On the mode of communication of cholera / by John Snow.

  • John Snow
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the mode of communication of cholera / by John Snow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    29/214 page 17
    circumstance till lately remained unexplained. The bed linen nearly always becomes wetted by the cholera eva- cuations, and as these are devoid of the usual colour and odour, the hands of persons waiting on the patient become soiled without their knowing it; and unless these persons are scrupulously cleanly in their habits, and wash their hands before taking food, they must accidentally swallow some of the excretion, and leave some on the food they handle or prepare, which has to be eaten by the rest of the family, who, amongst the working classes, often have to take their meals in the sick room : hence the thousands of instances in which, amongst this class of the population, a case of cholera in one member of the family is followed by other cases ; whilst medical men and others, who merely visit the patients, generally escape. The post mortem inspection of the bodies of cholera patients has hardly ever been followed by the disease that I am aware, this being a duty that is necessarily followed by careful washing of the hands; and it is not the habit of medical men to be taking food on such an occasion. On the other hand, the duties performed about the body, such as laying it out, when done by women of the working class, who make the occasion one of eating and drinking, are often followed by an attack of cholera ; and persons who merely attend the funeral, and have no connexion with the body, frequently contract the disease, in consequence, appa- rently, of partaking of food which has been prepared or handled by those having duties about the cholera patient, or his linen and bedding. Deficiency of light is a great obstacle to cleanliness, as it prevents dirt from being seen, and it must aid very much the contamination of the food with the cholera evacuations. Now the want of light, in some of the dwellings of the poor, in large towns, is one of the cir- c
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