1238 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



That an oyster-bed may become tainted through 

 natural causes is quite possible, but I believe such an 

 accident is of very rare occurrence, and beyond that men- 

 tioned elsewhere in this work, I am not cognizant of such 

 save in one instance, which, under the head of " Oysters 

 and Typhoid Fever," was accepted by two or three news- 

 papers (November loth, 1889), as an alarming piece of 

 news awaiting corroboration, and was couched in the 

 following words : 



"The great prevalence of typhoid fever in Dublin is 

 causing considerable alarm. One of the supposed sources 

 to which it is attributed by the medical profession is the 

 use of oysters, which have been taken from beds tainted 

 by sewage. It is said that quantities of foreign oysters 

 have been imported which have been so taken, and many 

 persons, including doctors, have been rendered ill by 

 eating them." 



But, in reply to a letter sent by me to the Dublin 

 Medical Officer of Health, that gentleman, admitting the 

 fact of the epidemic, was " rather disposed to think that 

 defective house-drains are the cause." 



From the British Medical Journal of May 3, 1890, I 

 cull the following statement under the head of " Polluted 

 Oysters at Naples ; the supposed cause of Typhoid Fever." 



Dr. Godwin Timms wiites : I have just received from 

 Dr. F. W. A. de Fabeek, Brigade Surgeon, Bengal (retired), 

 a very lucid account of the death, at Capri, of a very 

 talented young artist, Mr. Frank James, who was on a visit 

 to his mother and sister, who are residents. He arrived in 

 Italy on February i6th, 1890, began to sicken on March 

 2?nd, and died of Typhoid Fever on April i8th, 1890. 

 Dr. de Fabeek attributes the disease to the eating of pol- 

 luted oysters, and goes on to say : "I think it right to 



