( 99 )
the greatest mortality being in March, April and May, then a gradual decline
till November, and an almost free interval from December onwards. The total
deaths registered were 2,480, and 299 villages out of 4,179 were affected.
In Santhal district the seasonal prevalence of cholera is very similar to that
observed in Bhagalpar and Monghyr; from May to October was the season
of greatest mortality; from November to April there were a few sporadic
cases in the district. The total mortality registered is 1,005; only 198
villages out of 9,634 were affected.
The districts of Patna division were more severely visited by cholera in
1875 than in 1874, and Gya suffered most. In the Patna district the disease
prevailed throughout the year, but in sporadic form the first two months. In
March there was an increase till June, when the greatest mortality of the year
was reached, after which the majority of the deaths occurred in the city of
Patna and the adjoining unions of Dinapur. The total deaths registered were
2,062, and 624 villages out of 5,242 were affected.
In Gya district the disease existed throughout the year, except in
February; it was most severe in the Aurangabad" sub-division to the south,
and a part of the Jahanabad sub-division, to the north, was entirely free from
it; many villages on the banks of the Sone were affected. The total deaths
were 3,505, and 303 out of 6,530 villages were affected. In the Shahabad
district cholera was present in every month, except January and December,
and affected all the 15 circles; June was the most fatal month, as in Patna
and Gya, The total deaths were 1,346, and out of 5,110 villages 247 were
affected. In East and West Tirhut (Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga) registration
was still defective, and " affords very little aid in tracing the commencement and
progress of this or other diseases." Cholera appeared in Darbhanga at a festival
held at Bazitpur in March, and in April deaths from the disease were reported
from every circle in the district; the circles which suffered most severely were
Madhobani at the northern extremity of the district, and Bazitpur on its
southern boundary. In Ghamparan cholera was prevalent from May to October
inclusive; only one death was reported in April, and none in the other months.
Total deatns 521, and villages affected 60 out of 2,299 in the district. In Saran,
considering the density of the population and the general prevalence of
cholera in Bengal, the district did not suffer much in 1875. A total of 832
deaths, or '40 per 1,000 of population, was reported, and 241 out of 4,350
villages were affected.
Each of the four districts of the Chhota Nagpur division reported cholera
during the year. In Hazaribagh and Lohardagga the season of prevalence
corresponded with that in the Patna group of districts, the greatest mortality
occurring in June and July with an almost total absence of the disease in the
cold months. In Singhbhum and Manbhum, on the other hand, although cholera
did not prevail with severity, there was a more even distribution of the disease
over the whole year. In Manbhum the greatest mortality was reached in
March and April; in Singhbum in June and July, with a decided increase again
in November and December.
In the districts of Bardwan, Bankura, Birbhum, Serampur and Howrah t
none of which, with the exception of Howrah, suffered severely, there is more
variation in the seasons of greatest prevalence, though in all of them cholera
manifests the tendency to increase at two periods in the year.
Howrah returned a death rate of 2.58 per 1,000 of its population, and
more than one-fourth of the total deaths occurred in the municipality of
Howrah. In the suburbs of Calcutta, in a little more than one quarter of
a million of inhabitants, 2,099 deaths from cholera were reported in 1875. The
disease was not confined to one locality more than another, and was present in
a marked degree in every month. March, April, and December were the
months of greatest intensity. Regarding the Port of Calcutta, reference
is made to some valuable notes on cholera, recorded by Dr. French, the
result of his observations and inquiries during the last four months of the year,
for which period he held the appointment of Health Officer of the port.
There appears to be no peculiar locality in the port affected more than
another. * * * There were altogether 34 cases of cholera on 20 ships * * *
No case occured in vessels between their arrival at the mouth of the river
and their morrings in port. " Nearly all the cases occured after the vessels
o 2