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It must be kept at mind that, despite of the outbreak around the
Broad Street pump, other areas in London were not free from cholera. It
could be established that from the 73 victims living close to the pump, 61
of them drank water from the pump. Adjusting the number of deaths
around the pump and the general toll of the outbreak in London in the area
of the Broad Street pump, only 14 deaths should have been expected. Snow
explained to the Board of Guardians of the area that the high number of
deaths very likely could be attributed to the water from the pump. He
therefore recommended the removal of the pump handle to inhibit any further infection. The
Board was not really convinced that the water from the pump actually caused the outbreak,
but since other counter measures had been undertaken the handle of the pump was also
disconnected. The fact that after removing the handle the outbreak soon came to a halt might
be taken as a good argument for Snow’s claim that the cause of the disaster was the water of
the pump. At the time the handle was taken off however, the incidence of the disease already
decreased.
Search for the reason of the pollution
The search for the real reason of the outbreak initially did not favour those believing in
the miasma theory, but nor could Snow ultimately present evidence for the germ theory. An
argument against the miasma theory was the fact that the houses of all the victims were clean,
and that, out of the 535 inhabitants of a workhouse close to the pump, only 5 died. According
to the miasma theory one would expect a much higher number. However, Snow found out that
the facility had its own water supply and did not take water from the pump. Furthermore, the
workers in a nearby brewery survived. They drank beer, which they didn’t have to pay for,
and never the water. In fact they should have succumbed to the cholera, since according to the
miasma theory the drinking alcohol was dangerous.
Even though Snow could identify people, such as the customers of small coffee shops
and other facilities who drank the water and died, otherwise conclusive evidence for the
pollution of the pump was initially missing. The brickwork of the well was repeatedly
inspected, and no hole or crevice was found through which
polluted water could have been entered the well. A sewer drain
running along the street was not old and not found to be the
culprit for polluting the well. The Reverend Henry Whitehead
invited Snow to join the St. James parish committee.
Whitehead was probably as eager as Snow to find the
source of the epidemic. Although did not agree with Snow’s
theory, he liked the way Snow approached the problem. In
fact, it was Whitehead, who found the ultimate solution to the
mystery. He searched through reports of the Registrar General
from the week up to the 3
rd
of September 1854, and on the 2
nd
of September the death was recorded of a five-month old child
who died with symptoms of cholera in the house at number 40,
Broad Street. He realised that the child might be the first
Whitehead