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78
Modern investigation of the etiology of Enteric
Fever has led to the almost universal belief that
in the great majority of epidemics the fons et
origo mali is to be found in the foeces and urine
[the former to by far the greater extent] which
constitute the habitat of the special contagium
of Enteric Fever, and by this means the alvine
secretions of a Typhoid patient may pollute the
drains and sewers, being conveyed thither
through the ordinary water channels, unless
proper precautions are adopted to disinfect all
the dejections at the bedside ; water, therefore,
should be regarded as simply a conductor of
infected material. Again, a recent theory propounded
by a recognised authority on Hygiene,
is that the Typhoid bacilli derive their origin
and are ever present in myriads in various kinds
of subsoil earths, and in this way find ready
entrance to the sewers by means of the watercourses,
and desseminate death and destruction
to whole communities. In support of this rather
startling proposition, it is pointed out that
Enteric Fever was more prevalent throughout
the country generally in 1898 owing to the lack of