8. Whatever indulgence may be granted to those who have heretofore been
the ignorant causes of so much misery, the time has come when the
existence of a private pestilence in the sphere of a single physician
should be looked upon, not as a misfortune, but a crime; and in the
knowledge of such occurrences the duties of the practitioner to his
profession should give way to his paramount obligations to society.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND CASES.

Fifth Annual Report of the Registrar-General of England.

1843. Appendix. Letter from William Farr, Esq.--Several new series of
cases are given in the Letter of Mr. Stows, contained in the Appendix to
this Report. Mr. Stows suggests precautions similar to those I have laid
down, and these precautions are strongly enforced by Mr. Farr, who is,
therefore, obnoxious to the same criticisms as myself.

Hall and Dexter, in Am. Journal of Med. Sc. for January, 1844.--Cases
of puerperal fever seeming to originate in erysipelas.

Elkington, of Birmingham, in Provincial Med. Journal, cited in Am.
Journ. Med. Se. for April, 1844.--Six cases in less than a fortnight,
seeming to originate in a case of erysipelas.

West's Reports, in Brit. and For. Med. Review for October, 1845, and
January, 1847.--Affection of the arm, resembling malignant pustule, after
removing the placenta of a patient who died from puerperal fever.
Reference to cases at Wurzburg, as proving contagion, and to Keiller's
cases in the Monthly Journal for February, 1846, as showing connection of
puerperal fever and erysipelas.

Kneeland.--Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever. Am. Jour. Med. Se.,
January, 1846. Also, Connection between Puerperal Fever and Epidemic
Erysipelas. Ibid., April, 1846.

Robert Storrs.--Contagious Effects of Puerperal Fever on the Male
Subject; or on Persons not Child-bearing. (From Provincial Med. and
Surg. Journal.) Am. Jour. Med. Sc., January, 184,6. Numerous cases.
See also Dr. Reid's case in same Journal for April, 1846.

Routh's paper in Proc. of Royal Med. Chir. Soc., Am. Jour. Med. Sc.,
April, 1849, also in B. and F. Med. Chir. Review, April, 1850.

Hill, of Leuchars.--A Series of Cases illustrating the Contagious Nature
of Erysipelas and of Puerperal Fever, and their Intimate Pathological
Connection. (From Monthly Journal of Med. Sc.) Am. Jour. Med. Se.,
July, 1850.

Skoda on the Causes of Puerperal Fever. (Peritonitis in rabbits, from
inoculation with different morbid secretions.) Am.