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77
July 4th till the end of the summer. There is little traffic in these
side streets, and so far as the prevention of dust was concerned, this
treatment proved very satisfactory and must have influenced very
considerably the cleanliness of the houses in the neighbourhood. I
learn from the Engineer, that the method is likely to secure an
actual saving in the expense of street watering, especially in a hot
dry summer, when the effects of sprinkling with water alone last for
such a short time.
Great care was taken all through this period to secure the regular
scavagery of this area and the removal of the house refuse.
On examining the spot map it will be seen that the larger area
described in Dr. Green's report maintains, on the whole, with its 32
cases, the evil reputation attached to it, but that this specially treated
portion has enjoyed singular freedom from fatal cases of the disease,
three deaths only having occurred within its boundaries. Without
wishing to claim undue merits for the system employed, I thinkthat
in the face of these results, the Committee will agree that there
is sufficient justification for continuing similar experiments on a
larger scale, in future years.
I may mention here that the apparent success of this special
treatment led to its employment in other areas which were found to
be suffering severely, and Winchester Road, the Hyde, Gilpin
Grove, Union Road, etc; St. Mary's Road and Gardens were
similarly dealt with, but not until the middle of August was reached
and the epidemic was at its height, and when very little benefit
could be expected from preventive measures. As a matter of
fact, beyond a reduction of the dust and a saving in watering, no
benefit was secured in these latter districts.
Summary.—1 shall now summarise the results of these
observations and select from the material before us, those conditions
that seem to have an influence on the disease. The germ that gives
rise to summer diarrhcea is said to be allied to the colon group of
organisms and, like others of this kind, it has probably a wide