FIRST INOCULATIONS 



205 



then, on ioth January 1897, inoculated himself with 

 a large dose, four times as strong as the subsequent 

 standard dose. A few days later, Lieut. -Col. Hatch, 

 Principal of the Grant Medical College, Bombay, 

 and other members of the College Staff, were 

 inoculated. These first inoculations were described 

 by Haff kine in a recent lecture (1901) at Poona : — 



In a short time, a number of the most authori- 

 tative physicians in Bombay, European and native, 

 official medical officers and private practitioners, 

 submitted themselves for inoculation. It is a matter 

 of gratification to me to be able to quote, among 

 these authorities, the Head of the Medical Service 

 of the Presidency, Surgeon-General Bainbridge, 

 who not only got himself inoculated, but inoculated 

 also the members of his family. Previous to that, 

 Surgeon-General Harvey, the able Director-General 

 of the Indian Medical Service, submitted himself to 

 inoculation in 1893 against cholera; and, in 1898, 

 against plague. It was the example of these 

 gentlemen, whose competence in the matter of 

 health could not be disputed, that encouraged 

 thousands of people, rich and poor, in Bombay and 

 elsewhere, to come forward for inoculation. Thus 

 his Excellency the Viceroy thought it right to tell 

 you here, in Poona, that previous to his starting for 

 the plague-stricken districts he and his staff had 

 also undergone the prophylactic inoculation. In due 



addressed a meeting of 5000 in favour of the new treatment ; 

 and the rush of suppliants for inoculation at Hubli and Gaday 

 proves that there is no real religious difficulty. Doctors have 

 been assaulted, as at Poona, so at Oporto ; in neither case 

 can we say Tantum relligio potuit suadere malorum, 



