On the other hand, it may be said that some of the Municipalities Municipal sanitation, have done much towards improving the sanitary condition of the people. The water-works and drainage works of Calcutta appear to be a great success, for which much is due to the skill and energy of the late engineer of Calcutta, Mr. Clark. During 1872 the main drainage scheme was extended to the northern division of the town, and measures were taken for increasing the daily water-supply of the town by 3,000,000 gallons. To the Municipality of Burdwan the Government has given a donation of Rs. 15,000 and a loan of Rs. 40,000 towards the canalisation of the river and the establishment of water-works, from which much is expected. In the town of Dacca a most munificent gift of Rs. 1,50,000 has been made to the Municipality by the well-known Khajeh Abdool Ghunny, c.s.I., and his son Khajeh Ahsanoollah, with the object of providing the people of Dacca with a supply of pure water. Conservancy works are commenced, and will now, we hope, be rapidly pushed on in Dacca, and already something has been done to relieve the city from the charge of an unhealthiness and special liability to cholera, under which it has long laboured. In the Municipalities of Bengal conservancy and sanitation are well looked to, and our progress is steady. It is not necessary to enter in any detail into the working of the Contagious Diseases' Act in Calcutta the Indian Contagious during the past year, as so much has been given in former reports, and no change has been made in the system during the year of review. The Act is now working quietly and without any apparent friction, and has, in the opinion of those charged with its administration, had a marked effect upon the health, not only of the European soldiery, but of the civil population that come into hospital for this class of disease. The admissions to civil hospitals and dispensaries from venereal disease were 6,529 in 1872 against 7,305 in 1871, showing continued improvement. The number of women on the register at the close of the year was 6,871, as against 7,087 at its beginning, showing a decrease of 216. Working of Diseases' Act. The total cost of the Lock Hospital, preventive and other charges, was Rs. 56,805, and of this sum the Municipality of Calcutta paid Rs. 12,915. The reports for the year Working of the Cantonment Lock Hospitals. in regard to the Cantonment Lock Hospitals in the interior continue on the whole favorable to the working of the system. Whilst 646 soldiers were treated for venereal diseases in 1871, only 302 were admitted to hospital for such diseases in 1872. The particulars regarding each of the Lock Hospitals in Dinapore, Barrackpore, Dum-Dum, Hazareebaugh, and Darjeeling, are annually reviewed by the Sanitary Commissioner with the Government of India, and need not be here set out in detail. The Pooree Lodging-house Act, Act IV (B.C.) of 1871, for the benefit of the pilgrims to Juggernath, was very successfully worked during the year under the immediate supervision of the Health Officer. This Act is designed to bring under control the sanitary arrangements of that Sanitary arrangements at Pooree, and the working of the Lodging-houses' Act during 1872-73. *Certificate fees License Miscellaneous receipts... Rs. A. P. 344 0 0 4,042 12 0 514 15 0 5 town, which is crowded with pilgrims at certain seasons, and has only too often been a focus of epidemic disease. The lodging-houses are now registered and inspected, and none are licensed save for a limited number of inmates, and after proper provision is made for conservancy. There were 342 lodging-houses registered, and licenses were taken out for 6,085 lodgers. The money receipts for the year were Rs. 4,975-1-5.* The total disbursements were Rs. 3,678-3-6, leaving a net balance of Rs. 1,296-13-11, which, if added to the amount already at the credit of the fund, gives an aggregate of Rs. 7,703-5-4, and this amount is to accumulate towards carrying out a comprehensive system of drainage in the town of Pooree. Considerable improvements have recently been made in the town and management of the lodging houses. The Health Officer's report shows that no cholera generated in Pooree this year. Cholera was, however, brought into Pooree by some pilgrims from Nilgiri, a tributary estate in Orissa. This epidemic caused 63 deaths. The water-supply of Pooree is somewhat unexpectedly declared to be ample and of good quality, tests applied by Dr. Nicholson, Analyst of Water, proving it to be better than the average of most large towns. Total 73 6 4,975 1 5 It has been customary under the head of sanitation to deal with the principal diseases of an epidemic or peculiar character which afflict the country, and to notice anything that has been done or designed to avert or mitigate them. The following remarks pertain to this branch of the subject. The diseases which prevailed epidemically in the province during the past year were cholera, fever, dengue fever, and small-pox. Prevalence of disease. CHOLERA. Cholera prevailed to a greater or less extent in every part of the province, and throughout most of the year. Nowhere, however, did the disease. assume very large dimensions, or demand special relief measures on an extensive scale. The deputation of a Native Doctor to affected localities, and the distribution of cholera pills, were the means usually adotped when an outbreak of exceptional severity was reported. Burdwan. Burdwan suffered severely, the disease occurring sporadically in the villages in every month of the year. Most cases occurred in June, July, August, and September; in the other districts the disease was more sporadic and limited. In Midnapore, Bancoorah, and Burdwan, the appearance of the disease was observed to be coincident with the arrival of pilgrims from Orissa. Presidency. Cases of cholera occurred in Calcutta in every month of the year, and the total number exceeded that of the two preceding years. November and December were the worst months. In 24-Pergunnahs the disease was sporadic throughout the year. Most cases occurred in the first four and last two months. Severe outbreaks occurred at Diamond Harbour, Barripore, and Barrackpore, towards the close of the year. In Nuddea the disease was very prevalent, though not concentrated, during the first five months of the year. Jessore suffered most in the first four months, and in December. In Moorshedabad and Dinagepore and Rajshahye the disease prevailed rather extensively during the Rajshahye. first four months of the year, and there was very little during the remaining months, except in Dinagepore, where an increase was manifest in November and December. In Maldah and Bograh cases were few and sporadic. Pubna suffered more severely in the first five and last months. In Rungpore there was a severe outbreak from September onwards in the western thannahs of the district. Cooch Behar. Dacca. A good deal of cholera prevailed epidemically in the Darjeeling district in April, May, June, July, and August. It was thought to have been imported by the Nepaulese coolies returning from the Lushai expedition. The disease became epidemic in Julpigoree in December. Cases occurred in the Dacca district throughout the year; in December the disease was most prevalent. A considerable number of cases occurred in Furreedpore in January, but comparatively few during the rest of the year. Backergunge fared worse, the disease appearing in the hot weather, subsiding during the rains, and again appearing as the cold weather advanced. The Civil Surgeon notes that the hot-weather cholera proceeds from the south northwards, and the cold-weather cholera from the north southwards. In Mymensing cholera was scattered and rare till December, when several sharp outbreaks occurred. In Sylhet and Cachar the disease was severe in March, April, and May. The troops and coolies returning from the Lushai expedition suffered much in passing through these districts. Cases occurred in Chittagong throughout the year,-a larger number in the first five and last Chittagong. months of the year than in the rains. In Noakhally no cases were observed in July, August, and September, and this was also noticed in 1871. December was the worst month. The features of the disease were very similar in Tipperah. Patna. The disease was severe in these districts during the months of May, June, and August; Patna and Gya suffered most. The dry months were comparatively exempt. In Shahabad a similar history obtained, but to a less extent. In Sarun, August and September were the worst months. Tirhoot and Chumparun were similarly visited, but the outbreaks in the former were more severe. In the dry months of the year the Behar districts did not suffer much. Bhaugulpore. In Monghyr and Bhaugulpore the disease prevailed to a considerable extent in the rainy months, more severely in the former than the latter. In Purneah, November was the worst month, but in none could the disease be pronounced more than sporadic. The Sonthal Pergunnahs hadsporadic cases in the hot weather. Orissa. The disease was very prevalent in the districts of Orissa in Chota Nagpore. The districts of this division suffered very little. The disease prevailed to a greater extent in Maunbhoom than in the other little districts, and the bulk of cases occurred in May, June, and July. It occurred mostly along the principal lines of traffic. A few sporadic cases occurred in Hazareebaugh, Ranchee, and Singbhoom throughout the year. Assam. All the districts suffered more or less. July, August, November, and December, were the worst months in Goalparah, but small epidemics were reported throughout the year. A good deal of cholera occurred in Kamroop, most in January, February, May, June, and July. In Durrung cases occurred throughout the year; June and December were the worst months. In Nowgong a good deal of cholera occurred in January and June. A severe outbreak took place in Seebsaugor in October, November, and December. This district appears to have suffered more than any other in the whole province. In Lukhimpore the disease was confined to the North Lukhimpore sub-division. It was imported from Jorehaut, and prevailed in some villages in November and December; the hill districts were exempt from the disease. Cholera broke out in many of the steamers conveying coolies to Assam in the hot weather. The most remarkable features in the history of cholera in 1872 were, its wide distribution throughout the province; the Chota Nagpore districts, Sonthal Pergunnahs, and hill districts suffering least; the severe prevalence of the disease in Orissa and Assam; its association with the Pooree pilgrimages and Lushai expedition; the comparative immunity of the districts of Eastern and Southern Bengal during the months of rain and flood, and its prevalence in the dry months (the features of the disease in Behar being exactly and remarkably reversed); the number of outbreaks in steamers conveying coolies to Assam; and the unusually severe prevalence of the disease in the Darjeeling and Julpigoree district. EPIDEMIC FEVER. Fever of a very severe and fatal type prevailed, as it has for some years past, extensively in all districts of the Burdwan division except Bancoorah. In the district of Burdwan the disease was more universally distributed, and caused greater mortality and sickness than in any of the remaining districts. In Beerbhoom the low alluvial part of the district in the neighbourhood of the Adjye river lying to the south and south-west, and bordering on Burdwan, suffered much. In Midnapore the affected tract consisted of the flat alluvial country lying between the Selye and Cossye rivers to the north-west of the district, and marching with the southeastern thannahs of Hooghly. In Hooghly, however, the disease was more severe and fatal to the north and west of the district than to the east and south. In previous reports the rise and progress of this alarming and disastrous epidemic have been chronicled. It began to rage about ten years ago in Jessore and Nuddea, and caused much consternation and havoc in several parts of these districts. It gradually spread to the northern parts of 24-Pergunnahs, and in 1864-65 crossed the Hooghly and appeared in the northern portion of the Hooghly district. In 1866 it appeared in the eastern and southern parts of the Burdwan district. During 1867-68 it continued to prevail and spread in these districts along the course of the Damoodah river, and in 1869 the town of Burdwan was attacked, and many places in both districts suffered severely. In 1870 the type and mortality were not so severe; but in 1871 fever broke out with renewed virulence, and was more widespread and fatal than ever. It also extended to those parts of Beerbhoom and Midnapore bordering on the Burdwan and Hooghly districts. The disease commenced in July and continued to cause most serious sickness and mortality throughout the whole of the cold season of 1871-72. The year 1871 closed with the epidemic in full sway throughout almost the whole of the portions of Beerbhoom and Midnapore already indicated. A short sketch is here given of the distribution and features of the disease in each of these districts during the year 1872, and of the measures adopted to relieve the sufferers. At the close of the year 1871 twenty-five special dispensaries were in operation, distributed in three circles, to each of which an inspecting medical officer had been appointed for the purpose of directing and supervising relief measures and reporting on the circumstances of the prevailing epidemic. Burdwan. The northern, middle, and southern parts of Burdwan, were most affected, especially the southern part on each side of the river Damoodah, and between that and the Dulkessur; while the eastern and northwestern sections of the district were comparatively healthy. One Assistant Surgeon, five Sub-Assistant Surgeons, and twenty-four Native Doctors, had been sent to afford medical relief to the feverstricken, and a depôt of medical stores had been opened at Burdwan. Food and blankets had also been distributed to some extent, for the people who had been prostrated by the disease had become impoverished, and it was thought that the cold of the winter nights either aggravated the attack or induced relapses. As the weather became warmer, the fever subsided somewhat; new cases were not so numerous. But the sequelae of the past season kept the dispensaries open, and the medical officers at work. There was a marked aggravation of the disease in April, attributed to showery weather and sudden changes in the temperature. Towards the end of June aggravations and fresh outbreaks were reported from the northern and southern parts of the district. The Jehanabad thannah had been included in the Burdwan district, and the reports from this quarter indicated severe and widespread sickness. The disease abated somewhat in July, but in August and September it began to increase around Burdwan and in many parts of the district which had been affected in the previous season. During the month of October the reports indicated an abatement, and the health of the district was said to contrast favorably with the corresponding season of 1871. Heavy rain fell from the 23rd to the 26th of October, and this was followed |