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103
The impugned mussels were bought from hawkers who sold
them for immediate consumption in the street. They had not
been cooked, and were still alive. It is a common belief among
indifferent street vendors of shell fish that the addition of vinegar,
especially if it contains "chillies," kills off the germs that are
present. Samples of mussels were taken and sent to the Lister
Institute lor bacteriological examination. The report was to the
effect that the mussels contained an excessive number of sewage
organisms.
Further powers are needed to deal effectually with the sale of
mussels to ensure that they are sold in a condition that may not
work to the harm of the public.
All cases of typhoid fever on their discharge from hospital are
visited and examined. A leaflet of instruction is left with them
and special attention is directed to its more important clauses,
which are orally explained at some length. The fæces and urine
are examined bacteriologically only in those patients discharged
for home where there is some evidence or suspicion which points
to their acting as typhoid carriers.
Diagnosis.—Specimens of blood from, suspected cases of
typhoid fever are examined free of charge for medical men by the
Public Health Department. The examinations are conducted at
the Bacteriological Laboratory of the Middlesex Hospital. In
1913, ten specimens of blood were received—four gave a positive
Widal reaction, the rest were negative.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
General Considerations.—The notifiable diseases named in
Section 55 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, are small
pox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas, scarlet
fever, typhus, enteric, relapsing, continued and puerperal fevers.
Cerebro-spinal fever, posterior basal meningitis, polio-myelitis,
polio-encephalitis, ophthalmia neonatorum, glanders, anthrax, and
hydrophobia in man are likewise notifiable in London by an order
of the London County Council, made under Sections 55 and 56
of the Public Health (London) Act.