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or in articles of furniture, but more especially in the
beds. I have, in a handful of feathers taken from the
centre of a large feather bed four months after disinfection,
distinctly perceived the characteristic odour of
the gas.
It will be perceived where recurrence of Small-pox
had taken place after disinfection, that such further outbreaks
took place within 14 days of the removal or death
of the first case, or of some case in the immediate
vicinity; showing that this disease, which has about 14
days' incubation, was in the system, and contracted from
a former patient, and not from the apartment; indeed,
further investigation proved this to have been the case,
or that where the period exceeded 14 days, communication
with some infected person in the locality had
existed.
Number of Houses infected with Small Pox with date
of Disinfection in Eastern Battersea during the
year ending December 31st, 1881.
From January 1st to December 31st, 1881, 146
houses were infected with Small-pox in Eastern Battersea;
and of this number 124 were disinfected and no further
case occurred.
In 22 houses, second cases occurred, 12 of which
took place where the patients remained at home.
In 8 houses, third cases occurred, 6 of which took
place where the patients remained at home.
In 2 houses, fourth cases occurred, both of which
followed other cases that were kept at home.
In the 12 houses where the patients remained at
home, portions of the house were disinfected whilst
other families in the same house had the disease; disinfection
and cleansing in a thorough manner could not
be carried out until the last date in the following
returns—