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all the members in fact of one family residing in the ground floor back
room of 6, Halton Place, arose from the mother of the family, related to
the sick family at 11, Rose and Crown Court, visiting them when sick
twice. They were all removed to the Hospital, the room was closed,
and, with everything in it, thoroughly disinfected: the disease has
spread no further at present. Another case occurred in a poor woman
residing in a furnished lodging at 12, Gordon Court. I had some
trouble in getting this woman to the Hospital, as she would not believe
she bad the fever; she remained long enough with her family to infect
her two children, who had been moved from there to a common lodging
house in Queen's Road, from which they were taken to the Hospital.
The remaining case I knew nothing about until the death was certified
by the House Surgeon. The cases in Rose and Crown Court are very
unfavourably situated for convalescence, some of them having had to
return to the Hospital once or twice after having been discharged,
having had more than one relapse. No one can wonder at this who
has seen the condition of the dwellings to which they return from
the comfortable Hospital ward.
Fifteen people, namely, the family of a tradesman and his workpeople,
narrowly escaped fatal poisoning on Christinas Eve from a mistake of
an oilman supplying half a pound of Tartar emetic (tartrate of antimony
and potash) in place of bi-carbonate of soda for the preparation of cakes
and bread. The powder purchased having produced symptoms of
poisoning in some children who had eaten some of the dough, was
brought to me for analysis on the supposition that I could deal with the
case under the Adulteration of Food, or the Pharmacy Act. I found it
to be tartar emetic, a poison which oilmen have no business to sell and
which they do not usually keep. On visiting the shop I found that the
carbonate of soda was kept in an old tin vessel marked with chalk, and
that it was correctly marked. Another similar tin was marked in like
manner " Cream of Tartar." The contents on analysis proved to be
Tartar emetic: it was out of this that the powder had been served.
The explanation given me by the shopkeeper was that he never sold
cream of tartar, although it was exhibited in his window, and that he
had purchased this at a sale of shop fixtures at which he had bought
the contents of some drawers, &c., and that it had been in his window