NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
363
REWA KANTHA AGENCY.
Area
Population in 1891
Density of population
Rainfall
4,837 sq. miles.
726,056.
150 10 per sq. mile.
Prom 35 to 40 inches.
A large number of States, many of which run, as it were, through the Pauch Maháls
District and divide it into two, form the Rewa Kántha group. This group comprises an
area of about 4,800 square miles, with a population of some 725,000. Although the majority
of the States are self-governed, the whole group is under the control of the Collector of
the Pauch Maháls, who is also Political Agent, Rewa Kántha. A review of plague in the
Rowa Kántha Agency may, therefore, appropriately find a place here.
Boundaries.
Rewa Kántha is about 140 miles from north to south, and varies from ten to fifty
from east to west. It is bounded on the north by Mahi
Kántha and Meywár ; on the cast by the Panch Maháls and
the Bhopavar Agency : on the south by the Ghekwár's territory ; and on the west by
Broach and Kaira.
Climate and natural features.
In the forest-covered tracts of eastern Rewa Kántha, with large areas of land rich in
springs, the cold is about January sometimes very severe, ice
forming on pools, and the crops suffering severely from frost.
The hot weather lasts from the middle of April till after a good fall of rain in July. The
heat, too, is sometimes very severe, the thermometer in the shade in Lunáváda and Báriya
standing at 108° and 110°. In 1878 the heat was so great that several people died of it and
bats and monkeys fell dead from the trees.
Healthy in the open parts, the climate of the eastern hill and forest tracts, especially
of Báriya and Rajpipla, is very sickly. Fever, present throughout the year, is commonest
in September, October, and part of November, when the waterpools and rank forest growth
of the rains are drying up.
In the hilly parts the soil varies much, but in the open districts it is black throughout.
Except a few tracts of rocky and inferior black soil, the Rewa Kántha is on the whole
fertile.
Previous epidemics.
There is no previous history of plague in this District :
cholera being hitherto the only source of epidemic disease
therein.*
Chandod.
Population—3,271.
Although two imported cases had been detected at the Poicha Detention Camp in
Rajpipla Territory, outside the village of Poicha, no indigenous
cases occurred up to November 1898, except at Chándod,
whore plague appeared in March 1898.
* Bombay Gaeellcer, Vol. VI.
364
[CHAP. XI.
The following are the monthly figures for Chándod from the commencement:—
Month.
March
1898
April
May
September
October
November
December ,,
January
1899
Total...
Cases.
20
38
1
35
29
19
10
...
152
Deaths.
14
33
3
25
21
14
9
1
120
Chhota Udepur.
Population—3,552.
First Epidemic.—Towards the end of October 1898, the mortality from fever in the
town of Chhota Udepur rose above the normal, but no clear
case of plague was detected until the 10th of the following
month. The origin could not be discovered. The town was
immediately divided into wards, which were searched for cases, and up to the 15th November
as many as 15 cases were found, of which 6 proved fatal. During the second half of the
month there were 20 cases with 18 deaths. The epidemic continued until the affected
localities were completely emptied in the beginning of January 1899.
The following are the figures for the Chhota Udepur epidemic :—
Month.
November 1808
December „
January 1899
Total...
Cases.
35
31
2
68
Deaths.
24
17
3
44
Second Epidemic.—The second epidemic in the Agency broke out in February
1899, with 14 cases in one week at a village called Sanor in the Sankheda Mewás. This
village belongs to a petty Chief and is not under the direct administration of the Agency.
The infection was established by means of frequent communication between the people of the
village and an infected village of the Baroda Territory situated close to it. The village
was promptly evacuated and escaped lightly. The last case was reported in the week
ending 24th March 1899, when the Pándu Mewás was suddenly attacked, and reported
no less than 66 cases and 40 deaths from four villages : one village alone returning 35
cases, and another 22. The vicinity of these villages to infected territory—British and
Gáekwári—was the main cause of this outbreak. The infected villages were promptly
and completely evacuated, and arrangements made for the isolation of contacts. The
results were characteristic : plague, which had burst out here with such virulence, died
out in two weeks, and has not, so far, revived.
REWA KANTHA.]
365
The number of cases and deaths for the second epidemic is as follows: —
'
Month.
February
1899
March
"
April
Total...
Cases.
16
66
7
89
Deaths.
17
52
7
76
92
567
SAVAMTVADI STATE.
Area
Populationin 1891
Density of population...
Rainfall
926 sq. miles.
192,948.
208 37 per sq. mile.
143 inches.
Boundariesi.
Sávantvádi, about fifty miles long and from ten to thirty
broad, is a compact territory, unbroken by the lands of any
other States or Districts.
Bounded on the north by the Málvan sub-division of Ratnágiri,. it is separated by the
line of the Sahyádri hills, on the north-east, from the lands of Kolhápur, and on the east
and south-east, from the Belguum and Bidi sub-divisions of the British district of Belgaum.
To the south lie the Dicholi and Pedna sub-divisions of the Portuguese territory of
Goa, and on the west and north-west, the Ratnágiri sub-divisions of Vengurla and Málvau.
Climate and natural features.
The cold season begins about the middle of November, the weather very suddenly
changing from damp warmth to dry cold. From February
to the middle of May strong gusty winds blow from the north-
west. The hot weather begins in March, when at times, in the afternoon, with a heavy
cloudy sky, the thermometer rises to 94°. In April, the hottest month in the year, mists
and fogs are sometimes followed by thunder, lightning, and rain from the north-east.
May, though it has a higher average temperature than April, is freshened by a strong
sea-breeze. The rainy season begins early in June and ends about the middle of October.
The soil is chiefly a light sand full of stones and gravel, and unable to yield the better
class of crops. In the north is a deep red soil, the result of the decomposition of some of
the lower trap flows. None of the rivers are of any considerable size : the Sávantvádi
rivers, rising from the western Sáhyádri slopes and passing west to the sea, displaying much
sameness of character.
There is no authentic record of plague in the Sávantvádi State previous to 1896.*
Sávantvádi.
Population—192,948.
The Sávantvádi State affords a good instance of the efficacy of surveillance and
cognate measures in excluding plague from a District or State
when thoroughly and energetically put in force. It is bound-
ed on the west and north by Ratnágiri District, on the south
by Portuguese Territory, and on the east by Kolhápur and the Southern Marátha Country
and Belgaum. Throughout 1897 and 1898, the two latter were almost constantly infected,
and imported cases occurred as early as December 1896, ultimately reach-ing a total of 41,
of which no less than 37 were fatal. Yet, up to October 1898, indigenous plague was
unknown in the Sávantvádi State.
As early as October 1896, Mr. L. P. Walsh, C. I. E., the Political Superintendent,
had called a meeting of the principal inhabitants of the Town and District, in order to im-
press on them the necessity for making arrangements to ward off plague, should it approach ;
and to deal with it, should it appear in the State. Dr. D. G. Dalgado, the Civil Surgeon,
delivered lectures on the subject by special request, and every endeavour was made to make
all classes clearly understand the position they had to face, and the need for aiding the
authorities in the execution of such measures as might be deemed necessary.
* Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. X..
SAVANTVADI.]
369
erect new huts for the villagers at the expense of the State, and further to feed the inhabit-
ants so long as they were hindered by the military cordon from following their usual occu-
pations. The cordon was removed on the 3rd December, having been maintained for
51 days."
The result was eminently satisfactory ; in the succeeding four weeks only 3 more cases
occurred, and plague then ceased in Sávantvádi.
From October 1898 to April 1899 there occurred 11 more imported cases, of which 9
ended fatally. In May 1899 there was no case, either imported or indigenous. The
following statement shows the monthly figures in the State for the whole period of
review :—
Month.
November 1896
January
1897
February
,,
March
,,
December
„
January
1898
May
„
October
,,
November ,,
February 1899
March
„
April
„
Total ...
IMPORTED.
Cases.
1
7
16
2
2
1
1
2
2
4
3
41
Deaths.
1
7
15
2
1
1
1
1
...
2
3
3
37
INDIGENOUS.
Cases.
...
...
...
...
.4.
16
2
...
...
...
18
Deaths.
...
...
...
...
...
5
1
...
...
...
6
Since May 1899 the Sávantvádi State has continued to enjoy the same freedom from
plague.
PLAGUE COMMISSIONS.]
373
A scientific witness was being examined, the strength of whose pre-conceived objections
to inoculation had apparently overcome his logical faculties. He was of opinion, he said,
that the inoculation of one person was the direct cause of plague in some other uninocu-
lated person. "Do you really mean to tell us," asked a certain critical member of the
Commission, "that if in a family one person was inoculated and another person got plague,
that the inoculation of the first member of the family would be the direct cause of the second
being attacked ?" " I do," said the witness solemnly. "On the same principle, then," the
member continued, " you would argue that if in a family one member got married and
another member got the measles, that the marriage would he the direct cause of measles ?"
"L would," said the witness, unhesitatingly. "Thank you," said the President, "we need
not detain you any longer."
Evidence was taken in English as well as in vernaculars, always in public, and,
wherever possible, in Town Halls and other public places. Facts and figures were called for and
scrutinized, each witness being asked beforehand to submit an abstract of the main points on
which he proposed to speak, and his statements thoroughly sifted. Sound theories, mature con-
clusions, bold propositions and cautious suggestions were heard, and considered side by side
with crude notions and ignorant superstitions. Armed with this mass of evidence tendered by
hundreds of witnesses, the Commission left for Europe on the 25th of March to hear further
witnesses, to consider the evidence, and to write their report, which is at present nearing
completion.
Mention should here be made of Mr. Francis Silva, of the Accountant-General's
Office, who was Chief Clerk to the Indian Plague Commission throughout their tour; and who
afterwards acted as Superintendent of the Plague Commissioner's Office, and whose
assistance in the compilation of this volume has been of the greatest value.
94
375
CHAPTER XII.
Part II.—The Literature of Plague.
The literature of plague has now assumed such proportions that some
attempt to classify and collate it, at least as regards such works as may be consi-
dered classics, will perhaps not be- out of place here. The methods of
classification which might be employed in such an attempt are many. The
method adopted in this chapter is that of chronological order, supplemented by
sub-divisions of the subject. It is not proposed, however, to discuss works on
plague published before the year 1500 A. D. ; in other words, the starting point
of the present synopsis will be that fell cycle of disease—the Black Death—which
was the first really authentic visitation of plague in Europe, and whose identity
with it is not open to question.* But in these outbursts of the pestilence, every
country in Europe was involved : the dread disease was discussed in many
tongues : and this fact has necessitated slight modifications in the original scheme
of classification. These are so obvious as not to require further comment.
16th and 17th
Centuries.
A number of works 011 plague were published in the 16th and 17th cen-
turies. The greater number of these were written in Latin : but there were also
many written in English, which were, however, of little medical value. Most
of these works it is now impossible to procure ; and they are probably hardly to
be found outside the Library of the British Museum. Of the Latin treatises the
following may be mentioned :—
(1) Vochs, Opusculum do Pestilenliâ, 1537 ;
(2) Georgius Agricola, De Peste, libri tres, Basel, 1554;
(3) Victor de Bonagentibus, Dceom Problemata de Peste, Ven. 1556 ;
(4) - Prosper Borgarutius, De Pesto, Ven. 1565 ;
(5) Hieron Mercurialis, De Pesto, praescrtim de Veneta at Patavina, Basel, 1577 ;
(6) A. Massaria, De Peste, Ven. 1597 ;
(7) Josephus Ripamontius, De Pesle, in 1630, Milan, 1641;
(8) Diemerbraeck, Tractatus de Peste, 1641-65 ;
[This work deals with the Nimegueu plague ; and is one of the most important on
the subject.]
(9) Athanatius Kirclier, Scrutinium Pestis, Rome, 1658 ; Lipsig, 1671 ;
(10) Cardinal Gastaldi, Tractatus de avertondâ et profligandâ peste politico-legalis,
Bologna, 1684 ;
[ This work is a splendid folio, written by the man who had the power to enforce his
theories and ideas. The work is historically important, us it is one of the first
which deals with quarantine and cognate matters. The mildness of the epide-
mic in Rome, of which the book treats, is said to have been due to the measures
advocated and enforced by him.]
Of the English works on plague of this period, only one need be men-
tioned :—
(11) Lodge, Treatise of Plague, London, 1603.
* See Introduction, page vi.
376
[CHAP. XII., PT. II.
One Italian work may, perhaps, also be given :—
(12) Fillipo Ingrassia, Informatione del pestifero morbo . . . Palermo e Sicilia,
1575-76.
The next batch of works on plague dealt with the Great Plague of London.
Chief of these must be placed :—
(13) Graunfe, Observations on the Bills of Mortality, London, 1665 ;
(14) M. R. Green, A Calendar of State Papers, 1665-66 ;
(15) George Thomson, Loimotomia, or The Pest Anatomize I, London, 1666 ;
(16) Nath. Hodges, Loimologia sive Pestis nupsrae apul populum Londiniensem
Narratio, London, 1672 (trans, by Quincy), London, 1720;
(17) W. Boghurst (Apothecary), Loimograchia, or An Experimental Relation of the
last Plague in the City of London.
[ This is merely a MS., but contains important details. It is in the British
Museum. ]
(18) A collection of scarce pieces on the Plague in 1665, London, 1721.
Other pieces on this great historical outbreak call for less serious considera-
tion :—
(19) Defoe, The Journal of a Citizen,—
"which," says an anonymous writer, " should be read and admired as
fiction, but accepted with caution as history "; and
(20) T. Vincent, (Minister of the Gospel), God's Terrible Voice in the City, London,
1667,—
a gentleman whose eloquence appears to have been equal to the occasion,
whether he discussed theology or plague.
18th Century.
The plague literature of the 18th Century is characterized by a large propor-
tion of French and German works. The French works, many of which were rather
belated, were undoubtedly inspired by the terrible epidemics at Marseilles and
Toulon in 1720, and in Russia and Poland in 1771. Taking, the works which
dealt with the 1720-22 epidemics first, the following may be mentioned :—
(21) Eolation Historique de la Peste en Marseille, Cologne, 1721 ; Paris, 7727, etc.;
(22) Ch'coyneau, Verny, etc., Observations et Reflexions . . . de la Peste, Marseilles,
1721 ;
(23) D'Antrechause, Relation de la Peste de Toulon en 1721, Paris, 1756 ;
(24) Lorinser, La Peste des Orients—
while the following deal with the epidemics of 1771 :—
(25) Samoilowitz,. Mémoire sur la Peste en Russie, 7777, Paris, 1783;
(26) Mertens, De la Peste en 7777, Paris, 1784.
The German plague literature of this (the 18th) century comprised amongst
other works :—
(27) Adam Chenot, Abhandluny von der Pest, Dresden, 1776 ;
(28) Schraud, Pest in Smyrnien, 7795, Pesth, 1801.
LITERATURE OF PLAGUE.]
377 '
The following English work of this period may also be mentioned :—
(29) Noah Webster, History of Epidemic Diseases, London, 1800,—
a work which contains no medical information, but connects plague epidemics
with famines and other disasters.
The English plague literature of this period is scanty : doubtless because
plague was fast disappearing from Great Britain and the neighbouring countries.
19th Century;
The plague literature of the present century is voluminous : English, Ger-
man, and French savants have all endeavoured to collect and classify the old records
of this mysterious disease. Five writers, however, stand out as pre-eminent
authorities previous to 1890. They arc : English—Radcliffe and Payne; Ger-
man—-Hecker and Haeser ; French—Tholozan. Their works may be roughly
summarised as follows:—
ENGLISH.
(30) J. N. Radcliffe, Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 1875.
(81) J. N. Radcliffe, Reports of the Local Government Board, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1879-80.
(32) J. N. Radcliffe, Papers on Levantine Plague, 1879.
[These papers were presented to Parliament.]
(33) Colville and Payne, Report to the Lord President of the Council, 1879.
(34) and (35) J. F. Payne also contributed the articles on " Plague" to the
Encyclopedia Britunnica and to Quain's Dictionary of Medicine,
GERMAN.
(36) Haeser, Geschichte der Epidemischen Krankheiten, Jena, 1882.
[This work forms the third volume of his History of Medicine, and is said to be the
most complete medical history of epidemics extant.]
(37) Hecker, Volkskrankheitan des Mittelalters, ed. Hirsch, Berlin, 1865.
[Hecker's work on plague has been translated by Babington, and was published by the
Sydenham Society in London, 1844.]
FRENCH.
(38) Tholozan, Histoire de la Peste Bubonique en Perse, Paris, 1874.
(39) Tholozan, La Peste en Turquie dans les Temps Modernes, Paris, 1880.
(40) Tholozan, Epidemies de Peste de Caucase, Paris, 1879.
Other English works on plague which have appeared during this century
are—
ENGLISH.
(41) Calvert, On the Plague in Malta, 1813, Med.-Chi. Trans, vi. i.
(42) MacLean, On Epidemic and, Pestilential Diseases, London, 1817.
[This work is in two small volumes, and treats of yellow fever, plague and epidemic
diseases generally. It is of little value.]
(43) Faulkner, A Treatise on the Plague, London, 1820.
[A small volume dealing with the question of contagion: which he endeavours to prove
is an attribute of plague from conclusions based on his own experience in the
Malta epidemic of that time. It is interestingly written, and contains diagrams
and maps ; but is of little practical value now.]
(44) J. D. Tully, History of the Plague in Malta, Gozo, Corfu, and Cephalonia, London,
1821.
[An octavo volume of considerable interest.]
95
878
[CHAP. XII., PT. 1]
(45) F. Forbes, On Plague in the N.-W. Provinces of India, Edinburgh, 1840.
(4G) White, Treatise on the Plague, London, 1847.
[Deals with the plague at Corfu.]
(47) Bascome, History of Epidemic Pestilences, London, 1851.
[Like MacLean, this work does not deal exclusively with Plague.]
The works of Drs. Pearson and Francis also deserve mention. They are
scattered over various volumes of Transactions of Societies, but are valuable as
containing the results of the first plague autopsies made by Englishmen. Up till
quite recently, indeed, our knowledge of the morbid anatomy of plague was
derived almost entirely from the works of the French, physicians in Egypt in
1835-36.* In this connection the work of the Plague Research Committee
(Capt., now Major, L. F. Childe's Department) was exceedingly valuable, and
ranks at the present time as the chief authority on the subject.
GERMAN.
Three important works in German may be mentioned :—
(48) Lersch, Kleine Pest, Kronik, 1880.
["A convenient short compendium, hut not always accurate."]
(49) Hirsch and Sommerrodt, Pest-Epidemic in Astrakhan, 1878-79, Berlin, 1880.
(50) Hoenigor, Der Sehwarz Toed in Doulschland, Berlin, 1882.
FRENCH.
The French works on plague which appeared at this time were important:--
(51) Bulard, De la Peste Orientale, Paris, 1839;
(52) Clot Bey, Do la Peste en Egyptc, Paris, 1840 ;
(58) Prus, Rapport sur la Peste, Paris, 1846 ;
(54) Zuber, La Peste D'Astrakhan en 7878-79, Paris, 1880;
and lastly,
(55) Littre's Dictionary of Medicine, Art. "Peste,"
in which the French epidemics are synopsized.
But many works on plague have been published long after (sometimes as
much as a century or more) the disappearance of the particular epidemic with'
which they deal. Such are—
(56) Richardson, Plague and Pestilence in the North of England, Newcastle, 1852;
(57) Sydenham, Febris Pestilentiulis et Pestis annorum 7665-66, ed, Greenhill, London,
1844;
(58) G. Lambert, Histoire de la Peste de Toulon en 7727, Toulon, 1861.
Since 1890.
The outbreaks in Hongkong, in Egypt, in the Red Sea ports, and finally in
this (the Bombay) Presidency have revived the interest in this disease, and have
stimulated the exertions of many thousands to discover something more about
it, and works on Plague, either large or small, comprehensive or of limited scope,
have issued within the last few years. A brief catalogue or summary of these
remains to be given.
* "Earlier observations are of no value, and in the Inter epidemics of Irak and Russia, none have been made."
Encyc. Brit.