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Under a section adopted during the year, all physicians, nurses, midwives, and all other persons in attendance on confinement cases are required to instil in the eyes of newborn children a 1 per cent solution of nitrate of silver, or an equally effective agent, to prevent the development of ophthalmia neonatorum.

During the year the law division reviewed all bills submitted to the State legislature, for the purpose of preventing the enactment of laws which might seriously affect and limit the extraordinary powers, jurisdiction, and authority of the Board of Health of New York City in matters concerning the protection and preservation of human life and health in the city.

COURT ACTIONS.

It is stated that 33,479 criminal actions were disposed of during the year. Of these, 4,115 were classed as serious and flagrant violations, such as violations of the various food and drug sections and regulations relating to nuisances, all of which have a direct relationship to the health and welfare of the community. Indicative of the fact that the courts were not unnecessarily burdened with trivial violations of law in health matters, of the 4,115 serious violations only 112 were acquitted and 465 dismissed, and of 29,364 minor offenses. only 8 defendants were acquitted and 530 dismissed. The following are a few of the flagrant violations dealt with:

An auction house in Manhattan was found to be offering for sale 6,640 pounds of decomposed sardines. By letters the dealer had solicited unwholesome food from food dealers throughout the country, stating that he had a market for such food.

A driver of a milk company was detected in the act of adulterating milk which was to be offered for sale.

In two instances spot eggs were found in baker shops, the proprietors both admitting knowledge of the condition of the eggs.

A heavy penalty was imposed for the substitution of mercuric chloride for mercurochrome-B in a prescription.

In January a landlady was convicted and sent to jail without the alternative of a fine for failing to provide 68° of heat. When the temperature was taken by the inspector, it was 25°.

Heavy penalties were imposed for the selling of clinical thermometers improperly tested and certified and of hairbrushes unsterilized to prevent the spread of anthrax.

For the first time the department of health brought criminal actions against persons breaking quarantine, civil actions alone having been previously instituted. Penalties ranging from $100 to $250 were imposed, and warnings were given that prison terms would be meted out for future offenses. Considerable publicity was given to

these convictions in order that the public in general might be warned against the breaking of quarantine regulations.

Severe penalties were imposed for insanitary conditions found in poultry slaughterhouses, as also in the case of adulterated ice cream, adulterated gelatine, and adulterated chopped meat.

Several appeals were taken from the decisions rendered by the courts and those rendered by the board of health, but no reversals of judgment or opinion were obtained; and it is stated that "the jurisdiction, power, and authority of the board of health remain unimpaired."

MORTALITY AND BIRTH RATES FOR FIRST QUARTER OF 1923.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF PROVISIONAL FIGURES MADE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF

COMMERCE.

Provisional Mortality Rates.

The Department of Commerce announces that provisional figures for the first three months of 1923 show higher death rates than for the corresponding quarter of 1922. For the States compared, the death rate for the three months was 15.3 in 1923 against 13.9 for the first three months of 1922.

Owing to differences in the sex and age distribution of the populations, the crude death rates of States may not be comparable. Better comparisons, however, can be made if adjusted rates based on a standard population are used. If the ratios of the crude rates to the adjusted rates for 1922 be applied to the 1923 quarterly rates, the poorest showing for the first quarter of 1923 appears for Maryland, with an adjusted rate of 18.8, and the best showing appears for Montana, with a rate of 10.1.

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• Transcripts not received for the quarter.

NOTE. The adjusted rate makes allowances for the differences in the age and sex composition of the populations in different States and shows what the death rate would be if all States had the same proportion of males and females and the same proportion of the total population in each age group.

Provisional Birth Rates.

Provisional birth figures for the first three months of 1923 indicate slightly lower birth rates than for the corresponding three months of 1922. For the States compared, the birth rate for the first three months was 22.4 in 1923 against 23.6 in 1922. The highest birth rate for the three months is shown for North Carolina (27.6) and the lowest for Vermont (15.8).

Birth rates (exclusive of stillbirths) per 1,000 population, for certain States:

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2 Exclusive of Boston: transcripts for the year not received.

Figures are not shown if transcripts of births are not received for the quarter. Excluded because transcripts of births for the quarter were not received from Manhattan and Richmond boroughs.

CURRENT COURT DECISIONS PERTAINING TO PUBLIC HEALTH.

City health officer, official status of.-A city health officer who, pursuant to city charter provisions, was appointed by the commissioner of public safety and confirmed by the city council was held to be an employee and not an officer, and section 20 of the New York public health law, providing for a term of four years for health officers, was held not to be applicable. (Conolly v. Craft, 200 N. Y. Supp. 69, decided by the New York Supreme Court, appellate division, second department.)

Food handlers, medical examination of.-An ordinance of the city of Dallas, Tex., requiring employers and employees of food establishments to undergo periodic medical examinations was held valid. The same ordinance had previously been held valid by the Texas

Court of Criminal Appeals. (Langley et al. v. City of Dallas, 252 S. W. 203, decided by the Texas Court of Civil Appeals.)

City and county tuberculosis hospital, construction of.-Chapter 59 of the 1922 acts of Kentucky, authorizing the joint construction of a tuberculosis hospital by a city and county, was held valid at least in so far as such joint construction was concerned. (Hunter v. City of Louisville et al., 252 S. W. 119, decided by the Kentucky Court of Appeals.)

DEATHS DURING WEEK ENDED SEPTEMBER 29, 1923.

Summary of information received by telegraph from industrial insurance companies for week ended September 29, 1923, and corresponding week of 1922. (From the Weekly Health Index, October 2, 1923, issued by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.)

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Deaths from all causes in certain large cities of the United States during the week ended September 29, 1923, infant mortality, annual death rate, and comparison with corresponding week of 1922. (From the Weekly Health Index, October 2, 1923, issued by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.)

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Deaths under 1 year per 1,000 births an annual rate based on deaths under 1 year for the week and estimated births for 1922. Cities left blank are not in the registration area for births.

3 Deaths for week ended Friday, Sept. 28, 1923.

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