(97)
Dhaka.-This district also " suffered severely from cholera, the disease
having been reported from 1,275 out of its 5,016 villages. There was a more
even distribution of the disease over the months from January to June,
and a sudden fall from the end of September to the middle of November.* * *
At the two large fairs held in the district there was a comparative absence
of the disease.
Jailpaiguri.-Here the disease prevailed from April to December, and
unlike the foregoing districts, manifested greatest intensity in June and
October. From April to the close of the year the disease was more evenly
spread over those months, and there was an almost total absence of it in the
first quarters of the year. In the latter end of April virulent outbreaks of the
disease occurred simultaneously at Boda and Alipur, which are situated at
opposite extremes of the district, the former on the Dinagepur frontier, and
the latter on the skirts of the Terai, about 20 miles south of the cantonment
of Buxa. * * * Another outbreak occurred at the railway works at Man-
dalghat, three miles south of the sadr station. * * * Of the 250 villages
90 were visited by cholera.'' The police returns greatly under-state the mortal-
ity that occurred.
The districts of Chittagaon, Noakhali, Tipperah, Faridpur, and Bakirganj
all suffered severely from cholera, and the seasonal incidence of the disease
corresponds with that of the districts of the Dhaka division. The following
statement gives at a glance the wide prevalence and fatality of cholera in the
abovementioned districts:-

DISTRICTS.
Number of deaths.
Ratio per 1,000 of population
Number of circles attacked.
Number of villages attacked.
Number of villages in the district.
Chittagaon
875
.77
10
174
1,088
Noakhali
2,204
3.08
8
364
2,034
Tipperah
2,222
1.44
14
577
6,150
Bakirganj
3,022
1.60
15
458
3,244
Faridpur
3,303
2.17
13
973
3,332
Kattak.-Deaths from cholera were reported from this district in every
month of the year, but it was much more general and fatal from March to
December; June, July, November and December being the months of greatest
fatality. The disease was reported in 10 out of 12 circles. Compared
with the returns for 1873 and 1874, cholera was unusually prevalent in 1875
after the month of September. " Through this district passes the chief pilgrim
route from Northern and North-Western India, and several minor routes
join the main road from the west. There is also a constant stream of pas-
sengers from the new port of Chandbally through Kendrapara to Kattak.
The total cholera deaths reported during the year is 4,102.
Puri.-There are special circumstances connected with this district and its
chief town of the same name, which enhance the value of all observations bearing
on the origin, progress, locality and seasonal activity of cholera. The town of
Puri, containing the temple of Jaganath, is the goal to which constant streams
of pilgrims converge from Northern, Western, and Southern India. It is
periodically thronged to overcrowding by poor and wearied travellers, and
this overcrowding occurs at the most unhospitable season of the year.
Cholera is a yearly visitor in the district, and its occurrence is invariably
attributed to importation by pilgrims. * * * In all the months, except January,
cholera was present in the district, but unlike the districts of the Presidency
and Dhaka Divisions, the period of endemic intensity occurred in July, August,
and December, instead of March or April, and November. The circles in
this district in which cholera prevailed most were Puri, which returned 4.81
deaths per 1,000 of population, Pipli 2.16, and Khudra 1.94. It is through
these circles that the chief pilgrim routes pass. The Banpur and Tanghy
circles, through which a small number of pilgrims from the south travel,
returned a death-rate of 1.82 and 2.60 respectively, the Gop circle, to the
eastward of the district, through which no pilgrims pass, gives a death-rate
from cholera of .41 per 1,000 of population. In this last circle, however, regis-
tration, it is stated, is least advanced, for the deaths from all causes are little
O