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lies on the West of the River Bhageeruthee. From the following table it will be
seen that the twelve thannahs situated on the East of the River Bhageeruthee, with
a total population of 612,203, have only 403 lepers. Whereas the thirteen thannahs
on the West of that river, with a total population of 741,423, have no less than
1,373 lepers.
Names of thannahs on the East of the
River.
Barwa
...
...
Dowlut Bazaar
Gowas
Gora Bazaar
Harihurpara
Jelinghi
Nowadah
Sujagunge
Manoolla Bazaar
Shahanugger
Bhugwangolla
Dewanserai
..
,.
...
Total
Thannahs on the West of the River.
Kaliangunge
...
Gokurn
Bhurutpur
Assanpur
Budreehat
...
Sumsheergunge
Sooty
Raghunathgunge
...
,.,
Mirzapur
Khurgram
Ramporehaut
Nulhati
Pulsa
Total
Grand Total
Total popula-
tion.
75,963
45,779
82,587
15,194
57,704
108,826
42,464 '
24,386
17,758
31,245
61,175
49,122
612,203
42,163
47,117
125,218
18,380
25,954
58,623
49,642
76,339
36,288
62,892
91,231
54,981
52,595
741,423
1,353,626
LEPErS.
Males.
76
15
32
6
62
50
44
12
8
9
21
19
354
67
68
202
10
36
30
46
30
71
142
206
154
118
1,180
1,534
Females.
12
2
6
1
5
7
3
1
7
2
1
2
49
22
12
19
3
4
2
14
8
6
15
48
29
11
193
242
Total.
88
17
38
7
67
57
47
13
15
11
22
21
403
89
80
221
13
40
32
60
38
77
157
254
183
129
1,373
1,776
As far as I have been able to ascertain, there is nothing peculiar in the condi-
tion or habits of the people who reside in that part of the district where leprosy is
localised to such an extent that differ from those of the peple of other parts.
But there is a marked difference in the natural formation of the country, the soil of
the one being totally different from that of the other.
The District of Moorshedabad is divided into two somewhat unequal portions
by the River Bhageeruthee, which flows through it in a South-Easterly direction.
The country on the right bank (that is on the West of the river) is undulating,
and generally well raised above the highest flood level of the river ; and the soil in
its composition is decidedly laterite, and resembles that of the plains of Upper
Bengal.
Directly the river is crossed the change is unmistakeably marked. The
surface of the country is generally below high flood level, and the soil is
composed of sand and sand mixed with clay, and is, in fact, identical with that of
the Gangetic delta. The undulations disappear, except where old beds of the river
occur, and a flat country takes its place.
I have stated in the early part of this report that Beerbhum heads the list
of districts in Bengal, Behar, Orissa and Assam in which leprosy exists to an un-
usual extent. With a total population of 695,921 there are in that district 2,872
lepers, giving a percentage of 4127 on total population ; and it is deserving of
remark that there are more lepers among the people who reside within the jurisdic-
tion of the five thannahs in this district—Bhurutpur, Khurgram, Ramporehaut,
Nulhati and Pulsa—which border on Beerbhum, than there are among the whole
population of the remaining twenty thannahs.
6. As to the supposed causes of leprosy my experience does not tend to the
belief that the disease is contagious in its nature unless by direct inoculation,
and even then we are not necessarily in possession of sufficient evidence of crucial
D