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longer period than is usually occupied in the process. Indeed, the Chef gave
me as his opinion that the usual time was about 30 seconds, while Mrs. Beeton's
Cookery Book gives 15 seconds as the time during which they should be
immersed in the hot fat in which they are cooked. In this experimental
cooking the fat was unusually hot and had commenced to burn, the temperature
recorded being 300° Fahrenheit. Ordinarily the fat would be at a lower
temperature, and the introduction of cold fish would temporarily lower this.
It is not unlikely, therefore, that in the usual cooking of whitebait, the
interior of some of the fish might not be raised to a sufficient temperature to
destroy any pathogenic microbes present in them.
It is evident, therefore, that unless the greatest care is exercised in preparing
these fish for the table, they are not unlikely to act as an agent in producing
disease.
The point being clearly established that whitebait from the Thames Estuary,
as ordinarily sold, is sewage-polluted, those consuming it have to take their
choice between eating living or dead sewage organisms as an accompaniment.
ANTHRAX.
On the 13th January, 1906, a notification was received from the Home
Office that a market clerk in the employ of a firm of City furriers was under
treatment for Anthrax at Guy's Hospital. It was ascertained upon enquiry
that the patient did not contract the disease in the City, having been employed
in inspecting hides at wharves situated on the south side of the Thames.
These hides were of many different descriptions, but came chiefly from the
neighbourhood of Morocco and the Black Sea. He was at work as usual on
the 8th January, but on the following day he went home complaining of
illness. On the 12th he was removed to Guy's Hospital, at once operated
upon, and subsequently made a good recovery.
SMALL-POX.
In June, a case of Small-pox was reported as having occurred in a suburban
district in the person of a female daily engaged in a City workroom. It was
found upon enquiry that 23 of the 42 employes with whom the patient had
associated were not properly protected by vaccination, and that five of these
had never been vaccinated at all. The necessary vaccination and re-vaccination
were promptly effected, and no further case was reported.