NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
CHAP. V. ]
in the Bombay Presidency.
$9
to a maximum in August. The humidity is very steady during
October, November, December, and January, and then commences to
fall to the annual minimum in May. The rainfall is very light through-
out. It amounts to one and-a-half inches in each of the months of July
and August, but is unimportant in the other months. Like other dry
districts, the vicissitudes of temperature are large. The winter cold
is great and the summer heat is proverbial, while the daily range is
large, especially in the winter.
The climate of Lower Sind is slightly damper and less extreme
than that of Upper Sind. A strong, steady south-west to west-
south-west wind blows from April to September and greatly amelio-
rates the climate, though it, brings up very little rain. The driest
month is November, when the mean humidity is 56 per cent, and the
rainfall only 0 1 inch.
The mean temperature is much more steady than is the case in
Upper Sind. The daily range is very small for eight months of the
year, but is considerable in the four winter months. The night
temperature has never fallen to 41° in the last eleven years, and
though on one occasion a temperature of 117 6° has been registered,
this was quite exceptional, and 102° to 106° is the highest maximum
ordinarily registered in May and June.
Gujarat»
In Gujarat, including Kathiawar, the climate is less dry than
in Sind and less wet than in the Konkan. There is a rapid change
in the climate on advancing inland from the coast. At the coast
stations the air is damp with a strong westerly wind and a moderate
amount of rain.
Owing to the constant sea breeze, the climate is equable and the
daily range of temperature low (14° on the mean of the year), with
an actual temperature ranging during the year from 50° to 100°.
On proceeding inland these conditions wholly change, and the
climate of Deesa (Palanpur State) is comparable with that of Western
Rajputana and Upper Sind. The monsoon has, however, a considerably
greater effect at Deesa than it has at Jacobabad, and the air is much
damper during June, July, August and September, and much drier in
the remaining months. The driest month is April, when the mean
humidity is only 28 per cent.
There is very little rain from November onward to May, but
with the setting in of the monsoon the rainfall increases and is mod-
erate in July and August. The mean temperature is high throughout
the year and, except in the monsoon months, the daily range is large.
In April, May, and June the mean maximum temperature exceeds
100°, and once, in 1886, the thermometer rose to 118 6°; while in the
100
Exlent and course of the plague
[ CHAP. V.
winter months the night temperatures are between 50° and 55°, and
on one occasion, in 1880, the thermometer fell to 34°.
Konkan Coast.
The Konkan Coast, extending from the Gulf of Cambay to Kar-
war, has the dampest and most uniform climate of any part of the
Peninsula, and the annual mean temperature is nearly the same
throughout the whole distance, viz., 79° or 80°. The whole of the
Konkan is almost rainless from the latter part of October to the
latter half of May. The rainfall all along the west coast is heavy
during the monsoon, which lasts from June to October, but the
amount decreases northward ; thus the total is 100 inches at Ratna-
giri, 73 inches at Bombay, and 42 inches at Surat. The following
table gives the monthly averages of rainfall and humidity for Bombay
which may be taken as the representative station for this area:—
Humidity ...
Rainfall
January.
%
70
In.
February.
%
69
In.
March.
73
In.
April.
75
In.
May.
%
75
In.
0 5
June.
%
S3
Ins.
20 8
July.
%
87
Ins.
24 7
August.
%
87
Ins.
15 1
September.
%
86
Ins.
10 8
October.
%
81
Ins.
1 8
November.
%
71
In.
0 5
December.
%
70
In.
0 1
The rainfall is practically confined to June, July, August, and
September, when there are between 20 and 29 wet days each month
The mean humidity is lowest in February and highest in July and
August. This distribution of humidity holds for all parts of the
coast, from Bombay southward, where the mean humidity is com-
paratively high and equable, but in the north, near Surat, humidity
averages 62 per cent. for the whole year and remains between 50
per cent. and 60 per cent. from November to May.
Similarly with temperature. To the north of Bombay the climate
of January and February affords cool nights and moderately cool days,
but to the south of Bombay there is relatively little temperature change
in the seasons. The mean temperature ranges from 74° to 85° and the
mean maximum from 82° to 90°. The mean daily range is in no month
more than 14° and in four months is less than 10°. The mean
annual temperature of Surat is also 80°, but whereas the temperature
of Surat in January is 70° and in May 86°, the corresponding tem-
peratures of Bombay are 74° and 85°. The extreme temperatures of
CHAP. V.]
in the Bombay Presidency.
101
the year (i.e., the highest and lowest readings recorded) show a
greater variation ; thus, at Surat they are respectively 109° and 48°a
nd at Bombay 95° and 61°. This summary shows that while the
main features of the climate for the whole region are great moisture
and equable heat, yet in the north these features are less marked
than in the south, so that in the neighbourhood of Surat the air is
dry, the rainfall light and the range of temperature considerable,
relatively to other parts of the coast further to the south.
The Deccan.
A very rapid change of climate occurs in passing from the coast into '
the inland parts of the Peninsula. After crossing the crest of the ghats,
a journey of 30 or 40 miles brings a change from the torrential
rainfall of the hills to the dry rolling plains of the Deccan with its
precarious and uncertain rainfall. As a general rule, the climate of
Khandeshand the greater part of the Deccan is dry, and during the
cold weather and spring months almost rainless. During the monsoon
this region is swept by a strong, steady west wind, which only occa-
sionally falls off and permits of a light rainfall, but the rainy season
is cloudy, cool, and pleasant. The stations of Malegaon, Poona, and
Sholapur are representative of this area.
At Malegaon the average annual rainfall is about 25 inches, and
of this less than two and-a-half inches are received during the seven
months November to May. The heaviest rainfall of the year is in
September. The mean annual humidity is only 51 per cent. and the
driest month is April, when the humidity is only 28 per cent. Poona
lies about 100 miles further to the south and the rainfall on the mean
of the year is four inches heavier than Malegaon. The general rain-
fall conditions are, however, similar and only about two inches of rain
falls between November and April. The wettest month is July. In
the cold weather months the humidity is as low as at Malegaon, the
driest month being March, but in the monsoon the humidity rises to
79 per cent. and the air from June to September is damp. At Shola-
pur the air is drier than either at Malegaon or Poona, The mean
humidity is only 26 per cent. in April and even in the rains averages
only between 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. The monsoon blows
strongly over the district, but brings comparatively little rain. The
rainfall is, however, better distributed throughout the year than in the
case of Poona or Malegaon, and the months between November and
April receive not infrequent thundershowers.
The mean annual temperature of Malegaon is 76°; that of December,
the coolest month, 66° ; that of May, the warmest, 88°. The lowest
temperatures of the year are ordinarily between 36° and 43° ; the highest
between 107° and 110°. In the dry months of the year the daily range
is about 30° to 35°. Poona has a mean temperature of 78° ; that of
102
Exlent and course of the plague
[ CHAP. V.
December and January is 72° ; that of April 86° : the lowest tempera,
tures of the year have varied between 40° and 50°, and the highest
between 100° and 110°, and in the dry months of the year the daily
range is 30° to 34°. The mean annual temperature of Sholapur is 79° ;
that of December, the coolest month, 70° ; and that of May, the hottest
month, 89°: the lowest temperatures of the year have varied between 42°a
nd 49° and the highest between 108° and 112°. The mean daily range
in the dry months is about 32°.
General
statistics.
The following table shows the mean temperature, humidity and
rainfall values for the different regions of the Bombay Presidency :—
Month.
January
February
March
April
May
...
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Year
SIND.
Mean temperature.
o
61
65
75
82
SS
92
89
S7
S5
79
69
63
78
Mean daily range.
O
27
26
25
24
23
20
17
16
18
26
29
28
23
Average rainfall.
in.
0·4
0·3
0·3
0·2
0 I
0·2
2'3
1·6
0·6
0·1
0·1
0·2
6·2
Average humidity.
%
52
49
54
53
55
5S
66
68
66
56
5l
53
57
GUJARAT
AND
KATHIAWAR.
Mean temperature.
»
69
71
79
84
SS
S7
82
81
81
81
76
71
79
Mean daily range.°2
7
26
26
23
IS
13
9
9
13
22
26
27
20
Average rainfall.
in.
0·1
0·1
0·1
0·1
0·1
4·3
8·6
5·3
2 6
1·0
0·5
0·1
22·0
Average humidity.
%
46
45
52
50
60
69
81
81
77
56
45
45
59
KONKAN.
Mean temperature.
o
l
74
75
79
82
85
S3
81
Po
80
81
So
76
So
Mean daily range.
0
14
13
11
II
10
S
S
7
S
11
13
M
11
Mean daily range.
in.
0·1
0
o
0
0·5
20·8
2·47
05·1
10·8
1·8
0·5
0·1
74·4
Average humidity.
%
70
69
73
75
75
82
87
S7
86
81
71
70
77
KHANDESH
AND
DECCAN.
Mean temperature.
0
71
75
82
86
S7
81
7S
77
76
77
73
69
78
Mean daily range.
o
32
34
33
32
29
20
15
15
16
23
27
29
25
Average rainfall.
in.
0·1
0·1
0·2
0·5
1·2
5·1
5·0
4·8
6·1
3·4
0·6
0·4
27·5
Average humidity.
%
41
35
30
28
33
63
72
72
73
53
49
46
50
Inhabitants.
Inhabitants.—The population of the Presidency proper consists
mainly of Hindus, divided into the two main ethnical and historical
CHAP. V. 1
in the Bombay Presidency.
103
divisions of Gujarat is, or inhabitants of Gujarat, and Marathas,
occupying broadly the southern portion of the Presidency. The inhabit-
ants of Gujarat include a somewhat larger Muhammadan element
than is found in the Maratha country. In addition there is the
Dravidian element represented principally by the Konkanis and
Kanarese of the coast. The people of the outlying province of
Sind are almost all Muhammadans by religion; their country was
the earliest field of Mussulman conquest in India.
Executive
Administration.
Executive Administration.—The government of the Presidency
of Bombay is administered by a Governor and his council. This '
body is the chief executive and legislative authority of the Presidency
and consists of the Governor as President, and two members of the
Indian Civil Service. The various departments of the administration
are portioned out among the Members of Council. There is also a
Legislative Council composed of the Governor and his Executive
Council above described, together with four to eight other members
nominated by the Governor. Not less than a certain proportion of
these additional Legislative Members of the Council must be non-
officials, with a view to the representation of the European and Native
communities. For administrative purposes the Presidency is divided
into four divisions, called the Northern (seven districts), Central (seven
districts, including Bombay city and island), and Southern (five dis-
tricts), in Bombay Proper, and the Sind division of five districts ; these
divisions embrace (including Bombay city and island) 24 districts,
each division being placed under the control and superintendence of a
Commissioner. The district is the actual unit of administration for
both fiscal and judicial purposes. The regulation districts of Bom-
bay number 17, each under the control of a Magistrate-Collector, who
must be a member of the Indian Civil Service. The province of Sind
and the Panch-Mahals in Gujarat form seven non-regulation districts,
under officers who may be either military officers, members of the
Indian Civil Service, or other officers. The city of Bombay is regarded
for many purposes as forming a district by itself. Each district is on
the average divided into 10 talukas or sub-divisions, each of which
again contains about 100 government villages, or villages of which the
revenue has not been alienated by the State. Every village is, for fiscal
and police, as well as social purposes, complete by itself. It has its
regular complement of officials, who are usually hereditary, and are
remunerated by grants of land held revenue-free. The more important
of these officials are the patel or headman : the talati or kulkarni, who
is the clerk and accountant ; the mhar, who is a kind of a beadle ; and
the watchman. Over each taluk or sub-division is set a government
officer termed a Mamlatdar ; and on an average about three talukas are
104
Extent and course of the plague
[ CHAP. V.
placed in charge of an Assistant or Deputy Collector. General super-
vision is exercised by the Commissioners, as above stated, who are
three for the regulation districts and one for Sind.
The political relations between the Government and the Native
States in connection with the Bombay Presidency are maintained by
the presence of an Agent or representative at the principal Native
Courts. The position and duty of the Agent varies very considerably
in the different States, being governed by the terms of the original
treaties, or by recent sanads or patents. In some instances, as in
Cutch, his power is confined to the giving of advice, and to the exercise
of a general surveillance. In other cases the Agent is invested with an
actual share in the administration ; while States whose rulers are
minors, and the number of these is always large, are directly managed
by Government officers. The characteristic feature of the Bombay
Native States is the excessive number of petty principalities, such as
those of the Rajputs and Bhil chieftains. The peninsula of Kathiawar
alone contains no less than 187 separate States.
Statement of
seizures and
deaths.
General Remarks on the Plague Epidemic.
The following is a statement of the reported plague seizures and
deaths in the Bombay Presidency and Goa from the beginning of the
outbreak up to the 27th August :—
106
Extent and course of the plague
[ CHAP, V.
Total mortality.
This statement gives a total mortality of 31,942. It is certain
that the actual mortality must have been considerably higher than
this figure. It is explained in the footnote of the statement that
the deaths from plague in the City of Bombay were probably not less
than from twenty to twenty-five thousand, whilst the number of
reported deaths was under eleven thousand. In many smaller places the
registration was probably more accurate, but it is known that in some
important plague centres, such as Poona and Mandvi, the reporting at
the outset was very incomplete, and everywhere many cases must
have escaped detection. It is very difficult to express a decided
opinion as to what the total mortality has been, but it seems probable
that up to the end of August the number of deaths from plague must
have amounted to over fifty thousand.
Division of the
subject.
The course of the epidemic will now be described, first, in the
City of Bombay ; secondly, in the Bombay Presidency proper ; and
lastly, in Sind.
Description of
Bombay City.
Bombay City.
The City of Bombay is situated on an island lying off the
Konkan Coast and is connected by causeways, over which run the
Great Indian Peninsula and Bombay, Baroda and Central India lines
of railway with the larger Island of Salsette and so continuously
with the mainland. The general features of the city and island will be
seen from the map given in Volume IV (page 7). The city is
divided into seven wards—
Fort.
Mandvi.
Bhuleshwar.
Girgaum.
Byculla.
Parel.
Mahim.
The quarter known as the Fort lies in the north of the Fort
Ward, on a slightly raised strip of land between Back Bay and the
harbour. It is the original nucleus round which the town grew
up, and is chiefly occupied by public buildings and commercial
offices. The most conspicuous line of public buildings is in the
Esplanade quarter facing Back Bay.
The main portion of the native town lies in the Mandvi and
Bhuleshwar Wards, the north-east portion of the Girgaum Ward and the
CHAP. V. ]
in the Bombay Presidency.
107
southern portion of the Byculla Ward. The north of the island com-
posing the Parel and Mahim Wards and the northern part of the Byculla
Ward is comparatively sparsely populated. The quarters of the Euro-
pean residents are chiefly situated on the two spurs at the south of the
island, Malabar Hill and Colaba. Notwithstanding the magnificent
aspect of the city with its almost unrivalled situation and many hand-
some buildings, the conditions of life in the native town are unhealthy
and to a high degree favourable to the growth of a disease like
plague. Surgeon-Major-General Cleghorn, Sanitary Commissioner
with the Government of India, gave the following description of the
condition of the native dwellings when the epidemic first broke
out :—
Insanitary tene-
ments.
" The chawls or tenements may run up to seven stories, and the
unit of construction is a long corridor with rooms opening on either
side. In the corridor, either at one end or in the centre, is situated
a water tap with bathing platform, and alongside it a latrine with
two or three seats. The whole tenement is built up of a congeries of
these corridors and rooms, and contains from 500 to 1,000 individuals.
The only space between each tenement is a gully sufficiently wide to
admit a sweeper. In most of the corridors and rooms, either from the
absence of openings or from the obstruction of the existing ones, there
is absolutely no light admitted, and consequently no ventilation. The
Health Officer informed me that he estimated that 70 per cent. of the
population live in such houses. The corridors, before being taken
in hand by the Health Department, were the repositories of filth of all
kinds, and it is surprising that the mortality under such conditions
has been so small."
The following statement shows the population of the different Population.
wards according to the census of 1801 :—
Fort ...
Mandvi
Bhuleshwar
...
...
...
...
Girgaum
...
...
...
...
Byculla
...
...
...
Parel
Mahim
...
...
...
...
TOTAL
...
64,819
152,277
206,372
93,05
180,425
54,404
43,998
795,600
108
Extent and course of the plague
[CHAP. V.
Hardly any city in the world presents a greater variety of national
types than Bombay. The Muhammadans and Hindus of course pre-
dominate in numbers, and the Hindus are considerably more numerous
than the Muhammadans.
Commencement
of the outbreak.
No certain information has been gathered as to when the outbreak
in the City of Bombay commenced, what was the immediate cause of
the outbreak, or even in what part of the city the first cases occurred.
Dr. Viegas, a medical practitioner of Bombay, was the first
person to publicly announce that he had detected the existence of
cases of bubonic plague; and the first official intimation was received
by the Municipal Commissioner on the 23rd September. On the 2gth
September the Government of Bombay telegraphed to the Gov-
ernment of India that the Surgeon General reported having seen
about twenty cases of a mild "type of bubonic plague in Bombay. On
the same day the Government of India directed M. Haffkine to
go to Bombay at once and make a thorough bacteriological enquiry.
On the 13th of October M. Haffkine telegraphed that bacteriological
examination had demonstrated beyond doubt the identity of the
disease.
First public
announcement.
M. Haffkine's
investigation.
Diagnosis
confirmed.
Failure to
discover the
disease.
Early suspicious
cases.
Several circumstances point to plague having prevailed in
Bombay for some time before its existence was recognised. In
August cases of fever with glandular swellings had been attended
by several medical practitioners, cases of fever accompanied by
pneumonia had been reported to the Executive Health Officer, and
a death was actually registered on the 31st August as due to bubonic
fever. These circumstances failed to arouse an alarm of plague, as
a type of fever with glandular swellings has, it is said, been for years
known in Bombay. Again, it is stated by Mr. Snow, the Municipal
Commissioner, that "when plague broke out, several native practi-
tioners of the first standing acknowledged that from the end of the
hot weather in May onwards they had come across several cases of
peculiar fever which entirely puzzled them and usually ended fatally.
It does not, however, appear that the bubonic swellings in such cases
were apparent in a marked degree, and little further thought appears
to have been given to the matter, which is no wonder considering
the various obscure form of plague noticed in the epidemic."
High mortality
in the city.
The extraordinarily high rate of mortality which prevailed in the
city from the latter part of August onwards also pointed to the
existence of some unusual phenomenon. The following statement
compares the total mortality from different causes in the City of
Bombay during the last week in August and during the month
CHAP. V. ]
in the Bombay Presidency.
109
of September 1896, with the average mortality during the corres
ponding periods of the preceding five years :—
Period
(week ending)
1st September
8th September
15th September
32nd September
29th September
CHOLERA,
1896.
26
20
9
5
3
Average for corresponding pe
rio of previous five years.
8
5
S
12
II
SMALL-POX.
S
CO
I
4
N«.
a
2
riod of previous five years.
2
2
I
I
FEVERS.
1896.
165
140
177
194
255
riod of previous five years.
127
128
107
116
122
BOWEL-
COMPLAINTS.
1896.
94
57
40
34
42
riod of previous five years.
53
47
41
40
35
ALL OTHER
DISEASES.
1896.
343
342
354
378
369
riod of previous five years.
318
312
305
309
333
TOTAL.
1896.
629
563
580
613
671
riod of previous five years.
508
494
45p
473
492
The excess occurred chiefly under the heads of " fevers " and
"all other diseases ;" the latter head included an unusual number of
deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs. Both fevers and dis-
orders of the lungs are diseases for which the Indian plague may
easily be mistaken. Brigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel Weir, the
Health Officer of the Municipality, has stated that it should not be
assumed that this unusual mortality was due to plague. He points
out the remarkable circumstance that the increase in mortality was
largely confined to persons not born in Bombay, and he suggests
that an influx of strangers due to a large religious assemblage held at
Nasik. near Bombay, may have had an important influence on the
general mortality. But allowing for the possible contemporaneous
existence of other causes, the unusual mortality coupled with the
other evidence must still point to the probability of numerous cases of
undetected plague.
On discovery the
disease found to
be widely diffus.
ed.
That once plague was discovered it was found to be widely
diffused through the city is additional evidence of a very important
description. It has been stated that the first public declaration of
the existence of plague was made on the 23rd September. The
municipal returns record the occurrence of 145 cases of plague during
the week ending the 2nd October : 89 in the Mandvi quarter and