These 69 houses were selected: there was nothing unfair in the method of selection, still, they were "good houses"; they are not, therefore, exact for statistics; but, as the Commissioners say, they are "of interest as quite special examples of successful inoculation."
2. In the Southern Mahratta Spinning and Weaving Company's Mills, a careful record of inoculation was kept and checked by the manager. The number of the workpeople at the time when inoculation was begun, 21st June, was 1173. At the end of the epidemic the figures were:—
| Deaths. | Mortality per cent. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Inoculated twice | 1040 | 22 | 2.11 |
| Inoculated once | 58 | 8 | 13.79 |
| Uninoculated | 75 | 20 | 26.66 |
Here, again, the figures have not a statistical value: "We are not informed whether the inoculations were performed simultaneously; or at what stage of the outbreak the average strength of the inoculated was reached." All the same, what Major Bannerman says of them is true—The experience in this company's mill at Hubli should be an object lesson to all mill-owners in plague-stricken towns.
3. The figures for the Southern Mahratta Railway are given by Major Bannerman in his "Statistics" (1900): they are not mentioned in the Report of the Plague Commission. They are of great value, because the daily shifting of the numbers was recorded as the work of inoculation went on, and the date of each case of plague was also noted. Major Bannerman gives the following account:—
"The railway employés were living in barracks, and in the railway yard, apart from the general population of Hubli town. They were under close daily inspection by English officials, who formed a committee for this purpose, with Dr. Chenai as their medical adviser. The results may therefore be regarded as accurate in a high degree, the numbers dealt with not being excessive, and the supervision strict."
The figures, based on the average numbers in each group, are as follows:—
| Cases. | Deaths. | Mortality per cent. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twice Inoculated | 990 | 6 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Once Inoculated | 270 | 5 | 1 | 0.3 |
| Uninoculated | 760 | 35 | 21 | 2.7 |
These eight instances must suffice: many must be left out—among them, Dhárwár and Gadag, where Miss Corthorn, M.B., did work as splendid as Leumann's work at Hubli; and Mr. Anderson's work in the Ahmednagar villages; and many more. These plague-reports are to be read, not for their record of heroic zeal and resourcefulness, but only as one more example of many thousand lives saved by a method learned from experiments on animals.
But, of course, there is not, and perhaps there never will be, a national acceptance and adoption of this method through the length and breadth of India. It does not work miracles; it is an uncomfortable process to submit to; privileges must be offered with it, or the native will often prefer to take his chance; the protection is of uncertain duration; all sorts of lies are told about it, partly by anti-vivisectionist writers, partly by native political agitators, partly by the hakims. For instance, at a meeting of hakims at Masti, Lahore, on 11th April 1898, the following resolutions were passed:—