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69
OFFENSIVE CARGOES.
On the 7th May I received information that the master of the barge "Agreement,"
of Rochester, official number 78,529, on the 23rd April last, went into the fore cabin to
defœcate. The mate, becoming alarmed at his long absence, went down into the cabin
and found that the master had fallen from the bucket, face downwards, and was black
in the face—apparently dead.
He was taken to St. Thomas' Hospital and found to be dead.
The man's father is of opinion that he was overcome by foul gases from a cargo of
manure, which had been in the barge for two days.
An inquest was held at Lambeth Mortuary on the 26th April, and a verdict was
returned to the effect that he had either been asphyxiated or choked. Such cargoes
occasionally generate a lethal gas which passes into the cabin, and several deaths have
occurred from this cause.
The barge was inspected on May 13th. The bilges were in a muddy condition, and
smelling, but there was no cargo on board.
On the 15th December I received a complaint from a resident of Greenhithe
respecting the offensive condition of a barge named "Kingcup," lying off Greenhithe,
and loaded with dung.
The Inspector for the Gravesend District was immediately notified, and a written
notice was sent to the owners of the barge, the result being that the unloading of the
cargo was hastened, and the barge was removed on the 17th December.
In November, two ships arrived in the Port laden with cargoes of cotton seeds.
Four men employed in unloading these vessels experienced, a few hours after they
had commenced working, symptoms of severe itching all over their bodies. They
attended at the London School of Tropical Medicine, where they were found to be
suffering with a papular eruption over the whole body except the face and hands.
There was no danger to life, but the symptoms were extremely disagreeable and
irritating.
On examination of the cotton seed it was found to be heavily infested with a
maggot, or caterpillar, which appeared to be the larva of a small moth named Gelechia
Gossypiella, that has been found very destructive in granaries.
On the maggots, mites were found in great numbers. These were identified
as Pediculoides Ventricosns. The creature is like a louse but much smaller, and has
long hair-like bristles attached to the legs. It has been known to attack man in the
tropics and in America.
It is supposed that these mites had been introduced into the country of origin
with a view to its attacking the caterpillar and moth described above, and so preventing
them from doing damage to the cotton seed.
I am indebted to Col. A. Alcock, I.M.S., F.R.S., LL.D., &c., and Dr. F. W.
O'Connor, of the London School of Tropical Medicine, for particulars of the cases and
for the identification of the caterpillars and mites.