THE METROPOLITAN CIRCLES.                                  19

to practise vaccination without previous training, it would lead to doubtful and spurious
vaccination which will not protect its subjects against small-pox. The result will be that
doubt and discredit will be cast upon vaccination generally, and the progress of the operation
will be greatly retarded. Hence it is necessary that inoculators should receive instruction
and training and be certified as to their qualifications before being allowed to practise.
These certificates should be so framed that there might be no possibility of forging or falsi-
fying them. The reason why I would insist on this point is, that some of the inoculators
who practised vaccination on their own account in thannah Kotulpore in Burdwan, Dia-
mond Harbour, and 24-Pergunnahs, actually showed to the people false certificates purport-
ing to bear the signatures of English officers whose names have never been heard of in the
vaccine department. On this subject I will submit a special report.

Outbreaks of small-
pox.

16. Small-pox reports.—Twenty three reports of the outbreak of small-pox were
received between the 1st April 1872 and 31st March 1873 ; in 18 the disease was found
to be small-pox and in 5 chicken-pox.

In the twenty three outbreaks of small-pox, 52 villages were affected, and 321 persons
were ascertained to have been attacked; of these 54 died and 267 recovered.

In 34 villages vaccinations were performed around the infected persons, and the spread
of the disease was arrested. In one vaccination was not required, the village being already
protected by vaccination; and in seventeen, the people refused to take it. Seven of the
villages were previously protected, wholly or in part by vaccination, and forty-five by inocu-
lation. Of the persons attacked, 4 were previously vaccinated of whom 1 died ; 19 inocu-
lated of whom 2 died; and 298 were unprotected of whom 51 died. In 14 of the 52 villages
the disease was traced to the practice of inoculation in the border district of Jessore; in 34,
to contact with small-pox; and in 4, the origin could not be ascertained.

In some villages in the district of Nuddea infected with small-pox where vaccination
was practised to stamp out the epidemic, some of the vaccinated children were attacked
with variolla—so vaccine vesicles and small-pox pustules were observed side by side.
Those children must have received the poison before they were vaccinated, as in every
case the eruption appeared before the 8 th day of the operation shewing that none of the
children had been fully brought under the influence of the prophylactic.

Municipal vaccina-
tors.

17. Municipal Vaccinators.—The following table shews at a glance the number of
municipalities supplied with vaccinators and the period during which the men were em-
ployed.