Oysters and other shell fish / Report of the Fishmongers' Company, London, December, 1902, to June, 1909.
- Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
- Date:
- [1909?]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Oysters and other shell fish / Report of the Fishmongers' Company, London, December, 1902, to June, 1909. Source: Wellcome Collection.
27/164 page 23
![28 “ There can, then, be no doubt (1) that the b. ooli communis “ is foreign to the mussel, and (2) that it rapidly disappears “ from the mussel, if the latter is supplied with clean sea “ water, daily changed. Mussels in this respect cleanse them- “ selves even more rapidly than oysters (see my report on “ Vitality of B. Typhosus, &c.), and for the reason, I presume, “ that mussels can take up relatively more sea water and can “ hold within their shell more sea water than oysters, the “ volume of the body of the mussel being smaller than the body of the oyster as compared with the volume of the shells. “ Although under natural conditions such a rapid cleansing as “ in the above experiments cannot be expected, since mussels “ are always found near the shore, and since such clean sea “ water as was used in the above experiments can hardly “ be available by an incoming tide near our shores, yet it “ is feasible to assume that a cleansing process, if slower, “ would ensue, provided that the mussels are removed from a “ locality in which they are constantly being supplied with “ fresh pollution.” On the 28th May, 1909, the Company’s Inspector purchased from the Southend Shell Fish Company, at their shed situate on the foreshore in close proximity to the Halfway House, at Southend-on-Sea, some cooked cockles, a sample of which was submitted to Professor Klein, who reported the cockles were distinctly ]3olluted and insufficiently cooked. The Com- pany at once officially notified the matter to the Medical Officer of Health for Southend, Dr. Grant Pugh, who after- wards informed the Company’s Inspector, on the 7th June, that the matter would be reported to the next meeting of the Health Committee; in reply to a letter from Dr. Grant Pugh, he was informed the Fishmongers’ Company could not permit the sale of any cockles taken from a grossly polluted source such as the foreshore of Southend was known to be. See analysis No. 417.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28065724_0027.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
