Origin of kála-ázar, etc.

177

     From the fact that rich were not of more exempt than the
poor from sickness, he rightly inferred that—

"the unhealthiness of the district was not due to poverty or
privation, but to the malaria in which the whole country is steeped."

     And he particularly mentions—

"the damp banks and islands of the Brahmaputra to the east
and north-east of the district"

as having suffered. There was a decrease of 2.58 per cent. of
the population of the Rungpore district between the censuses
of 1872 and 1881, which was attributed to the fever epidemic.

     In 1871, there was no excess of fever in Rungpore, and
the rainfall was normal amounting to 94.15 inches. In 1872,
there was much fever in Dinajpore, more especially in the
south and south-west, and intermittent fever was very pre-
valent in Rungpore, which caused much mortality, and was
of a chronic type. Malarious remittent fever was also very
prevalent. This was the first of the series of years in which
the rainfall was unusually low, although the deficiency was
not very great in this year. There were twice as many
deaths returned from fevers in Dinajpore, and three times as
many in Rungpore in 1872 as in 1871, although the deaths
per mille in the whole of Bengal were 4.62 in the former year
as against 3.32 in the latter, part of the increase having been
due to better registration of deaths.

     In 1873, no report was received from Dinajpore, except
that—

"fevers of a malarious type prevailed during the year."

The rainfall was only 43.53 against an average of the five
years previously to 1873; of 84.59, a deficiency of nearly
one-half. Of Rungpore, it is recorded that—

"fever of the intermittent type was present in the district
throughout the year. From May to December it continued in-
creasing in intensity, so that the majority of the population were
completely prostrated by repeated attacks of the disease. The
poorly-feed and those who did not take advantage of treatment,
suffered most, and were affected with spleen and liver disease,
and subsequently with a fatal type of dysentery and dropsy."

2 A