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composed of cockles, mussels and whelks every Saturday morning
from various dealers in the haddock market at Billingsgate ; he then
brought the shell fish home and washed them in the yard of his
house before exposing them for sale. Any of his stock left over on
Saturday night were, he said, thrown into a receptacle in the yardHe
admitted that his father, X.N, ate his shell fish frequently, but
denied ever having given any to his sisters, W.N. and S.N. I am
of opinion, however, that it is more than likely that they also partook
of them. The family's reason for denying, in the first instance,
that they had anything to do with shell fish, appears to have been
their fear lest this lad's business might be injured.
I endeavoured to ascertain the names of the wholesale dealers
from whom the shell fish had been purchased and several names
that were given me were communicated to Dr. Collingridge, Medical
Officer of Health of the City, together with the facts of the case,
but Dr. Collingridge's reply was that these dealers could not be
traced in Billingsgate, and I have little doubt but that the fear of
making further trouble prevented this lad from informing me
correctly on this point.
Two other cases occurred in November, X.T. and F.X., lads
living in different parts of the district who had these points in
common, namely, that the onset of their illness was on the same
day (Nov. 6th), and that they were both intimate with the N family
and had been in their house a good deal during the time that
members of this family were failing with the disease. They were
on particularly intimate terms with the shell fish seller, but would
not admit having eaten any of his fish.
In view of the cases detailed above, and considering the large
proportion of shell fish eaters found among the enteric fever cases
for the year, I think we have strong grounds for placing this article
of diet under the gravest suspicion. This suspicion is strengthened
when we consider the conditions under which these shell fish grow,
how they are collected and sent to market, and, finally, the manner