The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1881.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3869, 24 May 1881, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. TUESDAY, MAY 24, 1881.

Thb appearance of scarlet fiTOr Upon the Thames, and the action takes \j the local ward of Health ia prosecuting the head of a household for not reporting the appearance oE the disease, forcibly direots attenUon to the law upon the subject. We cannot approre of the riew taken by the legwlatare in reqtt i r i ng the houße . ttltZ f° Kep °rt the re»enße <>f the au?r^ duty. As the W 9t and, it would appear fi£T VS. r^^ t0 decide »p°n majority of caseajthey look to the medical attendant to .ettlei that point. Theythn. haTefirsti to get f&e required information from the doctor and then inform the Board of^Healtb., : It ,h only natural that parent., should, be loath to maka known P re(TL Of aiease^Siffi households,. E^w^re fkrffyjgX much disposed: to'comply mV^m^mm fisious of the/Act, thej UjmJ!S^SS matters to attend "^''"""^ "ti^tjjpif^^ tbe thought/orr^po^Hbg^^ll^ii^yfAig it about thPpasirthat daims t^SSSZ The snrgfDf a figi the *prop»r2|N^|^c report, aj)dntii4^ld'bei^iir^ofll^f| v alley .e»i»Bptr" wll forget tofltir'totfijif besides, theyf ««e the best antboiitiet opou ' the -' nature, of tbe *. disease.

We recommend to the Borough \ Council or the Committee of. the local Board of Health to appoint every medical man in the district an officer of the Board. It is true that no salary is at present paid j for the services of their medical officer,' yet that circumstance we are sure would not prevent medical gentlemen from dis charging duties they not only owe to themselves, but to the whole community, in their care for the general health. In order, however, that householders may have some knowledge of the symptoms of the disease that is just now so prevalent we extract from a well known authority the following:— "Gear latino,, or Scarlet Fever, is one of the group of diseases called Exanthemata In addition to the characters common to the group, scarlatina is almost always attended by sore throat, and the rash or eruption, which is of bright scarlet colour, commonly appears as early : as the second day after the manifestation 'of the febrile symptoms, and ends in desquamation of the cuticle on the sixth or seventh day. Most writers on medicine make three varieties of this disease —viz., S. simplex, in which there are the fever and the rash, but scarcely any throat affection; S. anginosa, in which, in addition to the fever and the rash, the throat affection is the most prominent symptom; and S. maligna, a name which is applied to certain cases of extreme violence, in which the system is at once overwhelmed by the force of the disease, or in which the symptoms evince an extraordinary degree of weakness and want of vital power. The disease begins with shivering, lassitude, headache, a frequent pulse, a hot dry skin, a flushed face, thirst, los< of appetite, and a furred tongue. Shortly after the appearance of the febrile symptoms, the throat begins to feel irritable, and, on examination, is found to be red, and often more or less swollen. This redness becomes diffused over the interior of the mouth, and the tongue. The rash begins in the form of minute red points, which soon become so numerous that the surface appears of an almost uniform red. It first appears on the neck, face, and breast, whence it gradually spreads over the trunk and extremities. The reddened surface is smooth to the touch, and the colour temporarily disappears on pressure of the finger. Along with the true rash, minute vesicles, known as Sn^antina, sometimes occur. The eruption, in ordinary cases, is persistent for three or four days, after which it gradually disappears, and is usually gone by the end of the seventh day. The cuticle then begins to scale off in a small bran-like scurf, or in flakes of various sizes. Specimens of an almost entire epidermic covering of the hand or foot, forming a natural glove or slipper, are of common occurrence in our pathological museums; but it is comparatively seldom that such perfect moulting takes place. The desquamative process is usually completed in a fortnight, or rather more, from the commencement of the disease. The fever does not abate on the appearance of the rash, but continues in a more or less decided degree through ; the progress of the case; it often presents exacerbations towards the evening, and is occasionally attended with delirium, or even with comatose symptoms. If the urine be examined, both chemically and microscopically, a few days after desquamation has set in, it will be found to contain albumen, and to exhibit a large amount of epithelium from the uriniferous ducts .of*the kidneys. Malignant scarlatina is so terrible a disease that its characteristic symptoms require a,J>rief Special j»otica~- Tita? **tih' comes outiate a'nCimperfectly, and sometimes is hardli perceptible; or, having appeared, it may\ suddenly recede; and sometimes it is intermixed with livid spots. The pulse is feeble/the skin is cold, and there is extreme prostration of strength. In such a case as this, death may occur (apparently from blood poisoning) in a few hours. Other cases rapidly assume a typhus-like character. • TheT ~ pulse becomes frequent, and feeble; the tongue dry, brown j and tremulous; the debility extreme; the breath offensive;, the throat is livid, swollen, ulce* rated, and gangrenous; and the respiration is impeded by viscid mucus, which collects about, the fauces. Over this variety of the disease, medicine has comparatively little control.'"'