2
in several of the papers is (1) that the disease is spread solely by infection or
contagion independently of local sanitary conditions, except perhaps that it is
favoured by excess of water-supply ; (2) that the agents of conveyance from
town to town and from village to village are human beings and their kit, and
from house to house, rats also. This is supported on the whole by a consider-
ation of the practically immune areas between the centres above mentioned,
viz., between the Vaitarna river and the southern limit of the Bulsár Táluka ;
(2) between the north of Jálalpor Táluka and the city of Surat ; (3) north of
the Tápti river up to Ahmedabad. The first of these began, as Mr. Logan
points out, at the extreme limit of the local trains to and from Bombay, i. c. at
the extreme point of daily flux and reflux of population from and to Bombay,
and it ended in the neighbourhood of Bulsár, which was the home of many
Bombay people and, therefore, their place of refuge. The second area had
practically no communication with Bombay, and the third but little.
5. There must, however, be local conditions making for or against the
disease, which as yet have hardly been guessed at. For instance, in the first of
the above immune areas lies Udváda to which troops of Pársi families resort
for religious purposes. There is no obvious reason why it should have escaped,
while Tárápur, a village of, to all appearance, exactly similar conditions, should
have been heavily hit. In Naopura there were no cases of plague, as described
by Mr. Gilbert in paragraph 10 of his report, though it was raging in the
slaughter-house close by and in other parts of Bándra. Before any firm
precautionary measures had been begun either in Bulsár or Párdi towns, a large
number of Bombay people had come into the latter, though not so many as into
the former ; yet Párdi was entirely free in February when Bulsár was reeking with
infection. In Bulsár Táluka, the brunt of the attack (400 cases out of 552)
fell upon three villages. The remaining 152 cases were distributed among 23
villages, and the rest of the táluka altogether escaped without any obvious
reason. The good fortune of Broach town has been already noticed.
6. The experience gained by such experts as Surgeon-Major Nariman and
Surgeon-Captains Dyson and Anderson will enable the proper authorities to draw
up directions as to the method and materials of disinfection, the treatment of the
sick and other details which will enable us to deal with a future outbreak with
a more certain hand. I would limit myself to a few general conclusions which,
it seems to me, should be drawn for future remembrance—
(1) Salvation lies in dealing with the very first cases promptly,
thoroughly, and resolutely, isolating the patient and disinfecting not only
the premises, but (as pointed out by Surgeon-Captain Dyson, paragraph 31)
the circumjacent area. The success achieved in the cities of Surat and
Ahmedabad are signal instances of this.
(2) Subject to the above, we should make every effort to understand
and minimize the hardships and gain the confidence of the people. Some
of our arrangements pressed heavily. There are few Englishmen who
would receive with equanimity an order that they must stay 10 days under
observation or that their baggage was to be burnt because they had omitted
to notice some printed rule. There is a great deal to be said for the
ignorant Musalmán of Bulsár (though not for the author of the lie) who
sincerely believed that if his wife or son were taken to the public hospital,
they would be ground down into ointment. It has been shrewdly said that
the Oriental would sooner we heard his story than granted his request, and
the epigram is specially apt in plague work, which touches so closely his
domestic and personal life and is often opposed to sentiment only. Ordi-
narily, an English officer who s hows that he understands and appreciates
the popular objections has half won his battle though he may not be able to
make a single concession. I. of course suppose we are dealing, not with
men who are steeped in sedition, but with the Gujarátis and most of the
country folk throughout this Division. Mr. Seddon says : " Yet it seemed to
me that most difficulties could be got over by listening to what the people
had to say and talking to them patiently and in a friendly manner. They
did not agree, but they were pleased and mollified. They could hardly be
expected to agree, for their fatalistic creed taught them that the plague was