194 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
lowed.” He is positive that these oysters are responsible for the 
prevalence of these diseases in Naples at that time. 
In 1896 Doctor Chantemesse reports a number of eases of typhoid 
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 oysters 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 
slightly ill and four others very 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 2. coli 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 ‘‘oyster 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 oysters from Cette. 
Many other similar 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 Lynn 
(entire population 70) 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. 
* * * Sunilar cases of enteric fever following the consumption of 
uncooked clams have simultaneously been observed in the town itself 
and in other surrounding villages.” 
In 1900 the Phila ona Medical Journal published the account of 
several cases of typhoid oecurring 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 city 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 oysters. His account 
includes the histories of six families in which the illnesses occurred 
only among persons who had eaten oysters. 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 oysters, and, with 
the exception of one person, all were sick. This person, not liking 
the taste of the oysters, did not swallow any and was not made all. 
