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attendance were visited at their homes. Arrangements were at
once made for their personal attendance at the reception shelter in
Sheepcote Lane, where each of them had a sanitary bath, and her
clothing and instruments sterilised by steam at the disinfecting
station adjoining. The cases are at once reported to the London
County Council, who are the Local Supervising Authority under
the Midwives Act, 1902. The duty of disinfection, however,
devolves on the Council as the Local Sanitary Authority.
21 Nurses and midwives who had been in attendance on Puerperal
Fever cases during the year attended at the Reception
Shelter for purposes of disinfection.
Erysipelas.
During 1908, in the Borough of Battersea, 151 cases of
Erysipelas were notified, and 5 deaths were recorded, as compared
with 173 cases and 5 deaths in 1907. The case mortality
was 3.31 per cent., as compared with 2.89 per cent. in 1907 and
6.02 per cent. in 1906. The case rate was 0.82 and the death rate
0.15, or 0.15 and .05 below the decennial average respectively.
Fifty-seven cases were removed to hospital, the majority going
to union infirmaries and the remainder to general hospitals.
In London during 1908, 4,203 cases of Erysipelas were notified,
and 160 deaths registered from the disease, giving a case
mortality of 4.2 per cent.
Epidemic Cerebro-spinal Fever.
During the year 1908 only 2 cases of Epidemic Cerebrospinal
Meningitis were notified, as compared with 10 cases in
1907, in the Borough of Battersea. Both these cases were notified
from the Victoria Children's Hospital, Chelsea.
The history of these two cases is as follows:—
1. The death of an infant, aged 11 months, was registered as
having occurred from Posterior Basic Meningitis on the 12th
May. The hospital authorities were communicated with, and a