230 



PLAGUE 



officer in charge at Hubli had performed about 

 80,000 inoculations, and had only observed some 12 

 abscesses. He thought that 12 abscesses only, in 

 80,000 inoculations, showed good results. But, 

 after all, what were the numbers of inoculations 

 performed to the 300,000,000 inhabitants of India? 

 He felt that even^if every one consented to be 

 inoculated it was impossible to provide the vaccine 

 or the medical officers for such a demand. It was 

 accordingly to sanitary improvements that he looked 

 with the most confidence to protect India against 

 the plague." 



Therefore, now and for many years to come, 

 preventive inoculation must fall into line with the 

 other world-wide ways of fighting plague — quaran- 

 tine, notification, isolation, all sanitary measures, 

 destruction of rats — le rat, le gdnie de la peste — 

 evacuation of infected towns, disinfection or unroof- 

 ing of infected houses. Happily, this is just what 

 it does. That admirable paper, the Indian Medical 

 Gazette (September 1901), has put this fact very 

 simply : " No one ever imagined that inoculation 

 was the only means of fighting plague. Its great 

 value consists in its immediate application. To 

 sanitate, ventilate, and practically rebuild a town or 

 village takes time ; and in the meantime thousands 

 die." For sudden outbursts of plague — since rats 

 are one chief source of infection, and notification 

 is fundamentally abhorrent to native custom, and 

 evacuation may ruin trade, or spread infection, or 

 be impossible by reason of the rains — since " East 

 is East, and West is West" — it is not always 

 possible to provide, for an Indian village smitten 



