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13
The origin of the infeotion could not be discovered except
in a few cases. As regards two persons residing in different
houses in this district, they returned from Southend about the
same time, and had lived whilst there in the same terrace, and
both were ailing before they returned, the undoubted symptoms
appearing in one case in 5 days, and the other in 7 days after
their return. Another patient said he took the disease at
Market Drayton. I was also informed by the Medical Officer
of Health for Bethnal Green that he knew of some other
cases of enteric fever in his district, said to have been contracted
at Southend.
In connection with infectious diseases I desire to mention
the arrangements for the removal of the sick by the Metropolitan
Asylums Board's ambulances. During the year I visited the
ambulance station here, and also, with a number of other
Medical Officers of Health, inspected the new pattern ambulances
at the Board's wharf, and then proceeded in the
steam launch to the hospital ships. I was very much pleased
with the new steam-ship, which I then saw for the first time,
as everything necessary for the safe and comfortable transfer of
the patients to the hospital ships was provided. The hospital
ships are, in my opinion, much more suitable for the treatment
of small-pox patients than the ordinary land hospitals, and
judging from the statistics, afford better results than the latter,
which would more than counteract injury, if any, arising from
the patients' removal.
Considerable discussion has been going on for some time
past respecting the erection of large buildings at Darenth for
the treatment of convalescents from and of slight cases of smallpox.
It was proposed by one section of the Asylums Board to
erect large brick buildings at a great cost, and by another either to
utilise the wooden huts already in stock, and supplement them
by brick huts, or small buildings capable of holding 20 patients
each. I have already expressed my opinion adversely as to the