PREFACE.
Α REPORT on Plague in India from September 1896 to August 1897, compiled by
Mr. R. Nathan, I. C. S., was published under the orders of the Government of India in 1898 ;
and a report on Plague in this Presidency for the same period, compiled by Mr. Couchman,
I. C. S., was published under the orders of this Government in September 1897. Sub-
sequently, neither the Government of India nor this Government have issued any comprehen-
sive report on Plague ; but reports have been issued by other Governments in whose terri-
tories the pestilence has appeared. They are as follows:—
(1) Report 011 Plague in the Hoshiarpur and Jullundar Districts (Panjab).
(2) Report on Plague in the Central Provinces.
The Government of Bombay have decided that it is desirable, if not indeed necessary,
that some account of the history and progress of Plague in this Presidency during the past
two years, together with the efforts made to repel and to combat it, should be placed on
record. The main objects aimed at in this Report are—a comprehensive record of the rise
and progress of the disease in this Presidency from May 1897 to June 1899, with its, effects,
both good and bad : the delimitation of our present knowledge of its origin, growth,
dissemination and treatment : the results attained by the preventive and combative measures
actually adopted : and a work of reference.
The sources from which this Report has been compiled are many and various. They
may be summarised briefly as follows:—Reports of other Governments ; reports of Govern-
ment officials, and others specially employed on Plague duty ; reports of specialists and experts ;
miscellaneous works on Plague. In this connection special acknowledgment is due to
Major W. B. Bannerman, I. M. S., and Capt. C. J. R. Milne, I. M. S.,—to the first of whom
is due a large share in the Chapters on Inoculation and the Rise of the Plague Research
Laboratory, and also the revision of the Chapter on the Medical Aspects of Plague :
and by the second of whom the Chapter on the Bacteriology of Plague was specially
written for this work : to Mr. E. Sands, late Superintendent of the Plague Department, whose
great experience of Plague records, and whose help in the correction of proofs, and in
suggestions regarding the Report generally, have been most valuable : to Major J. Crimmin,
Y. C., I. M. S., and to Dr. E. L. Marsh for much miscellaneous assistance.
An Index, carefully and methodically compiled, by Dr. Cuthbert Christy, on Special
Plague Duty, has been added for facility of reference.
Executive Plague duties have, unfortunately, seriously interfered with the up-keep of
accurate and detailed Plague records. Plague appears in a place, sweeps off anything from
one-tenth to one-third of the population in a few months, and then disappears, leaving
no time for the Plague staff to do more than attend to the wants of the stricken and provide
for the protection of the healthy. Records kept under such conditions as these, where a
continued series oí close observations concentrated on one particular point have been impos-
sible, preclude any but the most hesitating deductions.
It has been considered better to insert charts, maps, etc., in their proper places, than to
collect them in a separate volume.
The period properly embraced by this Report is from 4th June 1897 to 2nd June 1899,
and events outside these dates are very briefly dealt with. For details of the first year's
Plague and Plague measures, therefore, Nathan's or Couchman's Reports should be
referred to.
For those whose interest in the subject of Plague extends beyond the limits of this volume,
a Chapter—though by no means an exhaustive one—on Plague Literature has been added.
J. K. CONDON, CAPT.,
Bombay,
Indian Staff Corps,
30th November 1899.
Under-Secretary to Government.