( 3 )
1895.
1894.
January
... ...
... 114
4
February
... ...
... 268
20
March
...
...
... 844
44
April
... ... ...
541
96
May
... ... ...
357
82
So far as these figures go, they seem to afford ground for the surmise that
the epidemic reached its climax in the high mortality of March 1895, and is
now tending to abate. The weekly mortality shows a progressive decline from
233, the number of deaths recorded in the week ending 23rd March, to 34, the
number registered in the last week of May. The history of small-pox epidemics
in India generally is that the death-rate begins as a rule to decline in April
and May, owing to the dry heat of these months being adverse to the spread
of the disease, and presenting conditions more favourable to the recovery of
those already suffering. This rule was found to hold good for a series of
epidemics in Calcutta, except only those of 1832 and 1878 ; and in more
recent years it is fully borne out by the statistics of the epidemic of 1890,
and in a less degree by those of 1894. The causes, however, which produce
an epidemic of small-pox are so obscure, and the spread of the disease depends
so much upon the action of individuals, that all attempts to formulate general
conclusions or to forecast the course of events in any particular outbreak must
be for the most part conjectural. Sir Charles Elliott can only hope that the
present epidemic is now beginning to abate, and that the lessons it has taught
will not be lost upon the Corporation of Calcutta, who are bound by law to
make adequate and suitable provision for preventing or checking the spread
of dangerous diseases, and to enforce the compulsory provisions of the Vaccina-
tion Act.
8. The number of admissions to hospitals of persons suffering from
cholera was 567 against 431, 709 and 761 in the three previous years ; and
323 cases proved fatal, giving a death-rate of 56.9 per cent. The rate of
mortality among Europeans and Eurasians was 72.72 (16 deaths out of 22
cases), as compared with 57 14 in the previous year, and among other classes
56.33 against 55.85.
Fourteen cases of cholera originated in the Campbell Hospital, of which
nine proved fatal, and at the Howrah General Hospital a European sailor took
the disease a week after admission, and died of it. In neither case could the
cause of the outbreak be traced, though it is suggested that the insufficiency
of the supply of filtered water at Sealdah may have led to the use of polluted
tank water. In connexion with these cases, Dr. Ross refers to the result of
Dr. Haffkine's inoculation against cholera in the Gaya Jail as tending to show
that the operation affords at least temporary immunity.
9. The number of cases of dysentery and diarrhœa admitted into hospital
exceeded the large figures of 1893, although the death-rate was slightly lower,
30.17 for dysentery and 35.86 for diarrhœa, against 30.53 and 39.58, respectively,
in the preceding year. Conversely in the case of malarial fevers the admissions
fell from 4,629 to 4,059, while the death-rate increased from 7.88 to 12.21
per cent. The Inspector-General remarks that it is at first sight surprising that
the death-rate from fever and bowel-complaints should have risen in 1894,
when the rainfall was less and the climatic conditions more mormal than in
1893, and goes on to point out that the increased mortality from these causes
fell entirely on the early part of the year, and was really a legacy from the
prolonged rains of 1893. In other words, disease runs its course, and causes
produce their results without reference to the arbitrary periods dealt with
in official reports. This view is corroborated by a comparison of the mortality
from these causes in Calcutta during the first four months of 1893 and 1894, as
reported by the Sanitary Commissioner. In the first four months of 1894, the
deaths from bowel-complaints numbered 1,077 as against 707 in the first four
mo n t h s o f 1 8 9 3 ; wh i l e t h e d e a t h s f r o m f e v e r d u r i n g t h e s a me p e r i o d o f 1 8 9 4 we r e
3,106 as against 2,075 in 1893. The total number of persons treated for
venereal complaints diminished by 1,064, and the two worst forms of the
disease show a slight decline. Thirty-four lepers were admitted in the hospitals
during the year, against 32 in the previous year. The hope expressed by the