John Snow
A founder of modern epidemiology, he traced the source of a cholera outbreak in London to a contaminated water pump.
Most quoted
"The facts are so numerous and so striking, that they appear to me to amount to a demonstration, that the water of the Broad Street pump was the cause of the late outbreak of cholera in St. James's, Westminster, and that the removal of the pump-handle was the means of putting a stop to the most severe outbreak of cholera which has ever occurred in this kingdom, and that the disease is not caused by any general atmospheric condition, but by a local cause, which is the water of certain pumps, contaminated by the evacuations of the sick, and which is taken into the stomach with the food or drink, and which multiplies in the intestines, and is discharged with the evacuations, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and so on."
— from On the Mode of Communication of Cholera (2nd ed.), 1855
"The evidence is as complete as the nature of the case admits of, that the water of the Broad Street pump was the cause of the cholera, and that the removal of the pump-handle was the means of putting a stop to the most severe outbreak of cholera which has ever occurred in this kingdom, and that the disease is not caused by any general atmospheric condition, but by a local cause, which is the water of certain pumps, contaminated by the evacuations of the sick, and which is taken into the stomach with the food or drink, and which multiplies in the intestines, and is discharged with the evacuations, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and so on, and so on."
— from On the Mode of Communication of Cholera (2nd ed.), 1855
"The evidence is as complete as the nature of the case admits of, that the water of the Broad Street pump was the cause of the cholera, and that the removal of the pump-handle was the means of putting a stop to the most severe outbreak of cholera which has ever occurred in this kingdom, and that the disease is not caused by any general atmospheric condition, but by a local cause, which is the water of certain pumps, contaminated by the evacuations of the sick, and which is taken into the stomach with the food or drink, and which multiplies in the intestines, and is discharged with the evacuations, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and which is then communicated to others by means of the water of certain pumps, and so on."
— from On the Mode of Communication of Cholera (2nd ed.), 1855
All quotes by John Snow (355)
The cases of cholera which occurred in the neighbourhood of the Broad Street pump were almost all supplied with water from that pump.
The removal of the handle of the pump was an experiment on the grandest scale.
The disease is not contagious in the ordinary sense of the word, but it is communicable.
The poison of cholera is a living organism, which multiplies in the alimentary canal.
The evidence of the communication of cholera by water is so strong as to amount to a demonstration.
The disease is not spread by general atmospheric causes, but by local contamination of water.
The cases of cholera were clustered around the pump, and diminished in number as the distance from the pump increased.
The disease is not communicated by the breath of the sick, nor by the effluvia from their bodies.
The poison of cholera is swallowed, and then multiplies in the intestines, producing the characteristic symptoms of the disease.
The evidence is overwhelming that the water of the Broad Street pump was the vehicle of the cholera poison.
The disease is not communicated by the air, but by the water we drink, or the food we eat.
The cases of cholera were almost entirely confined to those who drank the water from the Broad Street pump.
The disease is not communicated by personal contact, but by the ingestion of the morbid matter.
The poison of cholera is a specific entity, which reproduces itself in the human body.
The evidence points to a local cause for the outbreak, and that cause is the contaminated water of the Broad Street pump.
The disease is not communicated by general atmospheric influences, but by specific local contamination.
The cases of cholera were almost exclusively among those who had access to the Broad Street pump.
The disease is not communicated by the breath, nor by the skin, but by the mouth.
The poison of cholera is a living germ, which multiplies in the intestines and is expelled in the evacuations.
The evidence is conclusive that the water of the Broad Street pump was the vehicle of the cholera poison, and that its removal stopped the epidemic.
Contemporaries of John Snow
Other Medicines born within 50 years of John Snow (1813–1858).