262 BACTERIA IN OTHER FOODS 



We shall probably maintain a satisfactory balance of truth if we 

 place alongside these facts the summary of the Local Government 

 Board Report. " There can be no doubt," wrote Sir Eiehard Thorne, 

 " that oysters which have been brought into sustained relation with 

 the typhoid bacillus are liable to exhibit that microbe within the 

 shell contents, and to retain it for a while under circumstances not 

 only permitting its rapid multiplication when transferred again to 

 appropriate media, but conserving at the same time its ability to 

 manifest its hurtful properties." * The Eoyal Commission on Sewage 

 Disposal concludes, that at the present time it is undesirable to con- 

 demn oysters only on bacteriological evidence of the presence of B. 

 coli. At present topography must stand before bacteriology, and the 

 condemnation or otherwise of oysters must be judged on broad, 

 common-sense lines. It should be borne in mind that the oyster 

 trade is a considerable industry, which should not be injured except 

 on proved and substantial evidence. 



Means of Prevention, — In the special report issued by the 

 Local Government Board in 1896, on oyster culture, which had been 

 drawn up by Dr Timbrell Bulstrode, accounts are given with 

 diagrams of the layings, fattening beds, and storage ponds used in 

 oyster cultivation in various counties round the coast of England 

 and Wales. Various proposals were made by Dr Bulstrode for the 

 control of this industry. In some cases, particularly the larger 

 layings, altering the position of the fattening beds was considered 

 sufficient, but in other cases nothing short of a complete diversion of 

 the sewers and drains, or withdrawal of existing layings, could be 

 regarded as sufticient.f We may repeat that the Eoyal Commission 

 on Sewage Disposal urge that topographical conditions shall be taken 

 along with bacteriological evidence in arriving at a decision as to any 

 oyster layings, and under the present circumstances of our limited know- 

 ledge of the bacteriology of the subject, this is the right course and 

 should assist in indicating preventive methods. 



From what has been said, such preventive treatment is obvious : — 

 (I) All oyster layings and shell-fish beds round the coast should be 

 registered, superintended, and inspected by the sanitary authority or 

 the Government. (2) Local Sanitary Authorities should have power 

 of control over oyster layings situated in their district, and should 

 be enabled to prevent the sale in their district of oysters and other 

 molluscs derived from sewage - contaminated sources. (3) The 

 importation of foreign oysters, grown on uncontrolled beds, should, 



* Special Report to Local Government Board on Oyster Culture, etc., 1896. This 

 report by Dr Timbrell Bulstrode is probably the fullest statement yet written on the 

 question as it affects England. 



t For a brief record of the attempts at legislation on this subject, see Brit. Med, 

 Jour., 1903, ii., p. 296 (Newsholme). 



