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69
It will be seen from the Chart that the
outbreak was at its maximum at the commencement,
16th-17th January, and gradually
diminished until the 24th-25th January, when
a marked recrudescence occurred, reaching its
highest point on the 29th January, and then
gradually abating until it ceased altogether on
the 9th February.
The curve shown is constructed on the
principle of substituting for each term the mean
of three adjoining terms throughout the series.
This course has been adopted because in making
a graphic representation of the progress of an
epidemic, in cases where the terms (by which is
meant the number of cases per diem) are small,
such an arrangement reduces accidental irregularities
which might otherwise obscure the
real curve.
These curves are arbitrary, and should not be
regarded as exact in detail. They, however,
illustrate the two maximum periods of infection,
viz., 16th-17th January, and 28th-29th of the
same month.