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39
"have been purely sporadic and independent of any
"special poison.
"2. Have they been occasioned by improper
"food? I could not find out that the fish eaten on
"Friday made the members of the family ill. But
"the two deceased children were the weakest, and
"most liable to suffer from tainted food. One had
"already Diarrhœa, and it is not improbable that
"the fish on the Sunday was a link in the chain of
"causes which led to the deaths on Monday. Then
"there were this cherries on Saturday and Sunday,
"though the children seem to have eaten very few,
"yet cherries are known to be irritants to the bowels
"where a disposition to Diarrhœa exists.
"3. With regard to the water, I would here call
"Attention to the fart that the cisterns in the Model
"Lodging Houses are placed in the water closets,
"and all the emanations from the closet pass up
"into the cistern. I have found in all such cases
"that water is more or less liable to contamination
"from absorption of the sewer gases, and as the
"children drank most on Sunday, when the supply
"of water is lowest, I think it not improbable that
"the water may have added to the previous effects
"of the bad food.
"4. The state of the Atmosphere. Although
"the weather had not been unusually hot through
"the week, Thursday the 21st of June, the day
"before the children ate the fish was the hottest