INDIA (1898-1899) 



237 



sanctioned, and should be made at the public 

 cost. The application is as follows : — 



"The annual admissions per mille for enteric 

 fever amongst British troops in India have risen 

 from 18.5 in 1890 to 32.4 in 1897, while the death- 

 rate has increased from 4.01 to 9.01 ; and we are of 

 opinion that every practicable means should be tried 

 to guard against the ravages made by this disease. 

 The anti-typhoid inoculations have been, we believe, 

 on a sufficiently large scale to show the actual value 

 of the treatment, while the results appear to afford 

 satisfactory proof that the inoculations, when 

 properly carried out, afford an immunity equal to or 

 greater than that obtained by a person who has 

 undergone an attack of the disease ; further, the 

 operation is one which does not cause any risk to 

 health. In these circumstances, we are very strongly 

 of opinion that a more extended trial should be 

 made of the treatment ; and we trust that your 

 Lordship will permit us to approve the inoculation, 

 at the public expense, of all British officers and 

 soldiers who may voluntarily submit themselves to 

 the operation." 



On 1 st August, the Secretary of State for India 

 announced in Parliament that this treatment, at 

 the public expense, has been sanctioned. 



On 20th January 1900, Professor Wright pub- 

 lished in the British Medical Journal an account of 

 these 1898-99 inoculations in India. "They were 

 undertaken under conditions which were very far 

 from ideal. In particular, there is reason to 

 suppose that the results obtained may have been 

 unfavourably influenced by a weakening of the 



