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15
neighbourhood which had come under his care, but which had
not been previously reported to me.
The first case investigated was that of a respectable married
woman (Mrs. A.), whom I found sitting in a chair in the midst of
her family, on the tenth day of the eruption. She was being
nursed by Mrs. B., a laundress, in whose employ she had been,
while every member of Mrs. B's household, she herself excepted, was
struck down by the malady; and here, of course, she became
infected.
During the period, extending over many weeks, that the disease
was in Mrs. B's house the business of the laundry was carried 011
without interruption. The father and four children had a light
attack, but the fifth child, the first attacked, died. How did the
infection get into this household ? From the disinfecting chamber ?
No. The little child who died had played in the street with one of
the children of Mr. C., (whose family, in the mews already referred
to, were the first victims of the outbreak), and while the latter had
the eruption full out. Mr. C's children, it appeared, had been allowed
to run about the neighbourhood without restraint after the
first few days of their illness, which assumed a mild form, and was
never dangerous to the individuals themselves, but served to spread
the infection fatally to other persons. The reckless disregard of
sanitary precautions in this family was only equalled by the public
indifference, for although these facts were well known in the neighbourhood
there was not found anyone to report them to the Inspector
of the District, who was most diligent in the discharge of his
dangerous duty in the locality. The picture would not be complete
without the further remark that Mrs. B's two eldest children,
who were ironers, very quickly resumed their occupation, having
had the disease in a mild, but (as I need scarcely add) in a communicable
form ; and the illness being concealed lest the business
should be injured. The cases to which I have now alluded extended
from the commencement to nearly the conclusion of the outbreak.
They were traced in a direct line from one to the other, and the
only unsettled question at the date of my report, was the origin of
the first case ? I stated that Mr. C. was a " general dealer," and
might have purchased infected articles. I did not know then what
I have been informed since, that he contracted for the removal of
the "wash" from one of the large small-pox hospitals, whence
possibly he may have carried the infection. But to resume, Mr.
D, an intelligent shopkeeper, was attacked, and he stated that Mr.
C's children were in and out of his shop constantly during their
illness, the family being good customers. Immediately opposite
lived Mr. E., who became ill as well as his two children, the mother
only escaping. This Mr. E. had been working, at the time he took
the disease, with Mr. F., whose child died of small-pox. Next
door to Mr. F. lived Mr. G., all of whose children had the disease.
In another house close at hand a youth of 16 was attacked; his