Page images
PDF
EPUB

From past experience with the disease, have no doubt that filth is the cause.

Diphtheria. None during the year. I think filth and general nastiness are exciting causes of the disease, as I have found such present in most of the cases I have treated.

Plymouth-HAVEN PALMER, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. Three cases, none fatal; two in Plymouth, one in Holderness. It is not probable that the drinking-water was polluted in any case. Believe that unsanitary conditions help to develop the germ of the disease.

Diphtheria. None observed.

Portsmouth-JOHN J. BERRY, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. - One case true typhoid, source of disease not determined. Being a specific disease, and propagated not only by the ingesta but also by a germ-laden atmosphere, it is, consequently, in a great degree a preventable disease, in my opinion.

Diphtheria. Three typical cases, none fatal. One case occurred in surroundings which, from a sanitary standpoint, were generally bad. Unsanitary conditions, of course, favor the spread of the disease, and tend to increase its malignancy. I would here state that certain forms of tonsilitis, so called, are decidedly infectious, and should be similarly isolated.

Portsmouth-J. W. PARSONS, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. Three cases, none fatal. One patient developed the fever a few days after having returned from the West, coming to a home with unsanitary surroundings. The other two cases were in a family which came to an adjoining town for a summer residence. They took an old house which had not been occupied for eight or ten years. The surroundings had been neglected, and the water from the well had not been used during these years, except to water cattle during a portion of the grazing season. The well was within a few feet of the site of an old barnyard, the ground falling off toward the well. The family consisted of father, mother, two young boys and three servants. The first of September typhoid fever developed in the mother

and the youngest son. The use of the well water was at once prohibited, and the family moved to this city as soon as possible. No other member of the family had any symptoms of the fever. The water was examined by Prof. Angell, and reported to be totally unfit for use. Past experience has led me to believe that unsanitary conditions have an important bearing upon the disease.

Diphtheria. None observed during the year. Believe that unsanitary conditions may aggravate the disease, but am doubtful if they can be the cause.

[blocks in formation]

Typhoid Fever. None observed. From past experience believe that unsanitary conditions frequently cause the disease, but not always.

Diphtheria. None observed during the year 1888. Believe that unsanitary conditions may cause the disease in some in

stances.

Raymond-TRUE M. GOULD, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. None observed. In some cases in the past have thought that unsanitary conditions had a great influence on the disease.

[ocr errors]

Diphtheria. None observed during the year. Do not believe that unsanitary conditions influence the disease to any great

extent.

Rochester--S. E. ROOT, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. Two cases in town, both recovered. A French girl died of typhoid fever, contracted, as was supposed, while on an excursion to Canada. Dejections were thrown into the privy-vault without disinfection. The mother and sister were attacked as the direct result, in my opinion, of that carelessness. Both recovered. I saw them first after the sister had died. If I understand your question,— Basing your opinion upon your experience as a practitioner, what relation do unsanitary conditions bear to typhoid fever?- believe typhoid fever is the direct result of such conditions.

Diphtheria. None observed during the year 1888. From

past experience believe unsanitary conditions and diphtheria bear the relation of cause and effect.

Rochester-E. T. HUBBARD, M. d.

Typhoid Fever. - None observed during the year. Basing my opinion upon past experience, believe that unsanitary conditions have all to do with producing the disease.

Diphtheria. Five cases, none fatal. All of my cases have occurred in families surrounded by unsanitary conditions. Think improperly constructed vaults and cesspools and polluted water are the principal factors in producing the disease.

Rochester-ROBERT V. Sweet, m. d.

Typhoid Fever. - Seven cases, none fatal; six in town, one in an adjoining town.

Diphtheria. One case, recovered. Caused by direct contact with a person infected.

Rochester ALONZO S. WALLACE, M. D.

[ocr errors]

Typhoid Fever. - Two cases, both recovered. It is not probable that the drinking-water was contaminated in either case. From past experience believe unsanitary conditions are the parents of the disease.

[ocr errors]

Diphtheria. Sixteen cases, three deaths. One case occurred in a house that had been unoccupied for six months. The vault was built of brick and covered with earth, making it nearly airtight; the sink-pipe emptied into this vault, with no trap of any kind. The water discharging from the sink-pipe stirred up the foul contents of the vault, the effluvia coming back into the house through the pipe as the only means of escape. The odor in the kitchen was almost unbearable. In one week after the family moved in, an eight years old child was taken seriously ill with diphtheria. Other cases occurred in miserable, dirty houses, water standing in cellars most of the time.

It is my opinion that unsanitary conditions have an important connection with the disease.

Rochester STEPHEN YOUNG, M. d.

[ocr errors]

Typhoid Fever. - None observed.

Diphtheria. Seven cases, three fatal.

Think five cases were

caused by polluted water, the other two by contagion. Believe that the disease is contagious, and that unsanitary conditions render a person more liable to it.

[blocks in formation]

Salisbury- GEORGE P. TITCOMB, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. None observed during the year.

[ocr errors]

From

past experience believe unsanitary conditions to be the cause of the disease.

Diphtheria. None during the year. Believe unsanitary conditions cause depression of the vital forces.

Sandwich-E. W. HODSDON, M. D.

[ocr errors]

Typhoid Fever. One case, fatal. Have observed unsanitary conditions to be a factor in nearly every case of this disease. Diphtheria. — None observed during the year.

Sandwich

-E. Q. MARSTON, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. - None observed.

Diphtheria. None.

Seabrook D. W. COLCORD, M. D.

Two cases, neither fatal.

Typhoid Fever. Drinking-water polluted in one case. I believe that in a majority of instances unsanitary conditions are the principal causes of the disease.

Diphtheria, - Three cases, one fatal. Bad sanitary conditions in most cases. I believe nearly all cases of diphtheria arise from unsanitary conditions, except those from direct contagion.

Seabrook-GEORGE R. FELLOWS, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. Six cases, two in town; four in one family mother and three children, in Salisbury, Mass., one fatal. I the four cases in Salisbury the disease was undoubtedly caused by

polluted drinking-water, which was taken from an open well within fifteen feet of the sink-spout. The house was shockingly filthy. Think we should look to the drinking-water for the cause of typhoid fever.

Diphtheria. None observed.

Somersworth LORENZO D. HAMBLET, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. One case in Berwick, Me., fatal. - In this case the sink-drain discharged into the cellar, and, in my opinjon, caused the disease. Had the matter attended to, and no other case occurred in a family of nine children.

Diphtheria. Several cases, none fatal. These cases were caused by bad drainage, etc., which I reported to the health officer, and he attended to the matter at once.

Somersworth-L. E. GRANT, M. D.

Typhoid Fever.

Five cases, one fatal; three in town, two in Berwick, Me. Drinking-water polluted in every case but one. Think there is something in unsanitary conditions which tends to typhoid fever.

Diphtheria. None observed.

Somersworth - ALVIN JENKINS, M. D.

Typhoid Fever. - Only one case of well-marked typhoid, which case passed into the hands of another physician and terminated fatally. Three typical cases occurred at this same house some years ago, and I attributed the cause to bad sanitary conditions, particularly contaminated water. Think unsanitary conditions bear a very close relation to the disease.

Diphtheria. Have not had a typical case during the year, although sore throats have been quite prevalent. From my experience with diphtheria should say that unsanitary conditions have much the same relation to the disease that the interception of the sun's rays and deep shade bear to unhealthful conditions of animal and vegetable life.

Somersworth (Great Falls) — Louis L. AUGER, M. D.

[ocr errors]

Typhoid Fever. Seventeen cases, one fatal; all in town. Drinking-water polluted in three cases. Unsanitary conditions are nearly always present, according to my observation.

« PreviousContinue »