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was first mooted, but bacteriology was then in its
infancy, and no evidence could be adduced in support
of the theory. There are now on record several small
outbreaks of this disease among persons having
nothing in common except the fact of their having
eaten oysters at the same time and from the same
place. The latest and most complete case was that of
the students of a college at Middletown, Connecticut,
U.S.A. The oysters in this case were from a fattening
bed close to a sewer, known to have received the
infection of enteric fever.
The occurrence of such outbreaks being proved,
the next point is the question of the circumstances
favouring the spread of the infection. In the first
place, they are stored to fatten in large beds which
are almost invariably in the mouths of rivers or
estuaries, which are now in most cases the recipients
of the sewage of towns situated near the sea.
Secondly, oysters are most commonly eaten raw.
Given these facts, there remain the two arguments
against the theory:—
(1.) It has been stated by oyster merchants that
oysters fed on sewage will either die or else be so
sickly and out of condition as to be manifestly
uneatable; and
(2.) That no one has demonstrated the microorganism
of enteric fever, either in sea water or in
the oyster itself.