View report page

8
disease and the mode of its propagation, together with some hints
as to its rational treatment and its prevention, be prepared and
circulated.
On August 29th, in consequence of the extensive
Cholera.
outbreak of Cholera reported from Hamburg and other
Continental towns, and of letters which had been addressed to the
Vestry by the Local Government Hoard and Metropolitan Asylums
Board, a special meeting of the Sanitary Committee took place,
with a view of making any arrangements which might be
considered necessary for the prevention of an outbreak, and for
the limitation of the disease in The event of its appearance. A
report on the nature of Cholera, its prevention, and the methods
which might be adopted in the event of a visitation was made by
the Medical Officer, and in the follow ing terms:—
The group of symptoms affecting the human body, and
characterised by the name of Asiatic Cholera, are produced by
the presence in the alimentary canal of a microscopic organism,
bearing a resemblance, when under cultivation outside the body,
to the ordinary "comma" employed by printers in the punctuation
of letterpress. This microbe has the power common to most of
the low er forms of vegetable life, of exceedingly rapid reproduction.
When deposited in a suitable soil and when the climateric conditions
are favourable to its development, it generates with the
celerity of the yeast plant. The microbe is capable of diffusing
itself through large volumes of liquid or semi-liquid material in a
compass of time which may almost be measured by minutes.
The soil most favourable to its growth and dissemination is
animal or vegetable matter undergoing the processes of decay.
Moist warmth, which invariably accompanies chemical change in
organic matter, especially observable in badly ventilated drains
and sewers, fosters and encourages its development. The vitality
of the microbe is displayed and its activity exerted in organic filth
whenever it gains access thereto, whether in the domestic dust
heap, the manure receptacle, the unswept court-yard, or the
uncleaned cistern.