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Company, and the dealer undertook to purchase only the one class of
oyster (from Brightlingsea), which seemed to he free from suspicion.
Fried Fish.—A case which occurred in November appears to be one
of a group of about twenty occurring coincidently, the others being in
the adjoining Borough of Holborn, in which all the persons had partaken
of fried fish from one shop. Careful enquiry has failed to discover the
exact source of infection, but probably one batch of fish bought on a
certain day had been contaminated.
The Royal Commission on Sewage Treatment deals very fully in its
Fourth Report (dated 28th December, 1903) with the contamination of
shell-fish in tidal waters by the discharge of sewage therein, having
been prompted to a consideration of the subject by the growing demand
for legislative action made by, among others, the City of Westminster.
They recommend:—
" 1. Purification of sewage before its discharge into tidal waters.
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" 2. The seizure and destruction of unwholesome shell-fish exposed
for sale.
" 3. The setting up of a competent authority to deal with all tidal
waters, with power to control foreshores, to close dangerous
beds, pits, ponds, and layings, and in certain circumstances to
require treatment of sewage.
" It is proposed that the Central Authority should be a new
department under the Local Government Board. In connection
with foreign shell-fish, they seem to consider it
sufficient to ask for a guarantee on the part of each Government
concerned that ' all oysters or other shell-fish imported
into this country for human consumption have been procured
from localities where they were not likely to be contaminated
with sewage or other objectionable filth.' "
Army Blankets and Typhoid Fever.—Notice was received from the
Medical Officer of the City of London that a large consignment of
Army blankets which had been used in South Africa had been returned
to this country, that ten cases of typhoid fever had occurred on board
the training ship " Cornwall," and it was believed the infection came
from certain of those bankets, which had been recently taken into use.
On investigating the cause of the outbreak, attention was directed to
stains on the blankets, and examination by Professor Klein proved that
they were swarming with typhoid germs in active condition. 596 of
these blankets had been purchased by five firms in the City of Westminster;
500 of these had been shipped to various ports on the West
Coast of Africa, and had not been brought into this City at all; the
firm, on becoming acquainted with the possibility of the blankets being