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explain the apparently mysterious spread of infectious diseases.
For instance, one of the sanitary inspectors received
information of an outbreak of scarlet fever in the family of
a verger at a church, the man continuing his daily duties
as usual: he would not allow the children to go to hospital,
so I communicated with the clergyman, who required him
to take lodgings away from home. In another instance
two children of a letter carrier had been ill for several
weeks: the cases were concealed, and the man was about
to resume duty, on their recovery, when the Sanitary Inspector
happened to hear that a third child was ill, and on
revisiting the house, shortly after he had left it, having been
led to believe there was no other case, he found a sick girl
concealed in another room. Children from this house were
attending school, and the Inspector saw a young school girl
nursing one of the sick children. The illness in this family
should have been reported to me by the Medical Officer to
the Post Office, in conformity with the requirements of the
instructional circular issued by the Department, to which
I made reference in my last annual report (page 74), but I
only received intimation of the illness when our services
were required for disinfection. The Inspector, however,
was informed that the Medical Officer, who had certified, so
as to enable the letter carrier to remain off duty, and receive
pay, week by week, did not visit the house, (another doctor
being in attendance), until the two children were reported
to be well; and then it was that he communicated with
me with regard to the disinfection: the third case, above
referred to, had been kept from his knowledge likewise.
Diphtheria, which was unusually prevalent in London in
1883, was the registered cause of 24 deaths in Kensington,
3 above the corrected decennial average'• 20 in the Town
sub-district and 4 in Brompton. Not all deaths classified to
diphtheria are really caused by diphtheria: cases of scarlatina
anginosa, are sometimes erroneously certified as diphtheria ;
and we had illustrations of the fact in 1883. On the other