136 REPORT OF THE LEPROSY COMMISSION:
thousand to one hundred and five thousand would fairly accu-
rately represent the leper population for British India.
From the consideration of the leper distribution according
to the three censuses, it is evident that the alarm about the
increase of leprosy in British India is altogether groundless;
in fact, that the figures available, unfortunately consisting
only of three sets, point strongly to a decrease among these
unfortunate people, in any case to the disease being at a
standstill. Again, the number of lepers has been greatly
overstated, a hundred and ten thousand being perhaps nearest
the truth. Leprosy cannot, therefore, be regarded in the light
of an "Imperial Danger."
In the following appendix full information regarding the
leper population will be found. As at the time of writing the
returns for 1891 had not been fully revised, a few inaccuracies
may perhaps have found their way into the third part of the
appendix; they will, however, be slight and hardly affect the
ratios.
The Commissioners take this opportunity of recording their
appreciation of the assistance afforded by their clerk, Lala Atar
Chand, in the preparation of these statistical tables.