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51
not without suspicion, however, towards the end, that the
disease might be enteric fever. Reference has been made to
the rarity of typhus in these days. Few doctors probably
have seen the disease : in 1897 only four cases were notified
in London, scarcely more than one in a million of the
population; and there was one death only attributed to this
cause out of a total of 81,000 deaths. It deserves mention
that once the true nature of the disease was recognized, all
of the doctors, with praiseworthy candour, realized the
mistaken, and accepted the corrected diagnosis. Tnere was
then a consensus of opinion that all of the fifteen cases were
typhus and nothing else: but unfortunately the thought of
this rare disease did not occur to any one of the medical
gentlemen concerned with the home cases.
Immunity.—Having regard to the infectiousness of typhus,
to the long-continued prevalence of the disease at Flat 20, and
to the duration of the stay at home of the other cases, it is
remarkable that there should have been no greater spread of
the malady. The non-spread may fairly be taken to be a
testimony to the improved conditions of the life of the people,
who are now better housed, on the whole, and live better, and
are better clothed and provided generally, than at any previous
period of English history. They have, therefore, greater
power of resistance to typhus. The non-spread, moreover, is
a testimony to the value of sanitation, which does not always
receive the credit to which it is fairly entitled.
In October another slight outbreak of typhus occurred
comprising three cases. The first was that of a married
woman, who had been removed to the Infirmary from a house
in Kenley-street (Potteries), where, with other persons, she
had been in illegal occupation of an underground room which