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42
especially at Southend, Cleethorpes, and the Medina River in
the Isle of Wight; Penryn River, Cornwall; Brightlingsea,
Essex; and Southwick, near Shoreham.
And what is still more important in many localities the
means of storage (whether in beds, ponds, pits or otherwise)
immediately antecedent to the distribution of oysters for
human consumption, come under distinct condemnation,
particularly at Southend; Wivenhoe; Grimsby Fish Docks;
Poole; Warsash, near Southampton Water; Southwick, and
Emsworth, near Havant.
By way of contrast, Dr. Thorne turns with satisfaction to
some of our most celebrated fisheries on the Coast of Essex
and Kent, and mentions particularly the Rivers Crouch and
Roach, and Whitstable, as now practically free from the risk
of sewage contamination.
Dr. Klein thus sums up the result of his experiments—
"It follows, therefore, from these experiments, that
oysters from various localities and of diverse origin, which
are kept for a while in sea water previously infected with
culture of the typhoid bacillus, and which remain living and
fresh, may and do harbour in their interior the living typhoid
bacillus at intervals of 4, 9, 16, and even 18 days from commencement
of experiment; and that these oysters on being
opened show no abnormal condition, but appear fresh and
quite unaltered. Further it appears that the typhoid bacillus
which was recovered from these oysters, as also from the tank
water, retains unimpaired all the characters of the typical
typhoid bacillus that was used for the experiment."
These experiments certainly show that oysters should not
be allowed to be either laid or stored in places that are liable
to sewage contamination.