65
hot weather, this year it was reduced to four feet. Samples of this water were sub-
rnitted for analysis to the Chemical Examiner in Calcutta in 1865, and it was-
pronounced by him unsafe for drinking. The catchment area of the tank is partly
occupied by the Railway station, the Civil station, and the Sudder bazaar; it must
therefore, be contaminated to a considerable extent with sewage matters. The Sud-
der bazaar is upwards of two miles from the lower end of the tank, and for a
mile or more above the point at which the people draw water; the water flowing
into the tank is not exposed to pollution ; moreover, there had been no heavy fall
of rain since the beginning of August, and consequently no fresh sewage
matter had reached the tank for many months; still, cholera prevailing in all
directions, such a water-supply for a population of 85,000, could not fail to be a
source of anxiety to all who had charge of the public health. To guard against
further pollution, in the event of rain falling, patrols were placed along the main
channels leading in to the tank, to prevent their being fouled; platforms were erected
so that the people could draw water without stepping into it; and sentries were
posted to prevent people from washing clothes or bathing in any part of the tank.
These measures probably obviated pollution of the water with any specific poison.
As the hot weather advanced, however, the water assumed a greenish appearance,
and for a short time in April it emitted a slight offensive odour; there was, how-
ever, no remedy for this, and to interdict the use of the water was out of the
question, there being no other supply for many miles. Accordingly throughout April,
May, and June, and up to the middle of July, the ghats were crowded with women
drawing water from early dawn to mid-day. Throughout this period, or as long
as the people were dependent altogether upon the Jooma tank for water, they
remained free from cholera. In May, 13 deaths only were reported; and from the last
week in May to the 3rd week in July there was only 1 death from cholera
in the whole city. The first rain fell on the 16th June; but though after this
date rain, fell almost daily, no heavy falls of rain occurred; and it was not until
towards the middle of July that water began to collect in the river and the
surface pools, or that the wells were affected by percolation from these sources
and from the main drains and water-courses that intersect the area of the city.
When, however, water became available from these sources cholera very soon
reappeared. During the week ending the 17th July 5 deaths were reported, and
by thé 21st August the deaths during the previous week had amounted to 67;
the epidemic then again declined.
230. In July 1866, and again in July of the present year, cholera first
appeared in the 4th and 5th divisions, which border on the large pools that
collect the surface drainage of that part of the city. As I have before stated,
these pools are chiefly resorted to by women for washing clothes, &c., and it is
most probable that while at work there they drink the water of the tanks, in both
years the mortality from cholera in these divisions oí the city has been far greater
among the female than among the male portion of the population ; thus
in 1866, in the 4th division, in the first week of the epidemic the mortality
was in the proportion of 3 males to 32 females ; and in the 5th division, up to the
end of the 3rd week of the epidemic, the total number of deaths amounted to
23 men and 49 women.
In the epidemic of the present year, of 11 persons treated for cholera at the
Dispensary in the 4th division in the last week of July, 10 were women; of 8
deaths reported at the station-house of the 4th division, 7 were women ; and of
23 reported in the same period at the station-house of the 5th division, 16 were
women. The use of a portion of these tanks was then prohibited, and the sub-
sequent relative mortality was to a considerable extent modified. The total mor-
tality in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th divisions, however, from the 20 July to the end of
August, amounts to 127 women and 77 men; and taking the whole city for the