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75
Two illustrative cases are given.
1. A mother and six children, ranging from six months to
thirteen years, live and sleep in one room. Two of the
children are consumptive. The father is away, employed
on relief works.
2. A man, wife, and one adult child, and six little children
occupy two rooms. Two children have already died
from consumption. The mother and one child of twelve
years are now consumptive. The man earns 24/- per
week. They have lived at three other addresses in
Finsbury, while one or other of the family was consumptive.
The rooms occupied were clean, not overcrowded,
and not verminous.
These two show some of the difficulties which are met in actual
practice-difficulties not due to consumption alone, but to the
poverty which accompanies it.
From a public health point of view it may be broadly stated
that the prevention of consumption is largely the prevention of
poverty. The rich consumptive can well look after himself.
Cases in Family or House.—In 27 cases there had been
one previous case in the family or house, in 15 families 2 previous
cases, in 7 households 3 previous cases, in 5 families 4 previous
cases, in one household there had been 6 previous cases, and in
one other there were said to have been even more than this.
These figures illustrate the potential ravages of the diseasecases
are on record where all the members of a family except one
have been wiped out of existence by consumption.
The probability is that if, in these households preventive
measures had been adopted and been effectively and continuously
practised, some at all events of these lives might have been
saved.
Family History.—In 174 cases, where this information was
obtained, 84 had a history of consumption in the family, in the