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A reference to the meteorological returns issued by the registrar-general
shows that on the 12th of January, 1881, began a period of severe frost,
characterized by still, sometimes foggy, weather, with occasional light
airs from nearly all points of the compass. This state of affairs
continued till January 18, when there was a notable snow storm, and a
gale from the E.N.E. For four days, up to and inclusive of January 8,
ozone was present in more than its usual amounts. During January 9-16, it
was absent. On January 17 it reappeared, and on January 18 it was
abundant. Similar meteorological conditions (calm and no ozone) were
found to precede previous epidemics.
Mr. Power's report, with regard to Fulham, seems conclusive, and there is
a strong impression that hospitals, other than Fulham, have served as
centers of dissemination.
In the last lecture I gave you the opinion of M. Bertillon, of Paris, and
quoted figures in support of that opinion. It is a fact of some
importance to remember that small-pox is one of those diseases which has
a peculiar odor, recognizable by the expert. As to its conveyance for
long distances through the air, there are some curious facts quoted by
Professor Waterhouse, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a letter addressed
to Dr. Haygarth at the close of the last century. Professor Waterhouse
states that at Boston there was a small-pox hospital on one side of a
river, and opposite it, 1,500 yards away, was a dockyard, where, on a
certain misty, foggy day, with light airs just moving in a direction from
the hospital to the dockyard, ten men were working.
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