ...
Toal Deaths.
49.1
20.4
10.1
48.9
51.2
17.2
17.2
163.7
5.1
100
9.4
14.01
4.7
5.1
11.2
17.3
11.8
12.2
18.2
20.6
GENERAL DISEASES.
Sub-Division A.
Fevers.
5.1
6.9
...
...
4.6
5.6
11.5
60.6
2.6
Typhoid Fevers.
0.1
...
• a.
...
606
0.2
Cholera.
6.9
25.5
8.6
51
5.0
4.6
5.6
57
5.9
...
35
Sub-Divi-
sion B.
Phthisis.
5.1
13.9
8.5
86
5.0
4.7
47
2.3
Drospy.
5.1
...
606
0.5
Disease of the Brain.
6.9
0.2
LOCAL DISEASES.
Digestive
System.
Diarrhœa.
8.1
...
02
Dysentery.
...
5.9
6.1
0.5
Colic.
5.05
...
46
0.2
Generative
System.
Disease of the Generative System.
0.2
0.2
Child-Birth.
...
4.7
6.1
0.5
Outaneous System.
Carbuncle.
...
8.6
0.2
INJURIES.
Accidental.
Killed by Explosion.
24-5
...
146.5
5.1
6.1
Sudden Death.
69
8.6
05
No appreciaable
Disease
Unknown.
8.1
5.1
5.05
6.9
17.06
8.6
8.6
2.3
In the twenty years to which the Table (I.) refers, there have occurred twelve fatal cases
of cholera out of an aggregate strength of 3,393. Fatal cases occurred in ten out of the
twenty years, and with the exception of the year 1854, in which three deaths occurred, the
mortality has been limited to a single case in each year of cholera prevalence. With the
exception of the year 1854, therefore, it is quite clear that cholera could have had no epidemic
prevalence amongst the people employed in the factory. And as regards 1854, one death
occurred on th,e 9th June, another on 3rd August, and the third on 16th October, proving
that cholera was not epidemic amongst the factory hands even in that year.
The years 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1866 were periods of unusual cholera prevalence in
Madras, and yet in only two of these years (1862 and 1866) did single cases of cholera affect
the employes of the establishment.
It must be remembered that native workers sleep at home nightly, and live at home on
Sundays, and that they spend the numerous other holidays allowed to Government servants
at home, generally in squalid and unhealthy neighbourhoods where epidemics are rife, and
that on all of these days the protective influence ¡(if any) of the gunpowder dust and sul-
phurous acid fumes would be lost to them, and that they would probably be just as liable
as their neighbours to cholera influences, while sleeping and living in localities subject to
cholera invasion. The low ratios of mortality from dysentery and diarrhoea are very
suggestive.
The table shows that out of an aggregate strength of 3,393 in twenty years, twelve
persons died of cholera, or in the ratio of 3.5 per mille. Mr. Balfour in his Statistics of
cholera shows that for a period of twenty-four years ending 1868, the Madras Native Army
lost at the rate of 4.3 per thousand of mean strength. But the comparison with the Native
Army is scarcely a fair one to make, inasmuch as the workers in the Madras gunpowder
manufactory, for the most part, live in one of the most unwholesome districts of Madras
town, or in the Municipal division which includes Choolay, Pursewalkum, Vepery, &c.,
xxvii
while Native troops live generally in healthy stations, and are, to some extent, under
sanitary supervision in their domestic life.
The population of the suburbs of Madras in which the powder makers live, is known
with tolerable accuracy, and since the year 1855 the annual cholera mortality of the district
has been specially registered.
The results of the registration in comparison with the mortality of the powder workers
is given below.
TABLE II.
Comparison of Batios of Cholera Mortality per 1,000 of the Population of the 6th Municipal Division
and Powder Factory.
6th Municipal
Division.
Supposed place
of residence of
the workmen
of the Powder
Factory.
Gunpowder Fac-
tory Establish-
ment.
Popula-
tion.
41506
174
1855
92
8·6
1856
4·6
1857
6·6
...
1858.
11·08
5·1
1859
4·1
5 0
1860
8·8
CD
00
12·2
...
1862
11·03
4·6
1863
609
...
1864
2·9
...
1865.
4·3
5·6
1866
15·5
5·7
1867
1·1
5·9
1868
OS
CO
3·4
»
Moan of
15 years.
6·7
2·6
With reference to this table, the most noticeable fact is the heavy district cholera
mortality in 1858, 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1866, and the comparative freedom of the gunpowder
workers during these years. It may be observed, too, that although cholera prevailed in the
district during fourteen out of fifteen years, deaths occurred only in seven years of the fifteen
in the gunpowder establishment. While the people of the district were losing 6·7 per
thousand every year of their number from cholera, the powder workmen lost only 2·6.
The following table is given to illustrate the liability of the gunpowder factory servants
to injuries fatal to life, in comparison with the Native Army during peace years :—
TABLE III.
Native Army (four years)
Gunpowder Establishment (for twenty years)
Strength.
112,597
3,393
Deaths from
Injuries.
17
21
Ratio per
1,000 of
Strength.
0·15
6·18
But for the liability to deaths from violence, the gunpowder workers have an undoubted
advantage in regard to prospects of longevity over the inhabitants of the district in which
they live.
This will be best seen in the following table comparing the death ratios from disease and
violence from 1855 to 1869 :—
TABLE IV.
6th Municipal Division, supposed residence of the
workmen of the Powder Factory
...
Gunpowder Factory Establishment
Aggregate
Population
of 15 years.
622,590
2,616
Deaths.
From
Disease.
25,264
45
From
Violence.
132
18
Ratio per 1,000 of
Population, mean of
15 years.
From
Disease.
40·5
17·2
From
Violence.
0·2
6·9
Thus we see that the population of the suburb of Madras, in which the people reside, die
at the rate of 40·5 per thousand, while the mortality amongst the powder workers from
disease is only 17·2.