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Total rainfall of the year, 60·62 inches.
The figures show great prevalence of cholera in January, very consid-
erable decline in February, great increase in March, continuing up to May,
with a maximum of prevalence in April; sudden decline in June, continued
steady decline month by month to October, increase again in October, con-
tinued with great prevalence in December. The great prevalence in January
was a continuance of the preceding year's cold-weather epidemic, which, as
usual, finally subsided in February. The rise for this year's cold-weather
epidemic is not so great as in some former years, and commences later, due
probably to the prolonged continuance of the rains.
The year 1878 opened with a more or less severe prevalence of cholera in
Bengal and Orissa. "Within this area the disease continued to prevail with
increasing virulence up to May in Bengal, and up to the end of the year
with slight intermissions in February, October, and November in Orissa.
In Darjiling and Jalpaiguri, its prevalence, however, commenced and also
ended later, viz., from April to September. In Bengal the intensity was sub-
dued generally from June to September, and the winter increase was from
October to December. Chota Nagpur suffered severely only from March to
August, and was comparatively free from the disease during the rest of the
year. East Bihar, with the exception of Shahabad and Darbhanga, showed
a marked immunity from the disease throughout the year.
In the western districts of Bengal, as a whole, cholera prevailed more
extensively and with greater fatality in 1878 than in the preceding year. The
months of greater prevalence were January to April, and November and
December. The disease was present in 2,072 villages against 1,711, and
the mortality amounted to 1·29 against·88 per mille of population in 1877.
But there were certain localities within this area in which the reverse
was the case; thus, in Birbhum the mortality from cholera in 1878 stood
at 1·86 against 2·42 per mllle of population in 1877, and the area affected
was covered by 4,659 villages against 5,885 in the preceding year. In Dinagepur
cholera prevailed with great mildness in November and December, while
it was very severe in the same months of the preceding year. This
immunity is attributed to the heavier rainfall of 1878 and to the floods
of the river Parnobaha. In Rajshahi there was exceedingly little cholera
in 1878; and in Darjiling, while the town was entirely exempt from the
disease, it prevailed with much severity in the Terai and spread as far as
Kurseong which also suffered much.
In Eastern Bengal there was a very great and sensible reduction of
cholera in 1878, both in regard to its extent of prevalence and fatality ; only
4,428 villages were affected against 7,828 in the preceding year, and the
mortality fell to 1·18 against 6·63 per mille of population in 1877, the high
mortality of which year was largely due to a continuance through its earlier
months of the cholera epidemic which followed the cyclone inundation of
October and November 1876. In this portion of Bengal it is an established fact
that the months of greatest prevalence of cholera are January to May
and November and December, the rainy months being those of greatest
immunity.
In Dhaka in 1878 cholera prevailed somewhat severely, and became
general from the end of March to the end of April; the usual autumnal
epidemic did not commence until December, and was very mild in character.
This delay in its appearance was attributed to the heavy inundation which
began in the end of July and continued to the end of September, when the
rivers rose higher than they had ever been known to have done before.
In Bihar the extent of country affected by, and the mortality from,
cholera in 1878 were somewhat less, on the whole, than in 1877, the death-
rate being 1·27 against 1·33 per mille of population, and the number of
villages attacked 3,297 against 4,591. But this diminution was confined to
the eastern district of the area, the fatality and extent of country covered
by the disease being considerably greater in the western districts, excepting
Malda in which district the monthly incidence of the disease is the same
as in Bengal, whereas in the other districts of Western Bihar the months of
greatest cholera prevalence are March to September. In Parnia cholera was
epidemic in many parts of the district from March to May; the disease is