KEVIEW OF LITERATURE. 7 



9. The use of oysters from the same locality by the students at Amherst College 

 produced, or at all events was followed by, an outbreak of typhoi(J fever among the 

 students who ate of them. 



These facts, taken together, form a chain of evidence practically complete at every 

 point and leaving no room for doubt. Whatever may be said in regard to oysters 

 in general, the Wesleyan outbreak of typhoid was caused by a special lot of con- 

 taminated oysters. 



(2) The increased prevalence of typhoid fever in Atlantic City 

 N. J , during the summer and autumn of 1902 was traced by PenI 

 nington and others 1 to the use of oysters and clams " floated" in 

 Penrose Canal, which was highly polluted with sewage. The find- 

 ings of a committee of five members reporting to the Atlantic City 

 Academy of Medicine, as to the origin and cause of the infection, 

 were approved by Dr. A. C. Abbott and Henry Leffmann. 



(3) Dr. Bulstrode 2 during 1902 reported 21 cases of typhoid 

 fever and 118 cases of gastroenteritis from a total number of 267 

 guests who had eaten raw oysters at the mayoralty banquets at 

 Winchester and Southampton, England, on November 10 of that 

 year. The oysters in question were imported from France and 

 "laid down," or floated 3 for a few days in sewage-polluted "drink- 

 ing" grounds at Emsworth. One patient who developed a fatal 

 case of typhoid ate only one infected oyster, while others ate only 

 two or three of these oysters. 



(4) During the period from 1894 to 1902, inclusive, Dr. News- 

 holme, 4 of Brighton, England, investigated 241 cases of typhoid 

 fever which he ascribed to eating infected shellfish. 



(5) During the year 1902, Thresh and Wood 5 reported in the 

 county of Essex, England, 4 cases of typhoid fever and 21 cases of 

 illness due to eating Portuguese oysters sold on August 14 and 21 

 of that year. 



(6) "In reporting the typhoid fever cases in New York City for 

 1904, 6 the health official of that city shows that of the 1,786 cases 

 reported during 1904 in the Borough of Manhattan data were ob- 

 tained on 1,322 cases. Of this number, 22 cases, or 1.6 per cent, 

 were habitual consumers of raw oysters, while 44 cases, or 3.3 per 

 cent, habitually consumed both raw oysters and raw milk 



1 Pennington, B. C., Stewart, W. B., Pollard, W. M., Marvel, P., DeSilver, J. F. Report on typhoid 

 fever at Atlantic City. (Philadelphia Medical Journal, Nov. 1, 1902, pp. 634-635.) 



2 Bulstrode, H. T. Report upon alleged oyster-borne enteric fever and other illness following the mayoral 

 banquets at Winchester and Southampton, and upon enteric fever occurring simultaneously elsewhere, 

 and also ascribed to oysters. (Local Government Board, England. 32d Ann. Rept., 1902-3. Suppl., 

 App. A, pp. 129-189.) 



3 The process of "floating," "drinking," or "plumping" oysters in the shell consists in placing them 

 in water containing less salt content than that in which they grew. This practice is treated more fully 

 on p. 33. 



* Newsholme, A. The spread of enteric fever and other forms of illness by sewage-polluted shellfish. 

 (Brit. Med. J., Aug. 8, 1903, *.- 295-297.) 



6 Thresh, J. C., and Wood, F. L. Report on an outbreak of typhoid fever and other illnesses due to 

 oysters. (The Lancet, Dec. 6, 1902, 2: 1567-1569.) 



New York City Department of Health. Typhoid fever. (Ann. Rept., 1904, /.- 184-188.) 



45672 Bull. 15612 2 



