CHAP. VII.] Measures in the City of Bombay. 163
Number of
hospitals.
Marwari (Hindu trading caste)
1
Bhatia (Hindu trading caste)
1
Bannia (Hindu trading caste)
3
Parsi ... ... ...
1
Jain
2
Telugu ... ... ...
1
The European hospital was the St. George's Hospital, situated in No.
II (Fort and Esplanade) District; 95 cases were treated there. The
biggest of the private hospitals were the General Hindu Hospital
(District No. IX) in which 331 cases were treated, and the Jain
Hospital (District No. VIII) (206 admissions). In the 23 private hos-
pitals, with respect to which details are given in Chapter II of
General Gatacre's report, the number of admissions was 1,244.
Usefulness of
private hospitals.
General Gatacre stated that the moral and practical support which
the Committee received from the establishment of private hos-
pitals was invaluable, as it quelled at once the misgivings and fears
entertained by the people with regard to the hospital system.
Hospitals for
individuals and
families not
allowed.
The Committee insisted that the private hospitals should be open
to all the members of the caste or sect for which it was established
and declined to sanction any applications for hospitals for private
individuals or for groups of private individuals.
The multiplica-
tion of hospitals
caused no spread
of the disease.
At the outset some persons entertained misgivings that "the
multiplication of plague hospitals in the city and their location in
thickly populated quarters would cause virulent centres of infection,
which would be a source of greater danger than the alternative of
treating the sick persons in their own houses. This important
question was keenly discussed and considered, but the Committee
adhered to its decision that the private hospital system would meet
the requirements of many who by reason of caste or custom would
not have gone to hospital under any circumstances without forcible
removal. Accordingly, applications for private hospitals were sanc-
tioned on the distinct understanding that all arrangements in con-
nection therewith would be carried out by a hospital board, and
that the medical attendants and staff should be under the super-
vision and control of the medical officer of the district in which the
private hospital was located ; and this officer was made responsible
for compliance with the orders of the Committee. The results of
the system fully realised the convictions of the Committee, and the
opinion, generally expressed in many quarters, that the private
hospitals would be a further source of danger to the city proved
erroneous ; the careful supervision maintained by those in charge of
these institutions secured the result that in no single instance