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My chief concern just now lies in the matter of disinfecting infected
rooms, bedding, and clothing. I have a list of 155 houses of poor people
where Small-pox has occurred during the months of December and
January, and to present date, and where these disinfections ought to
have been speedily carried out. Of these, up to now, only 45 hav? have
been disinfected satisfactorily, (40 under the direct observation of our
Inspectors), 18 are said to have been disinfected (no proof being forthcoming),
and 92 yet remain to be done. The disinfection of houses,
and articles of bedding, clothing, &c., is too important a thing to be
performed in a nominal, perfunctory, and imperfect manner, or to be
left to the ignorance of poor tenants, or the delays of owners of property.
At the present time its importance cannot be exaggerated. Each of
these 92 houses is a centre of infection. Each should be disinfected,
with everything in the infected rooms, thoroughly and with minute
detail, or they might as well be left unattended to altogether. And
this can only be done satisfactorily under our own direction and
supervision. We have no disinfecting chamber, and hence everything
has to be done tediously in the poor houses themselves. Our staff of
inspectors needs to be temporarily reinforced by some intelligent men
as disinfectors, if the accumulation of work of this kind is to be
overtaken and dangerous delays avoided for the future, so long as the
the epidemic lasts.

The highest day temperature, observed on January 6th was 45.5°
The lowest night temperature, observed on January 1 3th, was 21.5°
Snow fell on the 11th and 24th.
EDWARD BALLARD, M.D.,
Medical Officer of Health.
Vestry Offices,
February 6th, 1871.