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only in Camberwell alone, but also in London generally, but with
unfortunately no corresponding decrease in diphtheria. It has
been supposed by some, and with good reason, that the prevalence
of diphtheria depends in a degree on the level of the
ground water. There is no doubt that the experience of all those
who have enquired into the subject points strongly to the fact
that dampness, whether of soil or house, has a most favourable
influence on the development of diphtheria. Formerly the
ground water was able to find its way through the leaky joints
in the drains in the same way that water passes into the pipes
used for land drainage, the result being that the subsoil of a
house was fairly dry ; modern drains, however, are rightly
made water-tight, and do not allow either the escape or entry
of gas or liquid. Therefore, I think it is most important that
houses standing in low-lying districts should always be provided
with a proper system of subsoil drainage, and this certainly
should be made compulsory in all cases of new buildings without
any exception whatever.
The chief duty of the Vestry as the Sanitary Authority
is to consider the means by which this increased prevalence
may be combated, and in this respect I should like strongly to
endorse a suggestion that was made in the Committee when
this matter was under consideration; it related to the advisability
of making an examination, bacteriological and otherwise,
of the throats of all the children who attended a particular class
where two or more cases of diphtheria had occurred within an
interval of a week. The object of doing this would be to
ascertain whether there were any other children suffering
from the disease in a mild form. By this examination
we should also be able to ascertain if there were any
individual members who would be rightly considered as
infective, although they themselves presented none of the
appearances of the disease.
I also consider that it would be a wise measure if the
School Board were to relax their regulations concerning the
number of attendances required for prizes, &c., in the case of
children who had been excluded from school on account of
infectious disease existing in their homes.
Table XII. A gives the outlines of the work carried out
by your Inspectors during the past year. The house-to-house