pleted and the results presented before the American Chemical Society. Investigation of muscicides and other fly-destroying agencies.— The possible danger involved in the use of arsenic solutions as fly poisons has on several occasions been referred to the bureau. Information furnished in this connection has indicated a considerable . number of deaths from the accidental drinking of arsenic solutions, generally by children, these deaths amounting, according to an editorial of the West Virginia Medical Journal, to 22 in 12 States of the United States during the summer of 1915. It was furthermore believed, according to this journal, that the record is quite incomplete, and as the symptoms of arsenical poisoning are said to be similar to those of cholera infantum, it is of the opinion that many faulty diagnoses have been made in the past. The present investigation has been undertaken along two distinct lines, first, the determination of the relative value of other muscicides not injurious to man as compared with arsenic preparations and, second, a study of sticky fly papers and allied preparations. Of the large number of substances tested, several have yielded satisfactory results. It has been found that dilute formaldehyde solutions are perhaps the most satisfactory muscicides for general use, and that for the best results the concentration should not exceed 1 per cent. For household use as an added safeguard, a one-half per cent solution, which has practically the same efficiency, is to be recommended. A fact not hitherto commented upon is the decrease of efficiency of solutions stronger than 1 per cent formaldehyde. Of almost equal efficiency and perhaps even more desirable in the household is a 1 per cent solution of sodium salicylate with the addition of brown sugar. This manuscript is being prepared for early publication.1 Detection and approximate measurement of dilute hydrocyanic acid gas in air.-An attempt has been made to devise a simple method for the detection and rough measurement of that concentration of hydrocyanic acid gas in the air which it is believed represents the minimum concentration capable of unfavorable action upon human beings. For this purpose reagents of tincture of guaiac and sulphate of copper have been found suitable and investigations have shown that the sensitiveness of the test can be altered throughout a considerable range by modifying the propositions of the two reagents. Further work requires to be done upon this method before it may be employed in connection with disinfection procedures. Determination of hydrogen ion concentration.-The division has been equipped during the year with apparatus for the determination of hydrogen ion concentration by the potentiometer method, and much time has been spent in operating and calibrating this apparatus. It has already been of use in connection with studies of methods of testing disinfectants and in connection with the routine work of the division. PUBLICATIONS. A list of Hygienic Laboratory Bulletins, with summaries of their contents, is given on page 357 of this report. In addition certain other publications of the service related specifically to Hygienic Laboratory work. 1 Public Health Bulletin No. 108. REPRINTS FROM PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS. 289. Post-Vaccination. Studies on its relation to vaccine virus. By John F. Anderson. July 16, 1915. 5 cents. 292. Embalming. Indefinite preservation of the body. By Edward Francis. July 30, 1915. 294. The Number and Kind of Drug Addicts. By Martin I. Wilbert. August 6, 1915. 5 cents. 297. The Pharmacy of Useful Drugs. By Martin I. Wilbert. August 27, 1915. 5 cents. 304. An Efficient Liquid Disinfectant. A formula by which one can be readily prepared. By Albert F. Stevenson. October 8, 1915. 5 cents. Exhausted. 305. Cosmetics as Drugs. A review of some of the reported harmful effects of the ordinary constituents of widely used cosmetics. By Martin I. Wilbert. October 15, 1915. 5 cents. 321. Narcotic Drugs. Recent legislation designed to restrict their use. By M. I. Wilbert. January 21, 1916. 5 cents. 330. Poisons and Habit-Forming Drugs. A digest of laws and regulations relating to the possession, use, sale, and manufacture of poisons and habit-forming drugs enacted during 1914 and 1915, now in force in the United States. By Martin I. Wilbert. February 18 to March 24, 1916. 20 cents. 334. Biological Products. Establishments licensed for the propagation and sale of viruses, serums, toxins, and analogous products. April 14, 1916. 5 cents. Exhausted. 336. Some Fallacies Regarding Phenol. A review with reports of observations on the influence of ethyl alcohol on the germicidal and on the toxic properties of phenol. By Martin I. Wilbert. April 28, 1916. 5 cents. PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTS. July 30, 1915. Paralysis during antirabic treatment. Report of two cases of paralysis, with one death, occurring during the course of antirabic treatment. By H. E. Hasseltine. February 18, 1916. Sale and use of poisons. By M. I. Wilbert. February 25, 1916. Methyl alcohol. Recent legislation to restrict its sale and use. By M. I. Wilbert. March 3, 1916. Sale and use of intoxicating liquors. By M. I. Wilbert. ADVISORY BOARD OF HYGIENIC LABORATORY. Valuable assistance was rendered by the advisory board and by individual members of the board during the fiscal year just ended. Several important questions arose concerning the work of the laboratory upon which the advice of the board was urgently needed. Notable among these was the problem presented by the growth of the biologics industry.. It was strongly felt that some steps should be taken looking to an expansion of the facilities for making more frequent inspections and examinations of these products, and the advice of the advisory board was secured. The board recommended very strongly the extension of the investigations on rural sanitation, school hygiene, industrial hygiene, and the pollution of coastal waters. It is gratifying to state that, at all times, the members of the board have shown an active interest in the welfare of the laboratory. This has been expressed by a number of lectures delivered to the officers and personnel of the laboratory, and by many informal con ferences and exchanges of correspondence. Most of the members have also left their own work and responded to calls for formal conferences. The suggestions received at various times have been of unusual value and assistance. VIRUSES, SERUMS, TOXINS, AND ANALOGOUS PRODUCTS. Enforcement of law. In the enforcement of the law of July 1, 1902, regulating the sale of viruses, serums, etc., 55 inspections of establishments were made, the licenses of 23 establishments were renewed, and 4 new establishments were granted licenses for the first time. In three cases licenses were refused, and in another case the establishment withdrew its application. Two licenses were revoked and two suspended for various causes. At the termination of the fiscal year 42 establishments (27 American and 15 foreign) were holding licenses. The complete list has been published in the Public Health Reports of April 14, 1916, and also issued as Reprint No. 334. During the year a total of 5,187 samples of products were examined at the Hygienic Laboratory, showing an increase of 167 per cent over the number examined the previous year and an increase of 466 per cent over the number examined during the fiscal year 1914. During the year, in accordance with recommendations made by the board specified in section 4 of the act of July 1, 1902, the form of the blank used for licensing establishments was changed in order to provide sufficient space for the enumeration of all the products licensed, which has increased tenfold since the law was enacted. The board recommended for this purpose the amendment of paragraphs 4 and 5 of the regulations approved May 11, 1909. This recommendation was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury April 11, 1916, and the regulations modified accordingly. Testing of antityphoid vaccine. Owing to the fact that there is at present no efficient potency standard for this product, investigations have been undertaken looking to the establishment of such a standard. This problem was taken up early in April, 1916, and considerable data bearing upon the work have already been collected. The experiments and observations required in arriving at a proper standard will necessarily run into the next fiscal year. This investi(gation has shown a very considerable variation in the potency of commercial vaccines and of those prepared by the various State laboratories. In view of these results and pending the establishment of a standard, a circular letter was addressed to all licensed manufacturers advising the testing of each lot of antityphoid vaccine on rabbits to determine its agglutination properties and also suggesting the use in the manufacture of this product of a strain of B. typhosus of known immunizing properties. Need for specific fund. The need of a specific fund for the enforcement of the law regulating the manufacture and sale of biological products has long been felt and referred to in various annual reports. The appropriation of a sum of $10,000 for this purpose during the fiscal year 1917, while only a fifth of the amount recommended by the advisory board of the Hygienic Laboratory and less than one-third of the amount estimated for, will enable the service. to maintain a more adequate supervision over these products, the use of which is daily becoming more extended. A larger appropriation will, however, be necessary in order to employ the personnel and take the measures necessary to make this supervision thoroughly effective. SPECIAL AND FOURTEENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCES OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES. Special conference. In response to requests from the State health authorities of California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, a special conference of State and Territorial health authorities was held with the service at Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 2 and 3, 1916. Nine States and the District of Columbia were represented. The special subject under discussion was rabies, but Rocky Mountain spotted (or tick) fever, migration of tuberculous persons, railroad sanitation, and intrastate quarantine regulations were also taken up. Several resolutions in regard to the control of rabies and other matters discussed at the conference were adopted and will be found, together with the complete transactions, in Public Health Bulletin No. 80. Annual conference.-The fourteenth annual conference of these health authorities with the service was held in Washington on May 13 and 15, 1916. Twenty-eight States and the District of Columbia were represented. The following subjects were discussed: Codification of sanitary regulations for intrastate use, health insurance, pellagra, morbidity reports, collaborating epidemiologists, industrial sanitation, "sanitation week" observance, malaria, constitutional diseases, school hygiene, rural sanitation, standard methods of collecting public-health information, and establishment of an "area of known disease prevalence." Resolutions adopted by the conference, in addition to routine matters, indorsed the principles of health insurance operated under governmental systems, favored the creation of a registration area of known disease prevalence, declared that the sanitation of schools and the protection of the health of school children should devolve on health authorities, and indorsed the use of a properly balanced diet as the only method now known by which pellagra may be successfully combated. The transactions of the annual conference will be published as Public Health Bulletin No. 82. REPRESENTATION AT MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC AND SANITARY ASSOCIATIONS AND CONGRESSES. During the year the service was represented at the following meetings: Conference of Municipal and Parish Health Officers, New Orleans, La., July 15-16, 1915. American Genetic Association, Berkeley, Cal., August 3-6, 1915. Joint Conference of First Aid, Accident Surgery, and Transportation, Washington, D. C., August 23-24, 1915. Homeopathic Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania, Buena Vista Springs, Pa., September 7-9, 1915. American Public Health Association, Rochester, N. Y., September 7-10, 1915. Annual Conference of State, County, and Municipal Health Officers, Oakland, Cal., September 8, 1915. Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, Washington, D. C., September 13-15, 1915. İlluminating Engineering Society, Washington, D. C., September 20-23, 1915. Missouri Valley Public Health Association, Kansas City, Mo., September 2829, 1915. Utah State Medical Association, Salt Lake City, Utah, September 28-29, 1915. Mississippi Valley Conference on Tuberculosis, Indianapolis, Ind., September 29-October 1, 1915. Fourth National Housing Conference at Minneapolis, Minn., October 6-8, 1915. South Texas District Medical Association, Nacogdoches, Tex., October 7-8, 1915. American Social Hygiene Association, Boston, Mass., October 8, 1915. Second Annual Southern Tuberculosis Conference, Columbia, S. C., October 8-9, 1915. World's Insurance Congress, San Francisco, Cal., October 12, 1915. National Association for the Study and Prevention of Pellagra, Columbia, S. C., October 21-22, 1915. Clinical Congress of Surgeons of North America, Boston, Mass., October 25-30, 1915. Southern Medical Association, Dallas, Tex., November 8-11, 1915. American Association for the Study and Prevention of Infant Mortality, Philadelphia, Pa., November 10-12, 1915. Conference on the Prevention of Mosquito-borne Diseases, Department of Health, New York City, November 17, 1916. Arkansas Conference for Health Officers, Little Rock, Ark., November 23-24, 1915. Society of Clinical Surgery, Washington, D. C., November 26 and 27, 1915. Southwest Medical and Surgical Association, El Paso, Tex., December 9-11, 1915. American Medical Society for the Study of Alcohol and Other Narcotics, Washington, D. C., December 15-16, 1915. Conference of Health Officers, Richmond, Va., December 16, 1915. Second Pan American Scientific Congress, Washington, D. C. December 27, 1915; January 8, 1916. American Association for Labor Legislation, Washington, D. C., December 28-29, 1915. American Society of Bacteriologists, Urbana, Ill., December 28-30, 1915. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Columbus, Ohio, December 31, 1915, to January 1, 1916. Conference of Medical Missions, New York, N. Y., January 8-15, 1916. Conference of Charities and Corrections of Maryland, Annapolis, Md., January 25, 1916. Mississippi Health Officers' Conference, Jackson, Miss., January 25-26, 1916. Nebraska Public Health Association, Omaha, Nebr., January 25-26, 1916. Indianapolis Medical Society, Indianapolis, Ind., February 1, 1916. Conference of State Health Authorities, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2, 1916. Indiana Sanitary and Water Supply Association, Indianapolis, Ind., February 3-5, 1916. Indiana Engineering Society, Indianapolis, Ind., February 3-5, 1916. Conference on Mental Hygiene, Indianapolis, Ind., February 4, 1916. Council on Medical Education and on Health and Public Instruction, American Medical Association, Chicago, Ill., February 7-8, 1916. Federation of State Medical Boards, Chicago, Ill., February 7-8, 1916. Association of American Medical Colleges, Chicago, Ill., February 7-8, 1916. |