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A report by Dr. Wanklyn on cerebro-spinal fever in London during 1908 is appended, (see
Appendix II.)
Anthrax.
Five cases of anthrax are known to have occurred during the year, one of which proved fatal.
Three persons attacked, all in Bermondsey, were employed in handling foreign hides at wharves in
that district. All recovered. One case occurred in Shoreditch in the person of the wife of a caretaker
employed at a horse-hair factory. This patient also recovered. The fifth case, which was fatal,
was a domestic servant employed in Stoke Newington. The source of her infection could not be
ascertained.
Glanders.
Six deaths are known to have occurred in London during the year. The first death was that of
a horse-dealer who purchased worn-out horses with a view to selling them for utilisation as a source of
food supply abroad. None of the horses in his possession were known to be glandered. The case was
at first supposed to be one of influenza, then later of pneumonia and of typhoid fever. The existence
of lumps under the skin and of a pustular rash was noted. On the day before his death the nature of the
illness was recognised and the presence of the bacillus mallei was demonstrated.
The second death was that of a horse-keeper. After the inquest the stud of 75 horses among
which he had worked was tested, with the result that 11 reacted and were slaughtered. The man's
illness commenced with pain in the shoulder, sores developed on the body and intramuscular abscesses
were found. In the pus from one of the latter the bacillus mallei was detected.
The third death was that of a carman owning four horses. One of these was found to be badly
glandered. The man's illness was at first thought to have been caused by a blow and an abscess
developed in the left shoulder. He was admitted to Guy's Hospital and intramuscular abscesses were
found in the neighbourhood of the shoulder and elbow. Post-mortem the larynx was discovered to be
affected.
The fourth death was that of a horse-keeper who had worked in the stable above referred to (in
connection with the second death) at which 11 glandered horses were found. The nature of the disease
was diagnosed on his admittance to St. Bartholomew's Hospital.
The fifth death was that of a man who had not been in any ascertainable way connected with
horses. The case was considered at first to be one of influenza, then of rheumatic fever, then of septicaemia.
The bacillus mallei was found in pus taken from the patient two days before his death.
The sixth death was that of a coachman who lived in rooms over an empty stable. He was not
known to have been in contact with glandered horses. He suffered from diarrhoea and developed a
sore on his right arm and became delirious. A pustular rash appeared on his face. A diagnosis of
glanders was made, but it was not confirmed bacteriologically.
Meteorology.
The tables published in the Annual Summary of the Registrar-General, deduced from observations
at Greenwich under the superintendence of the Astronomer Eoyal, show that the mean temperature
of the air in 1908 was 501 deg Fahrenheit, which is the average of the preceding 65 years. The
rainfall during the year amounted to 23 78 inches, a decrease of 0 34 inches on the average of the preceding
65 years. The temperature and rainfall in each month of the year 1908 are shown in the
following table:-