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persons who had arrived in the District, either actually suffering
from the disease, or who were attacked within a few days, and
therefore could not have contracted the disease in the District.
There were two other cases, which might also have been contracted
outside the District.
Besides these, there was one which occurred in a person who
had frequently consumed water from the river Wandle; another
in a person who had slept for twelve nights with a friend, a
visitor in the District, who was then detained at St. Bartholomew's
Hospital for typhoid fever; and another was in a young
man who was occupied as a watercress seller.
The possibility that watercress can give rise to this disease
was brought prominently before the public towards the end of
the year, and the matter being one which very closely concerns
portions of the District, I suggested to the Council at its first
meeting, without expressing any opinion as to the probability of
the danger, that it would be advisable to have a bacteriological
examination made by Dr. Klein, and this the Council agreed to
at a subsequent meeting. The result of this investigation will
be awaited with great interest.
Four of the eleven cases of typhoid occurred in Wallington,
3 in Coulsdon (1 in Purley and 2 in Kenley), 2 in Mitcham, and
2 in Merton. Two of the cases were fatal.
Puerperal Fever.—Six cases of this disease occurred, in four
of which the patients had been attended by midwives. Two of
the cases occurred in the practice of one midwife, and she was
cautioned not to attend any more women for some time, and her
clothing was disinfected. There were two deaths.