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46
Anthrax.
In my last report I gave account of certain cases of anthrax which had occurred in London
subsequent to the publication of a report by Dr. Hamer which discussed all the cases known to have
occurred in London in recent years. The following notes of further cases have been supplied me by
Dr. Hamer. Inasmuch as notification of cases will, under the Factory and Workshops Act, 1895, be
made to H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories, I now submit notes of all further cases which Dr. Hamer
has investigated up to the present time. In the majority of these cases, as in former years, the patients
were admitted to Guy's hospital, and for information as to such admission I am indebted to Dr. Perry,
the superintendent of the hospital. The following cases occurred during 1895—
(i.) A man, aged 30, developed a malignant pustule on March 13th. His occupation
was that of a casual labourer, but he had been engaged shortly before his illness commenced
in unloading skins at one or more of the Tooley-street wharves. The skins with which he
had been brought in contact were rabbit, opossum and basil; he had not, it was said, had
anything to do with hides. The pustule was excised in Guy's hospital but the patient died.
An inquest was held on March 21st.
(ii.) W. W., male, aged 17, a horsehair dresser, whose place of employment was in
Tabard-street. On July 17th he developed a malignant pustule, he applied for treatment at
Guy's hospital, the swelling was excised, and the patient made a good recovery.
(iii.) E. S., male, aged 32, a horsehair dresser, whose place of employment was in
Sylvester-street, Great Dover-street. On July 22nd he noticed a swelling on the left
side of his neck. He was advised to go to hospital but did not do so until the following
day, when he was admitted into Guy's hospital and the pustule was excised. Patient died
on the 24th. Anthrax bacilli were shown to be present by bacteriological examination.
The places of work in the case of the two last-named patients were in the same neighbourhood,
and the men attacked had been engaged in handling similar materials. It was not
found possible, however, to pursue the matter further and to trace the source of infection to
any particular consignment of material which had been handled by each of the men attacked.
(iv.) J. D., female, aged 35, lived in Louisa-street, Shoreditch, and worked at a brushmaker's
in Tottenham, where she was engaged in sorting horsehair. On the 19th or 20th of
September a pimple developed on patient's right cheek, a day or two later attacks of vomiting
commenced. A medical man was called in on the evening of September 23rd, he found the
patient convulsed, and shortly afterwards she died. A post-mortem examination was made on
October 26th, and it was found that there was a large meningeal haemorrhage, a considerable
quantity of blood being extravasated into the arachnoid cavity. The intestines and stomach
were natural. Bacilli were subsequently found in the tissues of the skin lesion. An inquest
was held.
(v.) W. C., male, aged 59, of Median-road, Clapton, was a dresser of horsehair in the
employment of Messrs. List and Son. On September 22nd he noticed a pimple on his neck,
he applied for treatment at Guy's hospital on the 24th, and was admitted, and the pustule
was excised. Patient was suddenly attacked by dyspnoea on the 27th and died. An inquest
was held in this case.
(vi.) This patient was a woman, aged 19, living at Presburg-street, Hackney, the wife
of a man employed as a sorter of horsehair by the firm at Tottenham already mentioned in
connection with case (iv.). The man's attention was called one evening, about November 6th,
on his return from work, to a pimple on his wife's right cheek. This pimple he scratched
with his finger. A few days later a swelling developed on the cheek, and the woman was
admitted to the Hackney infirmary, where she died on November 11.
(vii.) J. P., male, aged 33, living at George-street, Tabard-street, noticed a pimple on
the right side of his neck on or about October 28th. He was admitted to Guy's hospital
on November 2nd, the pustule was excised, and he made a good recovery. For some days
prior to November 2nd this man had been engaged at Sun and Topping's wharf, Tooley-street,
and had unloaded sheep and goat skins and some hides.
(viii.) W. D., male, aged 36, living at Freshwater-place, Marylebone, had been working
at the wharf at which J. P. (case vii.) worked, and remembered unloading goat skins and
dry hides on October 24, 25 and 26. After that date he was employed at another wharf.
On November 1st he noticed a pimple on the left side of his neck. The pustule in this case,
as in the previous one, was excised in Guy's hospital, and the man made a good recovery.
Subsequent inquiry made concerning these two men confirmed the fact that both had a few
days prior to their attack handled certain goat skins and also some bales of Australian hides.
(ix.) and (x.) J. D. and C. C., two men engaged in manipulating horsehair at a "bass
and fibre dresser's" in Mile-end Old-town, developed symptoms during November which led
to their applying for treatment at the London hospital. The first patient was admitted on
November 5th; he had a pustule on his neck, and anthrax bacilli were found. The second
patient, who had a pustule of typical appearance on his right forearm, was admitted on
November 18th. Bacilli were not found in this case. Both patients made a good recovery
after the excision of the pustule.
(xi.) H. G., a male, aged 30, living in Spa-road, Bermondsey, worked in a tanyard not
far from his place of abode. On November 29th certain goat skins were brought to this
yard and handled by the men employed there. On December 6th a pimple appeared on the
left side of the patient's nose, and he went to Guy's hospital. The pustule was excised, and
the patient made a good recovery.
(xii.) M. M., a dock labourer, was admitted to the London Hospital on December 13th.
He had first noticed a pimple on the left side of his neck on December 7th. During the