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(3) On February 17th I received a communication that three children living at
65, Salmon Lane, were suffering from Small-pox. I visited the premises, and after
examining them, they were at once removed to the Hospital . In investigating the
origin of the disease, I learnt that the father had been unwell about three weeks
previously. He had been attended for a fortnight by a medical man, who said that
he was suffering from "influenza, and that his blood was out of order as well." He
was apparently all right at the time of my visit, and had been at work for a
week. He was employed by a dairyman, and in taking milk to the various customers,
he supplied dozens of people with milk every day. I asked him to take off his
clothes, when I found that there were unmistakable signs that he had recently
suffered from Small-pox. Even at that time I considered he was in an infectious
condition, and he was immediately removed to the Small-pox Hospital, where he
remained for nearly a fortnight. On February 19th another case occurred, and on
February 20th two more cases were removed to the Hospital. On February 21st
and 24th two more cases were removed, making nine altogether.
(4) On March 25th, a female was removed from Dixon Street to the Small-pox
Hospital. I visited the premises, and on examining the other people in the house
I found that the patient's husband had been ill a fortnight previously, and was
attended by a medical man, who said he was suffering from influenza. On inquiring,
I found that on March 5th he had what in my opinion were all the symptoms of
Small-pox. On March 8th a rash appeared. His wife was taken ill on March 19th,
or exactly a fortnight afterwards. I had not the slightest hesitation in coming to
the conclusion that the husband had suffered from the same disease, and his clothing
was taken away and disinfected.
(5) A man living at 155, Ernest Street, was working in Epsom. He was taken
ill on March 23rd, and on March 26th the rash appeared. On Saturday, March 29th,
he came home in a crowded railway carriage, when the rash was in a purulent condition.
(6) No. 3, Dorset Street, is a house in which furnished rooms are let. It is
similar to a common lodging house, except that the rooms are generally let to
families and not to single individuals. The class of people is the same, and the
tenants are frequently changed. Several cases of Small-pox occurred in this house
during March. On March 27th I examined everyone in the house, and I found one
child in the house suffering from Small-pox. On account of the condition of the skin
it was impossible to say how long the child had been ill, and the people in the same
apartments did not know, or pretended not to know, that the child had been ill at
all. The child was in a frightfully dirty condition, and in addition to the eruption
of Small-pox, there was another rash due to Scabies, or the Itch.
Tbe child was removed to the Small-pox Hospital, and the whole house was at
once closed and thoroughly disinfected before it was allowed to be re-occupied.
On April 2nd I received a notification from the London Hospital that another
child in the same house, but belonging to another family, was suffering from Chicken