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the Ne1-1 T01m Road, Argyle, Bathurst, Murray, lelvi lle, Campbell,
Brisbane, Elizabeth, Co llins and others all lacked surface drains on
the sides and were a continual source of pol lution and pestilence .
On May 26 the residents were shocked when they heard that one poor
fami ly, named Pershaw, which resided near the Rivulet in Campbell Street ,
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had lost four children with scarlet fever in the space of several days ,
and that the other children 1ere also ill with the disease.
Their
house Has extremely low, badly vent ilated, unsewered and surrounded by
accumu lated dirt and rubbish.
On the same day a correspondent to the
Colonist dre1 attention to other phys ical and social evi ls which prevailed
to a frightful extent in the town , particularly mentioning the very
numerous lodging houses -.rhich existed in almost every street in all parts
of the city. Here, in an atmosphere of moral misery and wretchedness ,
hundreds of ex-prisoners and others of both sexes congregated together
at night, lying packed tightly together on the floor, fifteen to twenty
people to one room .
fever sti ll.
of treatment;
recommended:
In June, large numb ers of chi ldren were dying from scarlet
Doctors were divided in their opinions on the best form
in the Courier on June 7 and 9 two divers e treatments were
one, an emetic every morning and the application of cold
water; the other, the use of belladonna . On August 4 the Colonist
claimed that there was scarcely an adult free from influenza, with its
accompanying sore throat , cough and great diminution of strength ;
whi lst scarlet fever, or scarletina as it was sometimes called, still
raged amongst the young and the weakly.
It appealed to the Government
Health Officer and the Medical Profession to attempt to establish the
cause of the diseases, whether due to the bad drainage and filth of the
city:·
Something at all events ought to be done and to be done
promptly.
To this app eal Dr T.F. Gorringe of Woodvi lle responded immediately.
In a letter to the Courier on Augus t 5, he gave the opinions of eminent
British medi cal men on the treatment of scarlet fever , as pub lished in
the Lancet on Novemb er 27, 1852. Belladonna was not recommended . To
the confused, bewildered and distressed parents of Hobart Town, he offered
his own form of treatment : an emetic composed of antimonium tartarizatum -
grains one, ipecacuanka pmvder - grains eight, to be taken immediately on
attack , and, in one hour after the emeti c has ceased to operate, two
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