82 
THOMPSON YATES LABORATORIES REPORT 
Pathological Diagnosis Society 
This society is formed by a number of medical men, who desire diagnostic 
investigations to be carried out in respect to patients under their care. It is an 
extremely useful society, and numbers about 200 medical men. 
The work of this society supplements that done for the Corporation. For an 
annual subscription of 10s. 6d. any practitioner can place any number of cases of 
Diphtheria, Typhoid, Tubercle, and other infective processes, urine and tumours 
for bacteriological examination. The number of investigations in this connection has 
nearly reached 1,000 during the year. 
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS 
Summer Diarrhcea 
The Medical Officer requested the Bacteriologist to make investigations into 
the condition of the artificial foods supplied to infants during the season of exceptional 
mortality from summer diarrhcea. 
The homes of the poor where sickness was known to exist were visited, and 
the feeding bottles found in use, together with their contents, were removed to the 
laboratories, new bottles being given in their place at the cost of the Health 
Committee. Furthermore, the same practice was adopted at the dispensaries, the 
feeding bottles actually in use, and their contents, being taken away for examination, 
and other bottles given to replace them. 
The bacteriological examination confirmed the evidence of the senses, the 
putrefying and offensive contents of the bottles containing innumerable putrefactive 
organisms, amongst them being the bacillus enteritidis sporogenes, which, judging 
from the effects of the injection of bacilli of this description into Guinea-pigs, is 
virulently destructive of life. 
The tubes connected with the bottles were also found to contain putrefactive 
matter. The examination added confirmation to the neglect, ignorance, and 
carelessness of the parents. 
Cases of Food Poisoning 
On Thursday, September 28th, 1899, the Deputy Coroner held inquests on 
five persons who died from acute food poisoning. 
The facts shortly are as follows : — The deceased persons, all women between 
44 and 70 years of age, had partaken of either cooked salt fish or pig's cheek at the 
stall of Mrs. B , in St. Martin's Market, on the 14th, 1 5th, or 16th of September. 
In a few hours after eating the food each person became seriously ill with symptoms 
of acute food poisoning, and eventually died, four of them the day after taking the 
food, and the other the next day but one. 
