( 2 )
From the above it will be seen that the highest rate to population is found in
Khandeish, and next to it in Ahmednagar, whilst in the Puna, Sholapur, Satara
and Dharwar Districts which are situated above the Ghats, and in the Ratnagiri
and Kolaba Collectorates on the sea coast, the ratio to population is high. In the
other districts the disease appears to be proportionally less, the least number being
returned from the Province of Sin3.
I quite concur in the opinion expressed by the Government of India that any
measures of segragation and medical treatment of lepers throughout the country
would be impracticable as a State measure, but I do hold that the improvement of
the hygienic conditions under which the mass of the people live is the only sure
method of stamping out leprosy or any similar disease. The filth with which all
the villages in India are surrounded is quite sufficient to prevent any hope of
success in combating the disease, which it is not difficult to foresee, will prevail until
such an objectionable state of matters is altered.
With these preliminary remarks I proceed to furnish a summary of the returns
received from the various Civil Surgeons as furnished by the Surgeon General :
KHANDIESH.
The Civil Surgeon, Dhulia, records the following notes of the only case of
leprosy treated by gurjun. oil, which he was able to watch for a length of time.
The history of this case does not in his opinion support the character of the remedy
as a permanent cure for the disease :
Khandu wullud Rama, a Coonbee, aged 25, with a rather fair skin, came
into the Dhulia Jail on the 6th January 1876, with well-developed tubercular
leprosy, and was treated by gurjun oil administered internally and applied
externally as a liniment. Under treatment the ulceration of the tips of the
fingers and toes and on several other parts of the hands and feet, and the
severe cracks on the soles of the latter perfectly healed in two months, and the
tumefaction of the face much diminished ; his general condition also having
changed from one of great repulsiveness to comparative health. The anæsthe-
sia was not however appreciably diminished. During these two months he
gained three pounds in weight, which does not seem much, considering that he
did no work and was fairly well fed on the usual prison ration with wheat,
bread and 8 oz. mutton. This amelioration of the disease was not, however,
altogether permanent, and before his release from jail on the 23rd January
1876 he was again suffering from the sores though they were not so serious
as on his arrival.
NASIK.
The Honorary Surgeon Nasik states that no cases of leprosy were treated at
the Nasik Hospital during the 23 months from November 1874 to September 1876
inclusive.
AHMEDNAGAR.
According to the report furnished by the Civil Surgeon, Ahmednagar, eighteen
out-patients and two in-patients affected by leprosy were admitted into the hospital
during 1875-76. Some of the out-patients who attended the hospital regularly
for treatment slowly recovered under the use of gurjun oil ; but after sometime
they discontinued their coming to the hospital for treatment. One of the in-pa-
tients was admitted into the hospital on 5th and died on 20th October 1875. He
was seriously ill when he was brought to the hospital, and could not properly speak.
The other in-patient was admitted on the 8th September 1875, and he went home
of his own accord on 20th December 1875. He was much improved under treat-
ment by gurjun oil.
Of the twenty cases mentioned above, seventeen are said to have got the
disease after they had attained the age of puberty ; but their ancestors were said
to have been entirely free from the disease. The remaining three cases are reported
to have inherited the disease from their grandfathers.
PUNA.
The Acting Civil Surgeon, Puna, states his inability to furnish any report
on leprosy cases treated at the Sassoon Hospital, owing to there being no accom-
modation set apart for the treatment of lepers in that hospital. No report seems
to have been received from the Assistant Surgeon in charge Khan Bahadur
Padamji Sorabji's Charitable Dispensary, Puna.