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1905. The causes of this great loss of infant life were discussed in the Resolu-
tion recorded by Government on the Sanitary Report for 1904, and there is little
now to add to the subject. Leaflets in the vernacular were prepared by the
Sanitary Commissioner containing simple instructions for the rearing and care
of infants and also prescribing the diet of Indian mothers after childbirth, and
were distributed broadcast through the province. These may in time do good
by helping to remove old prejudices and by bringing to the homes of the mass
of the people the light of modern ideas. The highest infantile mortality (310
per mille) was, as usual, recorded in Calcutta.
Cholera.—The mortality from cholera was the highest recorded since 1901.
The deaths from this disease numbered 146,339, giving a ratio of 2 93 per mille
against 1.63 in 1904, and 2.77 the quinquennial average. With the exception
of the Chota Nagpur Division, which recorded a death-rate from this cause of
only .35 per mille, the whole Province suffered severely, the ravages of the
disease being worst in the districts of Gaya (6.63 per mile), Purnea (5.17),
Patna (5.00), Shahabad (4.94), Howrah (4.78) and Bhagalpur (4.74). In Puri
the cholera mortality rose from .99 in 1904 to 3.97 in 1905.
Plague.—The mortality from plague was the highest on record since it first
broke out in 1898, the total number of deaths being 126,084 against 75,433 in the
previous year and 58,225, the average of the last quinquennium. The period
of greatest prevalence was as usual January to April, but the climax was
reached in the month of March, in which month alone 40,090 deaths from
plague were returned. Twenty-seven districts were more or less affected by
the disease, the districts that suffered most being Saran, Patna Gaya,
Shahabad, Monghyr, and Calcutta. The most conspicuous change in the
opinion of experts in India regarding plague is the greatly increased import-
ance now ascribed to the part played by rats in spreading and keeping
alive the disease. In fact almost all the evidence regarding the causation of
the disease is now regarded as pointing to the rat as the chief agent in its
diffusion. During the year under review rat extermination was carried on in
many parts of the Province, but notably in the Giridih coal-fields and in Bihar.
As an example of the efficacy of rat extermination, the Sanitary Commis-
sioner cites the instance of Jagadispur in the Shahabad district. The
operations were carried on there very thoroughly, and though there was
a good deal of the disease in Shahabad, Jagadispur itself enjoyed complete
immunity despite the fact that a very large number of people from other
badly infected localities came to reside there. Captain Clemesha, however,
thinks it premature to conclude that because there has been little or no plague
in places where rat extermination has been carried out, this happy result is due
to the removal of the influence of rats. The arrangements to keep up the
campaign for at least another 12 months are complete, and if, as is not impos-
sible, a virulent and widespread epidemic occurs next winter, the places where
rat extermination has been carried on will have an opportunity of demonstra-
ting conclusively the usefulness or otherwise of this method of protecting the
people. Altogether 1,544 plague inoculations were performed during the year.
Fever.—Altogether 1,214,487 deaths were reported from fever, the death-
rate from this cause representing a ratio of 24.34 against 20.49 per mille in the
preceding year, and accounting for 63.17 per cent. of the total deaths registered
from different causes during 1905. The worst affected districts were Shahabad
with 37.76 deaths per mille, Nadia 37.30, Gaya 36.28, Purnea 34.67, and
Jessore 33.02. In Calcutta the death-rate from fever was only 5.13 per
thousand.
A useful note was drawn up by the Sanitary Commissioner explaining the
steps to be taken in municipalities for the prevention of malaria, and was
widely circulated. Anti-malarial measures, which aimed at the destruction of
mosquitoes, were tried at Berhampore and Balasore, and though it cannot be
claimed that they have as yet yielded great results, they have at least demon-
strated that a considerable reduction in the number of mosquitoes can be
effected at a comparatively small cost and they have paved the way for more
complete operations which will now be carried out at Berhampore, Ranaghat
(in Nadia), Jagadispur (in Shahabad), and Mohespur(in Jessore). In order to
increase the facilities for the distribution of quinine through the agency of
village schoolmasters, orders h a v e J a g a d i s p u r (in S h a h a b a d ) , and M o h e s p u r (in J e s s o r e been issued since the close of the year to