Cholera in Two Contrasting Pathies in Nineteenth Century India

Cholera in Two Contrasting Pathies in Nineteenth Century India

This paper is a stocktaking exercise of the various therapies and therapeutics that were employed by the medical men to combat cholera–the inscrutable malady of the nineteenth century. To begin with, an understanding of the etiological and epidemiological parameters of the disease and their implications both on the disease and the diseased population is essential. Both these parameters regarding cholera remained controversial all through the nineteenth century. Occasional confusion did occur by the symptomatological overlaps with other diseases which both preceded and followed cholera. However, by the middle of the nineteenth century, the diagnosis and prognosis based on its symptoms got fairly well established. Yet, why these symptoms arose and how they were to be tackled challenged the very limits of medicine.