194 REPOBT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



lowed." He is positive that these 03'sters are responsible for the 

 prevalence of these diseases in Naples at that time. 



In 189() Doctor Chantemesse reports a number of cases of tj^phoid 

 in a village where there had been no cases of that nature for over a 

 year. Fourteen persons in the village ate a lot of 03'sters from Cette 

 and were made sick. Others of the same families who had not eaten 

 of this lot suffered no inconvenience. Eight of the fourteen were 

 slight!}^ ill and four others verv severely ill, with diarrhea and intes- 

 tinal disturbances. The two remaining persons developed very severe 

 cases of typhoid fever, one of which terminated fatally. Bacterio- 

 logical examination of oysters from several localities demonstrated the 

 presence of B. coll in large numbers. 



Doctor Mosny, who has made a most careful and thorough investi- 

 gation of the whole subject of mollusk poisoning in France, reports a 

 case of "03^ster infection'' in a village near Paris in 1900. Five mem- 

 bers of a family of seven were stricken with severe gastro-intestinal 

 disturbances after eating some 03'sters from Cette. 



Man}' other smiilar cases are reported in the French medical litera- 

 ture, the conclusions, however, all based on circumstantial evidence. 



In 1900 Doctor Plowright reported a number of cases of enteric 

 fever, due to contaminated clams. In the village of North L3'nn 

 (entire population TO) 30 persons ate clams on seVeral occasions in 

 May and June. Of the 30 who ate the clams, 15 consumed them raw 

 and 10 of the 15 came down with typhoid fever. None of those who 

 ate them cooked experienced any trouble. The "clams were dug in 

 a mud flat at the mouth of the Great Ouse, 3 miles below the point 

 at which the town of King's Lynn discharges its untreated sewage. 

 * * * Similar cases of enteric fever following the consumption of 

 uncooked clams have simultaneousl}' been observed in the town itself 

 and in other surrounding villages.'" 



In 1900 the Philadelphia Medical Journal published the account of 

 several cases of typhoid occurring at Portland, Me. Four of an Italian 

 crew came down with typhoid some time after eating mussels which 

 they had gathered from the piles beneath a wharf near which is the 

 outlet of one of the cit}' sewers. 



In 1902 Dr. J. C. Thresh published in the Lancet of December 6 

 the account of 21 cases of typhoid and gastro-intestinal disturbances, 

 which he ascribes to the consumption of raw 03^sters. His account 

 includes the histories of six families in which the illnesses occurred 

 onl}'^ among persons who had eaten o^^sters. The cases ranged in 

 severity from one fatal case of typhoid to slight intestinal disturb- 

 ances. One instance of special interest is the following: All mem- 

 bers of a certain family ate these contaminated o^^sters, and, with 

 the exception of one person, all were sick. This person, not liking 

 the taste of the ovsters, did not swallow anv and was not made ill. 



