NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
CHAPTER IV.
DISINFECTION.
The Government of India in their Resolution on the Report o£ the
Indian Plague Commission emphasized the results to be expected from
chemical disinfection by a specially trained staff, and placed this measure
at the head of their recommendations. It was further pointed out that'
to apply one method efficiently and thoroughly was better than to apply a
number of methods with an inadequate and insufficiently trained staff,
and in large towns where plague was constantly recurring chemical
disinfection was the chief measure to be relied upon.
Chemical disinfection was accordingly adopted as the principal
measure in plague operations this year.
The question of the staff to be employed was considered, and it was
found that the minimum establishment necessary to maintain efficiency
in plague operations in the City should be fixed at thirteen Staff Corps
officers and five English doctors.
This estimate was accepted and
approved by Government. About the commencement of the year the
required number of English doctors were obtained and on arrival they
were appointed as Personal Assistants to the District Officers, and the
training and supervision of the staff employed on disinfection became
their most important duty. The steam sterilizers were placed under
their control at the same time.
The subordinate staff employed heretofore was retained, but their
training has undergone very considerable improvement. Every sub-
inspector in charge of a disinfection gang was in possession of a written
copy of instructions and orders for guidance in disinfection work. The
greatest stress was laid upon these orders which the staff were required
to carry out in their daily work as fully and completely as possible. The
closest attention was paid to the mixing of the acidulated solution and
phenyle with the correct quantity of water. Every bucket and measure
glass was carefully marked off to ensure that the solutions used should
be of the right strength. Frequent surprise visits were paid while the
gangs were at work disinfecting, and samples collected of the solution
in use which were afterwards analysed and tested at the Central Labora-
tory, and in only a few instances was the solution found to be of a
strength differing from that ordered for use.
The District officers and Medical officers threw themselves heartily
into the work, moving about from gang to gang to see that orders
were properly carried out, and exercised the very closest supervision
over the sub-inspectors in charge of gangs. Attention was given to minute
71
details in the modus operandi of disinfecting the various kinds of in-
fected houses and dwellings met with in the course of plague work. The
officers did not confine themselves to precept but taught also
by example, showing the workman how to go to work and
infusing him with a belief in the utility of his labours.
It was soon found that considerable improvement had been made in
the methods of disinfection. As disinfection was becoming to be appre-
ciated in some parts of the city, the District officers arranged for those
who asked, being provided with disinfectants and paraphernalia for
use, in cases where patients had not been removed to hospitals ; and this
was done under the supervision of the plague staff, who saw that
the disinfectants were properly applied. District officers resorted
freely to general disinfection of houses where rats were found
or where several plague or suspicious cases occurred. It was found
advisable to instruct the gangs not to disinfect walls and roofs out of a
man's reach except places that may have served for the reception of
infected materials. Brushes were introduced for the first time and the
method of using them to the greatest advantage was carefully studied
and acted upon. Goa brooms were used for soft mud floors and walls.
In the majority of cases the people preferred to wait until the
disinfection of their dwellings had been completed and to re-occupy
them at once in place of going to camp. In this they studied their own
convenience.
The promptitude with which disinfection has been carried out is a
noticeable feature amongst the improvements effected in disinfection this
year. Only a very small proportion of houses were disinfected as late as
24 hours after death. The causes of delay were one by one examined,
steps were taken to overcome them, and the endeavours made in this direction
met with very considerable success. There will always remain, however,
some causes of delay which cannot be helped. District and Medical officers
were instructed to watch and report upon the causes of re-infection of
places that had been disinfected. In such a matter the difficulty of
finding reliable evidence was very great. Dwellings were found re-infected
shortly after disinfection owing to importation of fresh cases of plague.
This was a common experience in boarding houses and of constant oc-
currence in Wari Bunder district, where there are a large number of such
houses.
The delays in disinfection of the houses of Parsis and Mahomedans
alluded to in former annual reports have been to a considerable extent
minimised by the efforts of the District officers, more especially in
A Ward and the Central District. The Secretary of the Parsee Pun-
chayat Mr. Modi has given invaluable assistance in this direction, and
Parsee houses are now disinfected within 24 hours of] death. In the
Central District the sectional Medical officers and the handful of volunteers
who still continued to work nobly aided the District officers in their
successful efforts to introduce early disinfection in place of the delays
72
which had been for so long countenanced with regard to the Ziarat and
other religious ceremonies. Great credit is due to all concerned in the
successful accomplishment of this difficult work.
As in the previous year so in the present the District officers de-
voted attention to the disinfection of empty houses as well as of those
with notoriously bad records before the epidemic proper commenced.
In many cases the people showed they believed in this precautionary
measure of disinfection.
Very little tile-turning was done in the City proper, but in F and
G Wards and Wari Bunder where single storied or only ground floor
structures were met with, a certain amount was done.
There is a consensus of opinion amongst the officers that disinfection
of a whole house gives better results than disinfection merely of the case
room or adjoining rooms. In large chawls, too, disinfection of one or
more flats is held to be more worthy of adoption than disinfection of
single rooms. There are numerous examples showing that the results of
whole house or whole floor disinfection are such as to justify the opinions
held on the subject—in the case of badly infected houses.
In the course of disinfection work rats were frequently found.
They were sent to the Government Research Laboratory and in nearly
every case where it was possible to make an examination of the body,
plague bacilli were discovered in the corpses of these rodents. Some-
times they were found in the mattresses or bed clothes, at others lying
dead in the cooking utensils. Numbers were discovered in lofts and in
the kitchens of the better class of houses ; also in many parts of the City
on the roads and gullies. It is almost needless to say that wherever dead
rats were found the people suffered from plague.
In reviewing the disinfection work during the late epidemic it may be
said that the District officers and special Medical officers devoted them-
selves to attaining the utmost thoroughness and efficiency in the work as
well as to improving and training the staff engaged upon it, and that their
endeavours met with very considerable success, but it was felt that more
Staff Corps Officers were wanted for supervising the disinfection work.
The measure was pushed rigorously and every dwelling place where a
death had occurred, the cause of which could not be determined, not to be
due to plague was disinfected with a promptitude and efficiency hitherto
unknown and under the closest possible supervision, the necessity for
which became more and more apparent as the work increased. Disin-
fection was on the whole unpopular, but this was due mostly to the incon-
venience it caused to the people whose houses had to be disinfected and
their clothing collected and despatched to the sterilizers. The belief in
the utility of the measure has certainly increased, mainly owing to the
tact, patience and ability which the District officers have shown in con-
vincing the people and inducing them to carry out this measure, by the
exercise of their own free will and as a consequence of their appreciating
73
and understanding the benefits to be anticipated therefrom.
The
resistance to the measure was of a passive kind and the ensuing friction
of the mildest possible type, in comparison with the experience of
past years ; and with the advent of the District officer accompanied
perhaps by a trustworthy volunteer all trouble ceased and the inevitable
orders would be accepted with good will.
Dr. Cayley was in charge of the Central Laboratory for the manu-
facture of the Perchloride of Mercury Solution, which continued to be used
in disinfection work. He reports as follows :—
To
THE PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER.
SIR,—I have the honor to forward my report on the Administration of the
Laboratory for the preparation of the Perchloride of Mercury Solution during
the year ending 31st May 1901.
For the first 8 months of the year, namely from June 1st 1900 to January
31st 1901, no alteration was made in the strength of the disinfectant from that
in use during the preceding two years. Since February 1st 1901, the strength of
the concentrated solution prepared at Foras Road has been reduced, so that, while
the same measures and buckets are being used, diluted solutions have now a
strength of 1 in 950 instead of 1 in 760.
The quantities of Perchloride of Mercury, etc., used in the preparation of
the original concentrated solution and of the weaker concentrated solution, as at
present prepared, are given below :—
(a) Original solution.—
To each jar having a nominal capacity of 2 1/2 gallons, i.e., 20 pint
were added—
2 1/2 lbs. of Perchloride of Mercury.
4 pints of Hydrochloric Acid.
2 gallons of Water.
Each jar of this concentrated solution had a strength of 1 part of Perchloride
of Mercury in 10, and the diluted solutions as used in the districts had a theore-
tical strength of 1 in 760.
(b) Solution as prepared since February 1st 1901.—
To each jar having a nominal capacity of 2 1/2 gallons, i.e., 20 pints are
added—
21bs. of Perchloride of Mercury.
3 pints of Hydrochloric Acid.
2 1/8 gallons of Water.
This solution has a strength of 1 in 12 1/2 of Perchloride of Mercury, and the diluted
solution as used in the Districts has a theoretical strength of 1 in 950.
To both these concentrated solutions a sufficient quantity of a watery solu-
tion of Methylene Blue is added to give it a distinct blue colour. Thus, each jar of
the reduced solution contains 1/2lb. of Perchloride of Mercury and 1 pint of Hydro-
19
74
chloric Acid less than was contained in each jar of the original solution. This
has effected a considerable reduction in the cost of the disinfectants, as will be
seen from the following figures.
The average cost of the Perchloride of Mercury was Us. 2-4-0 per lb; and
of the Hydrochloric Acid As. 4 per pint. Thus, on each jar there is a saving
of Rs. 1-2-0 on the Perchloride and of As. 4 on the Hydrochloric Acid
used, making a total of Rs. 1-6-0 on each jar.
In the month of March 911 jars were supplied to the different districts and
the saving in this month alone was Rs. 1,251.
During the year 107 cwt. of Perchloride of Mercury were supplied at a cost
of Rs. 25,982 and 1,006 jars of Hydrochloric Acid, at a cost of Rs. 5,520.
Total Cost—Perchloride of Mercury.
Hydrochloric Acid.
Rs.
25,982
" 5,520
" 31,502
5,503 jars of the concentrated solution were supplied during the year, thus the
cost of the Perchloride and Hydrochloric Acid in each jar was Rs. 5-11-2. To this
must be added the cost of the Methylene Blue, labels, etc., so that the cost of each
jar was practically Rs. 6.
The wages of the staff employed for the year came to Rs. 2,383. The cost of
the 5,503 jars at Rs. 6 each amounted to Rs. 33,018.
Total Wages
Jars
Rs.
2,383
„
33,018
„
35,401
which has approximately been the cost of the preparation of the Disinfectant for
the 12 months ending May 31st, 1901.
During the year samples of the diluted solutions used in the districts were
analysed on several occasions. As a rule, these samples were found to be of full
strength. In the few cases where they were found to be below strength the
District officers concerned were communicated with, and the necessary inquiries
were made.
During the year the instructions which had been drawn up to prevent
mercurial poisoning were rigidly carried out, and as a result only one cooly had
to go on sick leave from this cause, and he was only absent for fourteen days. Most
of the coolies had at one time or another to be put on outdoor work such as carrying
messages, and were stopped from working with the Perchloride, as they had begun
to shew symptoms of mercurial poisoning. These steps produced the desired
results and the men recovered without having to go on sick leave.
Several of the coolies suffered from inflamed eyes and sore throats from the
acid fumes, but the Chlorate of Potash Gargle and Astringent Eye Lotions provided
for their use prevented the symptoms from being severe. At the end of the year
the health of all the employes was good.
Tables are attached showing the number of jars of the concentrated solution
supplied to each District during the year and the number of jars issued in each
month.
75
Statement shewing Number of Mercurial Solution Jars Issued to the District
Officers, month by month from 1st June 1900 to 31st May 1901.
District Officer, A. Ward
Do.
do. B. Ward, South.
Do.
do. B. Ward, North.
Do.
do. C. Ward
Do.
do. Central District
Madanpura Sub-Office...
District Officer, D. Ward
Do.
do. E. Ward, East ...
Do.
do. E.Ward, Byculla.
Do.
do. E.Ward, West...
Do.
do. F. & G. Wards...
Divisional Health Officer. No. 3.
The Superintendent of Private
Health Camps
Total ...
1900.
June.
35
10
24
17
15
9
15
22
80
38
265
July.
15
20
24
40
30
10
7
20
90
51
307
August.
30
20
24
70
30
10
12
20
25
100
48
389
September.
35
20
24
40
45
30
12
10
20
100
24
360
October.
30
20
24
40
45
10
27
5
50
24
275
November.
30
20
24
20
60
7
.
8
15
15
8
207
December.
55
10
24
60
60
24
10
15
25
13
1
297
1901.
January.
80
30
84
130
105
12
30
27
60
68
626
February.
105
60
120
150
105
30
60
28
115
77
850
March.
105
60
120
165
175
51
60
35
115
67
1
1
955
April.
45
30
48
60
150
19
30
32
50
49
1
514
45
45
48
50
145
12
15
30
45
23
...
458
TOTAL.
610 Jars.
345 ,.
588 „
842 „
965 „
76
172 „
292 „
274 „
845
490 „
1 „
3 „
5,503 Jars.
Statement showing the Number of Solution Jars prepared month by
month from 1st June 1900 to 31st May 1901,
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
1900
"
"
"
"
"
"
1901
"
"
"
"
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total. ...
Months.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
..
No. of jars.
216 Jars.
318 „
375 „
381 „
286 „
198 „
319 „
561 „
934 „
911 „
524 „
473 „
5,496 Jars.
(Sd.)
C. H. CAYLEY, M.D.,
A. H. EKINS,
Medical Officer in charge,
Inspector.
Central Disinfection Depot,
Foras Road.
76
Sterilizers.
The Sterilizers of which there are four in the City are located at
Modikhana, Babulla Tank, Northbrook Gardens and the Arthur Road
Hospital. It was one of the chief duties of sub-inspectors to attend to the
collecting and despatching of infected clothing to the nearest sterilizers.
"The people passively resisted this measure and used to hide their kit
whenever they could, it was not therefore easy in every case to gather
from the people all the clothing that should have been sent. Experience
showed in this instance as in so many others the absolute necessity for
efficient supervision over disinfection work.
The amount of clothing sent to the sterilisers during the year has
of course exceeded in quantity any sent in previous years. The North-
brook Gardens Sterilizer which was in the heart of the City bore the
brunt of the work. This machine was practically in use from morning
till nightfall from day to day without a stop except for cleanings and
repairings which took place periodically. The process of disinfection at
the steam sterilizers received the careful attention of the District officers
and the special Medical officers, who paid frequent and constant
visits to see that the operation was correctly performed. The thermo-
meters supplied were used to check the process and to see that steam
was kept at a temperature of not less than 230° F. The clothing,
bedding, and other articles sent for disinfection were received at
the sterilizing station by a subordinate who issued a receipt for the
number of bundles received. The hand cart or open ambulance
frame which was used to convey the clothing was there and then disin-
fected in every case before the return journey was made with the disin-
fected kit. The subjoined statement shows the amount of clothing disin-
fected at the Northbrook Gardens sterilizer which was opened for
work on the 25th January 1900.
Number of Bundles Disinfected at the Northbrook Gardens Sterilizer.
Name of the Month.
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
...
...
...
April
May
...
Total ...
Bundles disinfected
up to 1st June 1900.
Central District.
Nil
"
"
"
"
"
"
6
84
359
1,075
018
2,142
Other District.
Nil.
"
"
"
"
"
"
164
987
1,128
1,163
1,011
4,453
Bundles disinfected
from the 1st June 1900
to 25th May 1901.
Central District.
1,203
807
835
4,533
2,892
2,746
2,839
4,278
5,249
5,412
5,118
4,697
40,609
Other District.
1,392
691
776
1,669
2,640
2.395
2,534
7,031
7,233
5,366
3.525
2,739
37,991
97
Dr. Patrick sums up his views on disinfection as follows :—
My belief is that not only iß disinfection useless in Bombay but that it is actually
harmful inasmuch as it withdraws the attention of the public and of the executive
from the possibility of adopting measures of permanent value for the sanitary state of
the city. Disinfecting Bombay by means of chemical solutions is an impossibility. Until
the city be so reconstructed that into all its streets and through all its houses sunlight may
enter freely and with it fresh air, the conditions favourable to the continuance and spread
of plague will remain.
Temporary measures have been carried out for the last five years at great expense
to Government and to the Municipality with no resultant permanent benefit to the health
of the community and no apparent effect upon the course of the plague epidemic in any
one year or from one year to another. I would confidently offer the opinion that if all plague
measures as such were abandoned and attention given to the sanitation of the city, actual
and potential, by strengthening the hands of the city Health Officer in every direction
great expense would be saved, and results as good nay better because more permanent would
be obtained.
25
CHAPTER V.
CAMPS.
Population
in Camps.
The accompanying statements show :—
(1) The number of contacts and evicts passed through the
various camps under Municipal control.
(2) The number passed through the camps or other accommo-
dation attached to various hospitals—public and private.
(3) The number passed through various private camps.
(4) The number permanently accommodated in camps and
hutments in the North of the Island.
STATEMENT
I.—Showing the number of Contacts and Evicts passed
through Health Camps under Municipal Control from 1st June 1900
to 31st May 1901.
Name of Camp.
Elphinstone
Bridge
Camp
...
...
Gokuldas Tejpal Camp
Wari Bunder Camp...
Narielwady Camp ...
Balaram Camp
...
Vithal Sayana and
Victoria Bunder S.
Camp
...
... (
Gilder Street Camp ...
Umerkhady Camp ...
Northbrook
Garden
Camp
...
...
Peru Lane Health
Camp
...
...
Grant Road Health
Camp
...
...
Total... |
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Contacts
Evicts...
Available
accommo-
dation.
6G0
650
500
1,725
1,200
220
860
144
205
75
125
6,364
tß x o
E3 ^2
a g«?
99
219
432
185
102
66
202
140
105
185
18
17
53
29
10
39
1,059
842
o
891
2,209
1,804
838
923
471
2,463
325
6
267
603
79
11
305
25
787
]58
150
275
99
7,944
4,745
g
c
H
70
68
13
4
1
...
...
...
1
6
...
...
o
...
3
1
1
6
3
97
83
Discharg-
ed.
913
1,873
2,206
983
846
535
2,653
325
146
366
726
77
29
318
25
834
186
158
308
96
8,G79
4,924
S
1
11
17
8
3
1
12
...
...
5
7
2
...
1
...
3
...
1
...
45
27
SI;
"s
5
M
6
476
28
176
49
182
553
99
Statement IT.—Showing the number of Contacts and Evicts passed through
Gamps or other Accommodation attached to Hospitals—Public and
Private from 1st June 1900 to 31st May 1901.
Name of Hospital.
Arthur Road Hospital ...
... j
Modikhana Hospital.
...
... -
Maratha Plague Hospital.
... \
Dariasthan Lohana Hospital
... •!
Jain Hospital, Pinjrapole
... \
General Mahoinedan Hospital. ... \
Thakordwar Lohana Hospital ... -J
Adamjee Peerbhoy Hospital
Jullahi Sunni Hospital ...
Bene-Israel Hospital
...
... <
Jain Hospital, Pavel
...
... j
Hindu Fever Hospital ...
... -
Mahim Plague Hospital ...
... <
Pathare Prabhoo F. Hospital ...
Petit Mills Plague Hospital
... i
Total... -j
Add—Total of Contacts (
and Evicts in Camps ... (
Grand Total ... j
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Contacts.
Evicts.
Num-
bers in
Camps
on
l-fi-l!)00
30
3
7
110
O
1(5
1
4
9
19
4
1
11
2
218
5
1,059
842
1,277
847
Admit-
ted.
23
r>
182
105
24
ü
i) 8
10
32
92
4
108
5
4
23
117
227
41
812
249
7,944
4,745
8,75(5
4,994
SI L
• ••
• *•
...
5
o
O
...
4
...
...
3
74
«(i
3
97
83
188
8G
Dis-
liargcd. l
53
8
189
215
24
4
04
10
30
97
23
108
9
1
15
24
118
149
41
937
24G
8,079
4,924
9.G1C
5,170
3ied.
...
...
2
...
...
...
4
0
...
45
27
51
27
_¿
Q3
5
1
1
5
182
553
183
558
100
Statement III.—Showing the number of persons who passed
through various Private Camps.
Name of Camp.
Bhatia Segregation Camp ...
Daivadnya Health Camp, No.l
Christian Camp
...
...
Dakshni Brahmin Camp.No. 1
Samavanshi Kshatriya Camp.
Gaud Saraswat Camp
Pathare Prabhoo Camp, No. 1
Chandrasenya Kayastha P.
Camp
...
Khatry Camp
...
...
Daivadnya Camp, No. 2 ...
Pathare P. Bhagwantrao
Camp
Pathare Prabhoo Camp, No. 2
Dakshni Brahmin Camp, No.2
Maratha Kshatriya Camp ...
Dr. Fereira's Camp
Coolies and Halalkhores'
Quarters ...
...
...
Gas Company Employés
Camp
Total ...
Available
accommoda-
tion.
100
200
400
400
250
850
640
100
100
200
200
250
300
100
100
50
50
3,790
Evicts.
»>
»«
M
II
II
))
»»
»1
II
II
11
II
1»
»»
11
II
o
oíd
S £3
0
6
...
38
95
50
332
90
20
152
139
33
...
...
...
...
...
985
s
<i
80
168
373
399
239
33G
650
81
70
200
207
255
305
91
75
46
35
3,610
I
ce
C
&H
...
1
3L
9
10
2
2
1
...
...
10
12
9
...
...
...
...
87
1
"o
p
110
100
294
424
319
313
842
155
87
348
221
175
261
37
58
6
85
3,785
%
S
...
3
• • •
4
5
3
5
3
1
4
1
1
5
2
...
...
...
37
Remaining.
...
70
48
• ••
...
68
138
12
2
...
114
100
30
52
17
40
...
686
Parsee Health Camps—
Modikhana
...
...
Marine Lines ...
...
Chowpaty
...
...
Baliwala's Wadi
Churney Eoad
Dadar ...
...
...
Total ...
Evicts.
ii
it
ii
ii
«i
13
284
4
18
84
...
403
85
423
356
112
482
79
1,537
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
58
531
360
104
469
43
1,565
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
40
176
...
26
97
36
375