Dr. Ballard's report to the local goverment board upon an outbreak of diphtheria in a cottage adjoining the churchyard at Trotterscliffe near Wrotham, Kent.

  • Ballard, Edward.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Ballard's report to the local goverment board upon an outbreak of diphtheria in a cottage adjoining the churchyard at Trotterscliffe near Wrotham, Kent. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    from the meadow rat-holes in abundance are visible along the base of the cart-shed wall as it abuts the meadow. It was plain that the rats frequently ran over the swampy corner of the meadow behind the granary. The only house near is that of the farmer Mr. Pine. It is a large house but very damp. Mr. P. and his family, consisting of his wife and six daughters varying in age from 12 to 22, reside there only during the summer months. They were there during the illnesses at the cottage. . The farmyard and buildings are represented on the plan. The fowl-house was clean at the time of my visit; Mrs. Jones attended habitually to the fowls. The fowls’ dung is habitually conveyed to Mr. Pine’s garden by the gardener and used there. The cows (two) are kept in the daytime in the meadow, but are brought into the cowhouse to be milked. No cows had calved since April. Tht cowhouse is dry, and, with the exception to be mentioned, clean. At the north end of it stands raised above the ground a cage containing a ferret. The cage is of the shape of a rabbit-hutch, but the floor of it as well as most of the front is constructed of iron rods so as to ensure its dryness. In the corner marked X I observed a little heap of greenish curdy-looking matter rising about 3-^ inches from the floor of the cage and partly protruding between the bars. On the outside it was mouldy. Some similar matter hung down from the rods forming the floor in this situation. I found by watching the ferret that this was the spot where it urinated and defecated by preference. It turned its tail towards this corner‘and squirted out its excreta with great violence. Some straw lying on the ground beneath the cage was saturated with this filth. The gardener, who, with his wife, lives at Mr. Pine’s house, milks the cows, and after milking them fills a little earthen pan with new milk and puts it into the ferret’s cage. He then carries away the milk to the dairy (clean and wholesome) at Mr. Pine’s house. Mrs. Jones says that her children were forbidden to go further to the westward than the cottage, and habitually played about an old pound situated among the trees to the eastward of the road and duck-pond. The water drunk by Jones’ family is from a well (with pump) at the rear of Mr. Pine’s house. The water is regarded as good, and is habitually drunk also by Mr. Pine’s family. Professor Voelcker made an analysis of this water on October 16th, 1879, and obtained the following result. In an imperial gallon he found— grain Solid constituents dried at 130° 0 - - - 31’92 (consisting chiefly of carbonate of line, and some sulphate of lime and carbonate of magnesia, and including) Oxidisable organic matter - - - *179 Chloride of sodium - - - - 2 • 99 Nitric acid as nitrates - - - 4 • 02 It further contained: Actual (saline) ammonia - - - - -001 Organic (albuminoid) ammonia - - - -005 Hardness on Clark’s scale _ _ _ _ 23^ He adds “ the water was clear, colourless, and free from smell. The ^ “ residue that was left on evaporation to dry near was white, and turned “ only slightly dark on exposure to a strong heat. The water contained not “ more saline and organic ammonia than usually occurs in good and wholesome “ waters.” The water at this time was not in such a condition as to render it probable that its use for drinking had anything to do with the origin of the disease. Mrs. Jones says that she is as careful as possible always to prevent much communication with the village. They keep as much as possible to them- selves. Prior to the illnesses they had none of them visited or been visited by persons from other villages. The children had had no new clothes recently, nor any old clothes of other persons newly made up. No alteration had been made in the arrangements of the rooms, no shifting of beds, &c. The milk used by the family was mostly skimmed milk, of which Mr. Pine allowed them to have as much as they liked, and all the children drank it when they felt disposed. It used generally to stand on the table A 2