( 90 )
The returns show " that on the whole, the districts were comparatively
free from cholera during the earlier months of the year; that in some of the
districts where it did prevail, it was a continuation of the disease which was
developing in intensity at the end of the preceding year; that the disease
prevailed with much severity in the hot months, for the most part from March
to June, before the rains had properly set in ; that it increased in intensity
month by month, and was epidemic in the western and eastern circles, and
very severe in the central; that it culminated in severity and fatality in May,
and commenced abating from June; that a comparative lull took place in
September; that the disease appeared again in the cold months of October,
November and December, particularly in the eastern and central circles, and
was very severe in November, but not to the same extent as in the hot season."
The causes which originated, fostered, and propagated the cholera of this
year, as gathered from the reports of the Civil Surgeons, appear to have been
it is stated,—"bad, foul, and deficient water-supply; *** prolonged inundations
or impeded drainage retaining moisture and damp in the ground and emitting
noxious effluvia; malarious or vitiated air in the vicinity of low-lying marshes,
or pits, hollows, &c., containing exposed and putrescent vegetable and animal
matter; insanitary conditions of special localities; deficient ventilation; errors
of diet, such as the use of new rice, decaved and putrid fish, raw fruit and
vegetables, or decomposed food ; congregation of large bodies of people at the
famine relief centres, on pilgrim routes, or in pilgrim resorts and fairs during
months of excessive heat. There were instances also in which the introduc-
tion or dissemination of the disease was ascribed to importation or contagion."
" It was observed that wherever, rapid communication and a comfortable
mode of conveyance occur along a pilgrim road, as at Gya and Parasnath,
cholera decreased and did not spread to the people generally. *** The fatigue
and exposure, the bad or improperly cooked food, the dirty water, and the
filthy resting places, directly caused bowel congestions and cholera attacks
among the Puri pilgrims. Another most potent cause of cholera among the
Puri pilgrims has recently been discovered." It was the foul water " which the
duped pilgrims are made to drink copiously " from a cistern which received
the washings from the paved floor of the inner temple of Jaganath. The
floor is washed after each offering of food to the idol, and the washings carry
down the filth of all human feet treading inside the temple, with small
quantities of boiled rice and other articles prepared with ghi, molasses., &c., spilt
on the floor in being carried to and from the front of the images. These
washings run into a cistern which on examination was found full of water, and
in sounding the depth with a bamboo probe " the water was disturbed, sending
forth noxious exhalations, the breathing of which is highly deleterious. *** This
collection of the washing is continued from month to month, and from year to
year. In clearing it a cart-load of filth was found silted at the bottom." A
sample of the wafer was submitted to the Chemical Examiner, who reported—•
" No analysis performed so far away from the source of the water can be satis-
factory. The present specimen is so foul and putrid as to resemble sewage
rather than drinking water. It contains sulphuretted hydrogen sufficient to
blacken lead paper immediately it is exposed to it, and requires 34 parts
of oxygen per million to purify it."
The incidence of the cholera of 1874 among the troops and jail populations
is shown in the subjoined abstract statements.
Among the European troops—total average strength 3,864—there were
altogether 5 admissions and 4 deaths from cholera, giving a death-rate of 1.03
per mille of strength. Of the 5 stations occupied by European troops, the 2
following recorded cholera in 1874:—
Fort William
Dinapore
..,
Strength 954
„
929
Admissions 1
,,4
Deaths 1
,,3
The strength of the affected troops is 1883, the percentage of admissions
to strength 0.26, and of deaths to admissions 80. Of the 5 admissions, there
were 1 in March, 2 June, and 2 in July.
Among the families of the European soldiers, the following cholera was
recorded in 1874:—
Women—total average strength 391—there was 1 admission and 1 death
from cholera, viz. at Fort William—strength 94, in January.
Children—total average strength 670—there were 3 admissions and 2
deaths from cholera, viz, at Fort William—strength 179, in .February 2 and
in July 1; the latter recovered, the 2 others died.