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47
According to Dr. Ballard's report to the Local Government
Board on the subject, "from food, the micro-organism can manufacture
a substance which is a virulent chemical poison, and this
chemical substance is in the human body the material cause of
epidemic summer Diarrhoea."
The development and multiplication of the micro-organism
depended on a high temperature, not in the air itself, but in the
superficial layers of the soil.
The rise in the Diarrhoea death rate does not begin until the
average weekly temperature of the thermometer (suspended in
an iron tube 4ft. deep in the earth) has reached 56°F. This
takes place about a week later than in the air. Taking this into
consideration, and that death occurs usually in a week or a fortnight
after the onset of the disease, it will be observed that the
relationship of the commencement of summer Diarrhoea with
the temperature recorded at a point 4ft. below the surface of the
earth, is corroborated by the following table, although the opinion
is not now held that this is due to the growth of a micro-organism
in the soil as described by Dr. Ballard.
Deaths of Deaths
Week Mean reading Rain- infants under from Diarrhoea
ended, of Thermometer, fall. 1 year in London. in Acton.
July
„
„
„
„
Aug
„
1st
8th
15th
22nd
29th
5th
12th
57.5°F.
(-4)
65.6°F.
(x3.5°)
65.2°F.
(2-3°)
69.5°F.
(x6.2°)
71°F
(x8.4°.)
68°F.
(x5°)
72.5°F.
(10.1°)
.50in.
nil
nil
nil
.26in.
.06in.
nil
149
144
159
150
173
304
462
nil
nil
1
1
3
6
4