( 8 )
Numbers.
]
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
16
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
S3
S4
25
26
27
Employment or means of
livelihood.
Beggars
•••
•••
•••
Cultivators ...
•••
•••
Labourers ...
...
...
Shopkeepers and merchants
Supported by relations or friends ...
Servants, officials
...
...
Landlords ...
...
...
Weavers and spinners .<•
Potters
...
...
...
Carpenters ...
...
Washermen ...
Syce and grass-cutters ...
Oil-makers ...
...
...
Tailors
...
...
Cowherds
...
...
Sweepers
Shoemakers, tanners
...
...
Carriers (kahars)
...
...
Gardeners ...
...
...
Barbers
...
...
Blacksmiths ...
...
...
Grain-parchers or grinders
Priests, teachers
Water-carriers (bhisties)...
...
Shepherds ...
...
...
Masons
...
...
...
Fishermen ...
...
Carried over
...
Number
so em-
ployed at
time of
exami-
nation.
496
363
156
no 80
40
28
19
15
15
14
14
13
13
12
12
12
10
10
9
8
8
6
6
6
5i
4
1,484
Numbers.
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
Employment or means of
livelihood.
Brought forward ...
Confectioners
...
...
Prostitutes ...
Betel-sellers ...
...
...
Basket and chick-makers
Prisoners
...
...
...
Goldsmiths ...
...
Dyers
...
...
...
Tile-makers ...
...
..
Contractors for carts ...
..
By sale of property
...
..
Wood-cutters
Butchers
...
...
,.
Cart-drivers ...
Ornament-makers
Lawyers and brokers ...
,.
Fowl-breeders
Bird-catcher ...
Fireman
...
Rope-maker ...
Weighman ...
Distiller
...
...
.,
Cutler
Horse-dealer...
Total
Number
so em-
ployed at
time of
examina-
tion.
1,484
4
3
3
3
S
3
3
2
2
a
2
2
2.
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
,
1,531
And it appears that about one-tliird of all those afflicted have drifted into beggary.
Indeed, if to the total of 496 beggars, the 80 persons supported by relation or friends,
and the three prisoners are added, the ratio of persons dependent on charity will be nearly
3.8 per cent, of the total afflicted. This deplorable result is to be expected, of course, in
a lingering condition of disease which, in its aggravated form, destroys the hands and
feet and otherwise renders the sufferer unfit to labour.
18. Yet, the list of persons still able to support themselves is a goodly one, and
provides undeniable evidence that so long as a leper can work, there is little or no pre-
judice in this country against his employment in his special line of business or profes-
sion, and this not in cases so slight as to be easily concealed from the general public.
19. In illustration of these points, I record two typical cases received from Mu-
zaffarnagar—one of a man reduced to beggary, the other of a man who supports himself
as a grain-seller.
" The case of Kesri, 30 years of age, a beggar, was formerly a gardener. The
whole body insensible, marks of accidental burns on the left hip and shoulder, felt no
pain when burnt. The palms of the hands without fingers, all the toes of the feet drop-
ped off and healed, a large ulcer on the ball of the left great toe."
" The case of Dewan, aged 45, grain-seller in the bazar: patches of discolouration,
with annestheisa over the whole body. The right index finger hypertrophied. The
fingers of the left hand contracted. Both feet swollen, and a large ulcer over the balis
of the toes of the left foot."
20. I could quote many such cases in support of the opinion that lepers do not
find themselves denied the means of livelihood while able to work. They may be
shunned by their relations and caste people as disgracefully afflicted or unpleasant,
but do not apparently lose caste, or find the general public unwilling to buy of them,
or employ them, because of their suffering condition. And, when a leper becomes a
beggar, it is, as a rule, by reason of his having fallen into a helpless condition as the
disease advances. Even leper prostitutes apparently are not debarred from gaining s
livelihood by the practice of their calling.