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is shown by the figures. The mortality for the first 9 months of 1904, 
exclusive of executions, was 8, or 21.3 per 1,000. Of those 16 deaths, 
5 were of prisoners admitted to gaol with Tuberculosis. Two were from 
Beri-Beri. 
The diminution in the amount of Beri-Beri and the cessation of 
the epidemic in the Kwala Lumpur Gaol does not lend any support to the 
purely dietetic theories of the causation of the disease. The course of both 
the slight recrudescence at Kwala Lumpur and the epidemic in Singapore 
Gaol are indicative of human agency as a factor in the transmission of the 
disease. 
The montnly rainfall is given in the table in a separate column for 
comparison. I here is no evidence of any relation between this and the 
epidemic, but as the prisoners are protected from the rain the conditions 
are not comparable with those in mines. 
An important point in connection with the recrudescence of the disease 
m the Pudu Gaol is the unusually mild character of some of the attacks 
during the period under review. There was one death in all out of the 31 
cases, i.e.y 22 cases originating in the gaol and the 9 admitted with the 
disease. This fatal case was a severe one, fatal in 24 days after the onset. 
Two are still in hospital. 
Out of the remaining 19 patients who developed the disease in the gaol 
5 were a week or less in hospital, 5 two weeks or less, and 5 a month or less. 
The prisoners are discharged as fit for work, though for a few days they 
are kept under observation at light work. The medical officers attending 
the prisoners and the prison officials are very familiar with the course of the 
disease and the peculiar risks, and consequently this short detention in 
hospital is certain proof of the mildness of the attacks. 
Outside the Public Institutions. 
The disease is widely distributed and occurs not only in mines but in 
towns and villages to a variable extent. Exact information as to the rate 
is not available as the number of cases admitted to a district hospital does 
not represent the full number of cases that occur, as some particularly mild 
cases are not taken to hospital and others are taken to hospitals in other 
districts. 
Taking hospital statistics as the only basis and realising that such 
calculations are only approximate and below the true figures we find that 
in Kwala Lumpur itself there were, amongst the labouring male population, 
76 cases, or about 3 per 1,000 in the year. No figures can be obtained for 
the women. Several cases are known to have occurred amongst the inmates 
of the crowded brothels. In the adjoining mining districts of Ampang 
and Pudu there were respectively 149 and 64 cases, or about 13.8 and 11 per 
1,000. In the mining districts round Kuala Kubu in 1903 there were from 
the old established mines of Rasa 18.6 per 1,000 and Rawang 29.3 per 1,000, 
whilst the outlying districts with small mines Kepong, Pretah, etc., the rate 
was 65 to 120 per 1,000 per annum. 
Dr. Watson informs me that in the coast district under his charge a 
considerable number of cases come from the only tin mine in the district, 
and that isolated cases occur from time to time not only in persons on the 
coast who have never been inland but occasionally in persons working in 
lighthouses, launches, etc. 
