View report page

33
As regards the former it may be replied that whilst
oysters in water highly charged with sewage may die
or become uneatable, yet they undoubtedly do flourish
in water containing sewage, as must be evident to
any one acquainted with the chief oyster beds. The
second argument is not so easily rebutted. It can
only be met by a very extended series of examinations
and experiments.
The conclusions which appear to be the safest are
that the case is "not proven," but that there is
sufficient evidence to make it imperative that strict
supervision should be exercised in the matter of the
fattening beds, and that oysters which come from
beds known to be exposed to sewage contamination,
should not be eaten raw.
In the quarterly reports for last year attention
was called on more than one occasion to the great
differences in the numbers of cases from the two SubDistricts,
which differences are shown in Table 7. In
Table 8 the cases have been distributed between the
two Sub-districts, the two sexes and the six age-groups
used in these reports. The rates shown in this Table
and in Table 8a have been calculated on the numbers
estimated to be living in each age-group, as shown in
Table 1.