No. 856, dated Fort William, the 24th October 1878.
From—R. COCKBURN, Esq., Deputy Surgeon General, Presidency Circle,
in charge Surgeon General's Office, Indian Medical Dept.
To—The Secretary to the Government of Bengal.
IN continuation of this Office letters No. 598, dated 27th July
1876, and No. 1336, dated 11th
December 1877, I have the honour
to submit ten reports on the sub-
ject of leprosy, received from the
districts marginally enumerated.
The only report now wanting to
complete the provisional series is
that due from the District of Mal-
dah, but I understand that, owing to changes which have occurred in
the medical charge of that district, no report need be expected. This
may, therefore, be accepted as the last instalment of the reports called
for in your letter No. 1272, dated 30th March 1875.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
24-Pergunuahs.
Patua.
Monghyr.
Shahabad.
Ranchi.
Kuch Behar.
Tirhoot.
Hazaribagh.
Bhagalpur.
Faridpur.
2. The reports submitted with letter No. 1336 above-cited were
subsequently returned direct by the Home Department for comment
and opinion. They were subjected to a careful analysis, and a letter
was submitted (No. 1674, dated 12th February) containing the results
of that analysis, and rendering prominent such points as the reports
illustrated, and such conclusion as the evidence contained in them
appeared to justify. This letter was, in the absence of instructions
to the contrary, submitted direct to the Home Department.
3. The reports now forwarded are exceedingly meagre, and do
not contain any information of importance, or any facts which mili-
tate against the conclusions drawn from the preceding series, which
were stated in the letter to the Home Department alluded to in the
last paragraph.
4. None of the districts included in the present series appear
to be specially leprous, nor do the reports indicate localization of the
disease in any particular part of any of them, unless the circum-
stance mentioned in Surgeon Comins' report, that a Muhammadan
village in the South of the State of Kuch Behar contains an unusu-
ally large proportion of lepers, be accepted as an instance of
localization. The spurious localization caused by leprous beggars
being attracted to towns and centres of pilgrimage is noticed by some
of the reporters.
5. No new facts of importance bearing on the question of
causation are mentioned. Surgeons Hill, of Monghyr, and Comins,
of Kuch Behar, state that Muhammadans are more liable to the disease
than Hindus, and connect this circumstance with the dirtier habits
and flesh diet of the former. The reports previously submitted con-
tained contradictory evidence on this subject, and Assistant Surgeon
Ram Chunder Goopta's allegation, that the consumption of the flesh
of the buffalo is a cause of the disease, is very questionable.
6. Poverty, syphilis and hereditary transmission are again pro-
minently assigned as causes ; but, as regards the two former, the
evidence is not demonstrative, and the latter cannot always be dis-
covered or traced. Surgeon Hill and Assistant Surgeon Ram Chun-
der Goopta give facts which go to prove that cohabitation of a leper
with a non-leprous wife does not necessarily impart the disease to
the latter.