18
fine physique of these fishermen I should doubt if their houses have much
lowered their vitality; but I think it probable that the amount of dried
fish they keep in their huts may render the huts more liable to be infested
by rats than other houses, and that the plague may have become more
generally disseminated among them through this cause. This theory may
of course be confuted by any one who can show that rats do not eat dried
fish; and if it fails then I can only suggest the inveterate indifference of
the Kolis to all precautions in their families as the cause of the undoubtedly
wide dispersion of the plague among them as compared with other castes.
They were keen to keep strangers out of their villages; but resented any
attempt to enforce segregation among themselves when the plague once got in.
71. Since writing the foregoing paragraphs I have received a report
No. 2419, dated the 26th ultimo, from Dr. Anderson, giving his general conclu-
sions about the plague. He imputes more importance than I am inclined to do
to a water-logged soil as giving " infective power" to the plague, and of course
his opinion is entitled to great respect. He does not believe that the plague
can arise spontaneously anywhere ; and after that is the great error to be com-
bated. I am glad to see that he holds the same theory of the " Rat's progress"
through Bándra that I had independently arrived at from consideration of the
evidence. A copy of his report is appended.
72. A glance at the table in paragraph 11 shows that most of the places
which were infected after January, were only lightly affected ; but it should
not be argued from this that increase of temperature has anything to do with
the fluctuations of plague. In all the places which received early infection the
plague was at its worst in February and March, and if it declined in April it
was yielding not to the sun but to the plague authorities. The reason of the
generally lighter sufferings of villages infected in February—May was that the
machinery for repressing the plague being then in order, segregation of the early
cases was promptly attended to, and the villagers were either made to vacate
their villages or did so of their own accord.
73. As a letter from the Government of India in the preamble of Govern-
ment Resolution No. 1786, dated the 1st April last, seemed to express surprise
at the occurrence of cases of plague more than 9 days after persons had left in-
fected localities to live in sheds, I may observe that numbers of instances of the
kind have occurred in the district. As already mentioned above 176 persons
at Vesáve got plague in their sheds from a week to six weeks after they had left
their houses, and Mr. Gilbert reports that he personally took at least 70 Kolis
into his hospital at Bándra from sheds in which the people had been living for
more than 10 days, (and that cases occurred among Christians who had left
their houses more than a month before. At Tárápur at least 29 people got
plague more than 10 days after they went into sheds, and there were o ver a dozen
instances of the same thing in Ghivle and Pamtembhi. Other cases occurred in
other places. In all cases, of course, infection had been carried into and kept in
the camps ; but the facts show that if infection is taken into segregation camps
it will run through them much the same as it runs through villages, and there-
fore that a dirty house is not a necessary condition of infection.
74. The following table shows the fluctuations of the plague during the
period of its existence between October and June :—
October 1896
November
December
Fortnight ending 15th January
Week ending 22nd January
Do.
29th do.
Do.
5th
February
IMPORTED.
Gases.
4
...
25
35
2
12
14
Deaths.
4
...
25
35
2
10
11
1
INDIGENOUS.
Cases.
...
72
92
78
101
138
Deaths.
...
47
61
60
71
113
TOTAL
Cases.
4
...
97
127
80
113
152
Deaths.
4
72
96
62
81
124