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The reports of medical officers of health and of the medical superintendent of the small-pox
hospital ships give account of the following cases—
St. George, Hanover-square—A domestic servant, aged 43, resident in Pimlico, was removed
to the hospital ships certified to be suffering from small-pox. She was discharged for the reason
that her illness was not thought to be small-pox. She was removed to the Invalid Asylum at Stoke
Newington, where she died, the death being attributed to small-pox. The medical officer of health
of St. George states that on consideration of all the facts of the case he came to the conclusion
that the illness from which this girl suffered was not small-pox.
St. Pancras-—Two cases of small-pox were certified in Somers-town in August, on the (!th
and 20th respectively. They were removed to the hospital ships, where the diagnosis was confirmed.
the cause of infection in the first case was unknown; the second case contracted the
disease from the first, his wife.
Whitechapel—Two cases of small-pox were certified, one in June, the other in September.
In one case (a Pole) the disease was contracted abroad. The source of infection of the second case
could not be discovered.
Battersea—"The only true case of small-pox which occurred in the parish was in the person
of a man who had been working at the erection of a temporary small-pox hospital at Middlesboro'
where an epidemic of the disease had broken out." This case occurred in March.
Wandsworth (Wandsicorth)—"One case was notified (in September), but not removed to
hospital. The patient was a girl who had, within the period of incubation, come from near
Leicester to visit friends in the parish. Careful inquiries both here and at her home failed to
discover the cause of infection, no case of small-pox having occurred in the neighbourhood of her
home for some years, and there had been no case notified in the metropolis for some time."
Cambericell—"During the year there were five notifications of small-pox. Two of these
came from St. George's, two from Peckham, and one from Camberwell. Of these, four were removed
to hospital, but in all the four instances were returned . . . With regard to two of
these cases, namely, those from St. George's, I should be thoroughly disposed to agree. The two
from Peckham were both diagnosed after consultation with hospital physicians; one, however, I
feel myself doubtful about, but the second I do think was a case of small-pox. The one from
Camberwell was very doubtful from the beginning."
Lewisham—"The case was one of a child a few months old. It was the child of a member
of Wolfe's Travelling Circus, and arrived in Penge (from Antwerp) on the night of December
22nd, 1898. No doctor saw the child alive, as it died during the night. The medical man who
saw the dead body certified it as having died from small-pox, and I was at once communicated
with." The report gives account of the steps taken in connection with this case, such steps including
the re-vaccination of the whole troupe. The child had been seen by a medical man in Antwerp
who thought it was suffering from measles.
As shown in a preceding table, 33 persons were certified to be suffering from small-pox.
The report of the Statistical Committee of the Metropolitan Asylums Board states that 36 persons
alleged to be suffering from small-pox were brought to the south wharf of the managers, and of
these " only five were eventually found to be genuine cases of small-pox." It would appear, therefore,
that three persons were taken to the wharf whose disease had not been notified.
Cases of small-pox occurring in London in 1898, the diagnosis of which is not questioned,
may, therefore, be stated as follows—
March 1 in Battersea.
June 1 in Whitechapel.
August 2 in St. Pancras.
September 2 cases, 1 in Whitechapel and 1 in Wandsworth.
December 1 in Lewisliam.
Since 1880 the Registrar-General has classified the deaths from small-pox under three
heads, viz., "vaccinated," "unvaccinated," and "no statement." The totals of the 18 years,
1881-98, are as follows—

The following table, in which the number of deaths at each age-period is expressed as a
percentage of the total deaths from small-pox at "all ages," more clearly indicates the relative age
incidence of the disease in the three classes under consideration—