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45
Plague.
The medical officer of health of the Port of London states that three vessels arrived at Gravesend
on board of which cases of plague had occurred during the voyage. The s.s. Carthage left Bombay
on the 2nd July, 1898, and arrived at Gravesend on the 24th July. She had on board a native crew,
one of whom was found to be infected with plague on the 6th July. A second case occurred on the
14th July. The first patient was landed at Aden, and other men who had been in contact with him
but who were unaffected were quarantined at Moses Wells. The second patient with two attendants
were landed at the port hospital at Denton. The passengers and crew were medically inspected ;
beyond trifling gland enlargements in a few of the crew nothing was discovered and no fresh cases
occurred. On the 8th December, 1898, the s.s. Caledonia arrived at Gravesend from Bombay which
she left on the 19th November. As a result of medical inspection at Bombay one man was rejected,
and on arrival at Suez it was learnt that he had subsequently developed plague. A native fireman
who had had enlarged glands three days before arrival at Suez was landed at Moses Wells with three
other firemen who had been associating with him. On arrival at Gravesend all on board were found
to be in good health. On the 25th December, 1898, the s.s. Golconda arrived at Gravesend from
Calculta, which she left on the 19th November. No suspicious case occurred until after she left
Marseilles on the 18th December. A first-class passenger was then found to have enlarged and painful
glands in the inguinal region. On arrival at Plymouth on the 24th December he was removed to the
isolation hospital together with his attendants and all their effects; the vessel then sailed for London.
In each of these cases the ships' companies were medically inspected on arrival at Gravesend, and all
necessary disinfection carried out.
Meteorology.
The tables published in the annual summary of the Registrar-General, prepared by Mr. J.
Glaisher, F.R.S., from observations at Greenwich, show that the mean temperature of the air in
1898 was 51.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or 2.6 degrees above the average of the 127 years 1771-1897.
The rainfall during the year amounted to 18.85 inches, and was 6.07 inches below the mean of 83
years.

PART II.
In this part of the report are included memoranda on certain subjects which could not be
conveniently dealt with under any of the headings relating to separate diseases discussed in Part I.
of the report.
Mortality and Overcrowding.
The census of 1891 shows the number of persons occupying less than five rooms in the
several sanitary districts, and from the figures given it is possible to calculate the proportion of the
population of each district occupying tenements of one, two, three and four rooms in which there
were more than two persons to a room. Employing the term "overcrowding" to represent such
usage and grouping the various districts in accordance with the proportion of "overcrowding"