to be exhausted of lymph, in case the immunity from smallpox, which is the end in view, is to be secured. For myself, I feel strongly persuaded of the desirability of adopting the system of vaccination by animal lymph, but I have purposely abstained from propounding any personal views on the subject, my object being to render as widely known as possible in England, the opinion of a scientist on the subject, of European celebrity, and unimpeachable competence. THOMAS WILSON. N.B.-I may mention that I am inoculating calves weekly myself, with lymph obtained in the first instance direct from Dr. Warlomont, and am prepared to supply the profession with points and tubes at a reasonable price. Alton, Hants, April 28, 1877. T. W. DISINFECTION. (To the Editor of the SANITARY Record.) SIR,-Mr. Wanklyn, in your last number, 'protests' against the practice of baking bedding, for the purpose of disinfecting, and recommends burning instead. He considers the practice fraught with danger to the community,' because, although it may be expected that the contagion is for a time rendered inactive.' 'there is the highest probability that it is conserved, instead of being destroyed, and that scarlet fever and smallpox will be disseminated by the baked clothing.' In 1873, I took some pains to improve the mechanical appliances for baking bedding and clothing, holding, as I did, the common notion, that heat is a disinfecting agent of so much value, as to justify public authorities in spending money to secure the necessary mechanical appliances.' I was led to make the observations then published, because in common with Mr. Wanklyn, I recognised the danger to the community, of trusting to inefficient disinfecting processes. But Mr. Wanklyn tells us that the process of baking has been adopted, through ignorance of the proper use of the thermometer, which, as physicists are aware, registers the temperature of liquids or gases, when its bulb has been for some time surrounded by the liquids or gases, but does not register the temperature of badly conducting solids, in its vicinity.' He adds that it is a 'preposterous conclusion,' to infer, that a thermometer, placed in the interior of a bed, in a heated chamber, tells the 'temperature of the bedding itself.' Now this is as much as to say that the thermometer tells the temperature of the air which bathes it in the interior of the bed, but not at least with minute accuracy, the temperature of the interior of the hairs or fibres of which the bed is composed. This it does not concern me to discuss. That which a sanitary official desires to do is to render permanently inactive the particles which propagate certain diseases. When the bed or blanket is infected, there is no question of these particles penetrating into the interior of the horse-hair or woollen fibres, but they would be upon and among the fibres, perhaps also in crevices of the fibres, into which air can penetrate; placed, however, in greatest numbers near the surface of the bed. If then, we can pass a stream of air, at 250° F., between these fibres until they are dry, I see no reason to doubt that their surfaces and a certain depth into their substance, and the crevices in them which admit air become heated to that temperature, and this is what is meant when I speak of 'heat penetrating into the interior of a bed.' In this sense I submit that no 'ignorance of the proper use of the thermometer' has been displayed, that it is not a 'preposterous conclusion' to infer that a thermometer placed in the interior of a bed tells the temperature of that interior, and that the process of baking cannot be condemned on such grounds. If, then, practical men and scientific inquirers are right in their very general agreement that heat is one of the best germicides (a proposition implicitly admitted by Mr. Wanklyn himself) and if the germs are exposed, even when hidden in the interior of a bed, to air at a temperature of 240° to 250° Fahr., then I hold that the probabilities against the germs retaining their activity are sufficiently great, so that there is no danger to the community, but a great probability of advantage by the adoption of the process of baking for disinfection. To Mr. Wanklyn's doctrine, that a dry heat, such as is used in baking bedding, etc., conserves particulate contagia,' it is only needful to reply that if he will favour the public with such evidence as will establish the truth of his doctrine, I shall join him in his efforts to discourage baking as a real danger to the community. In the meantime, as I know of no such evidence, and remember the results of experiments on vaccine and on other contagia made by Henry, Chauveau, Sanderson, Baxter, and many others, and by Henry on the clothing of people suffering from scarlet fever, I share the opinion so widely held, that for such articles as cannot be boiled, dry heat, long and continuously applied, is the most efficient and convenient agent which we as yet possess for disinfecting. Although I think that each species of contagion varies so much in its properties that it ought to be studied sepa rately, with a view to its disinfection, yet I hold that arguments from analogy are of much force when the contagia are very closely allied. Hence, whatever view is taken of the relationship between vaccinia and small-pox, their alliance is such as to make it almost certain that 212° Fahr. is fatal to the germs of small-pox. For scarlet fever, exact experiments are wanting, and our reasoning is therefore less cogent, but Henry's observations, to my mind, make it extremely probable that the same temperature is also fatal to its germs. The argument from analogy strengthens this probability, for the conclusion has been drawn from recent exact experiments upon various contagia, that heat is a powerful germicide. This position also finds daily greater strength in the practice of medical men, by whom Henry's experiments are frequently repeated, and yield similar results. As when scarlet fever has broken out in a family, the healthy children are sent away, and return as susceptible subjects to intimate contact with bedding and clothing which had been first infected, and then disinfected by proper baking, the fever yet fails to spread among the susceptible children. Such instances are not rare in my experience, and I have not found scarlet fever or small-pox to be disseminated by the baked clothing. W. H. RANSOM. He objects to observations made on the penetration of heat into the interior of beds, on the ground that the thermometer in these cases does not actually register the temperature of the threads or hairs of which the stuffing material is composed, but that of the vapours and gases in which these solids are enveloped. Granted that the temperature of the interior of a hair or thread may not be absolutely identical with that of the exterior, unless we were to suppose the active particles of contagion to be capable of entering into the structure of the hair itself, they will have been exposed to the temperature shown by the thermometer or thereabouts. He states that by the process of baking it is to be expected that the contagion is for a time rendered inactive, by reason of the partial dryness to which it is subjected.' Has he any facts to adduce in support of this statement, or is it an assumption on his part? Doubtless he is aware of the results of experiments upon some of the specific poisons, tending to show that drying without heat does not impair their action. His proposition to burn all infected clothing, etc., reminds one of the story told by Charles Lamb of the ingenious Chinaman whose method of roasting a pig con THIS is an unusually good number of the society's Journal, as it contains papers on Maritime Meteorology, by the Director of the Meteorological Office; a long and elaborate essay by Mr. Glaisher, on the Mean Temperature of every day from 1814 to the end of 1873; on the Meteorology of Mozufferpore, Tirhoot, by C. N. Pearson; on the Climate of Scarborough, by Francis Shaw; on Upward Currents during the Formation of Cumulus Clouds, by the Rev. J. Crompton; on Variations in the Relation of the Barometric Gradient to the Force of the Wind, by the Rev. W. Clement Ley, and 'Observations Météorologiques,' par Harold Tarry, as well as the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Society. The paper by Mr. Scott, with the maps attached, showing the results obtained at the Meteorological Office during 1876, and in previous years, by discussing the returns of Maritime Meteorology, is very important, but cannot be abstracted except at considerable length. The paper by Mr. Glaisher contains tables, showing the mean temperature and extremes of mean temperature for every day in each month of the years 1864-1873, inclusive, and the mean temperature of each day during the preceding fifty years. It is admitted that too much reliance cannot be placed on the observations taken before 1840, but that those observed since are fully reliable. Other tables, as well as a mean temperature chart, are given, which render this paper a valuable contribution to meteorology. It will be found most useful by those who desire to know the probable mean temperature of any day of the year. In the paper on the climate of Scarborough will be found a table showing the average maximum and minimum temperatures, the rainfall, and direction of the wind, for every month in the year, which can be compared with Mr. Glaisher's. Mr. Shaw points out the mechanism of sea-breezes, with the remark that he thinks the cooling effects resulting from this replacement by the heated air of the land with the cooler air of the ocean has not received due notice at the hands of some writers. The latter shows the range of temperature to be unusually small for a locality so far north as Scarborough. The short paper by the Rev. Clement Ley is very interesting, but too technical for the readers of this journal. In addition to these we find in the appendix the daily observations, from March to December 1875, taken at Strathfield Turgiss and Hawes, of the barometer readings, air temperature, tension of vapour, relative humidity, direction and force of wind, etc., so that we have some most interesting and important information on meteorology. We consider that the society is to be congratulated on the great advance lately made in its quarterly journals. APPOINTMENTS OF HEALTH OFFICERS, INSPECTORS OF NUISANCES, ETC. ASHBY, Frederick W., Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Chertsey Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Thomas Ashby, Esq., deceased. ASHBURNER, Henry John, M. R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A. Lond., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Horsham Urban Sanitary District. BUCKLEY, Henry Child, M.D. Univ. Aberd., M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A. Lond., has been appointed Certifying Factory Surgeon for Llanelly, vice Thomas deceased. BURNETT, William Edward Sevier, L. R. C. P. Edin., L. R.C. S. Edin., L.A.H. Dub., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the No. 5 Sub-District of the Ashton-under-Lyne Rural Sanitary District, vice Pomfret, deceased. FREER, John Henry, L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. Eng., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health pro tem. for the Rugeley Urban Sanitary District, vice Mr. Cully, whose appointment has expired. HABBISHAW, A., Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Newcastle-under-Lyme Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Gemmell, resigned. HARDISTY, Mr. John, has been reappointed Surveyor, at 40%. per ann., and Inspector of Nuisances, at 30l. per ann., to the Shepton Mallet Local Board and Urban Sanitary Authority, until November, 1878. JACKSON, John, Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Chorley Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Fisher, deceased. KABERRY, Mr. Isaac, has been appointed Clerk to the Featherstone Local Board and Urban Sanitary Authority, Yorkshire. KENDALL, Walter Benger, L. R.C. P. Edin., M.R.C.S. Eng. and L.M., has been reappointed Medical Officer of Health for the Kidsgrove Urban Sanitary District. MACKINTOSH, Angus, M.D. Univ. Glasg., L. F.P.S. Glasg., and L.M., has been reappointed Medical Officer of Health for the Brampton and Walton, Clay-Lane, and Dronfield Urban Sanitary Districts. MALLETT, Mr. Edwin, has been appointed Inspector of Nuisances for the Looe Sub-District of the Liskeard Rural Sanitary District, Cornwall, vice Burnand, deceased. NEWMAN, Henry, M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A. Lond., has been appointed Certifying Factory Surgeon for the District of Hadleigh, Suffolk, vice Muriel, deceased. PENNYFEATHER, William, Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Richmond (Surrey) Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Pownall, resigned." RITSON, Mr. H. W, has been appointed Clerk to the Lanchester Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Thompson, resigned. ceased. SHORT, John, Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Tynemouth Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Milburn, deSMITH, William John, L. R.C.P. Edin., L.R.C.S. Edin., L.S.A. Lond., has been reappointed Medical Officer of Health for the Rawmarsh Urban Sanitary District, Yorkshire, until the annual meeting of the Authority in 1879, at 40l. per ann. THORP, Charles William, L. K.Q.C.P. Irel., F.R.C.S. Irel., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Todmorden Urban Sanitary District, vice Steele, whose appointment has expired. THOMAS, Mr. Richard Rymill, has been appointed Collector to the Banbury Local Board and Urban Sanitary Authority, vice Bolton, resigned. TIDSWELL, Thomas Harrison, M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A. Lond., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Morecambe Urban Sanitary District, vice Wane, deceased. WARNER, S., Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Welwyn Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Blow, resigned. VACANCIES. ALLOA, CLACKMANNANSHIRE. Certifying Factory Surgeon. HEBDEN-BRIDGE URBAN SANITARY DISTRICT, AND TODMORDEN WILTON URBAN SANITARY DISTRICT. Medical Officer of Health: OF, AND URBAN SANITARY NOTICE. THE SANITARY RECORD will in future be published every Friday morning, and may be ordered direct from the Publishers. Annual Subscription, 175. 4d.; free by post, 195. 6d. Reading Covers to hold 12 numbers of THE SANITARY RECORD have been prepared, and may be had direct from the Publishers or through any Bookseller, price 35. Original Papers. THE PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1877. THE unusual mildness and the abundant rains of the winter of 1876-7, and the epidemic prevalence of small-pox in some parts of England invest with more than usual interest the Registrar-General's Quarterly Return relating to the first quarter of this year, which has just been published. This return enables us to estimate the influence of the exceptional meteorological features of the past winter upon the rate of mortality, and affords conclusive evidence of the extent of the prevalence and fatality of small-pox. The main features of the present return are favourable, not only as regards the public health, but also as to the material prosperity of the people. The marriage rate up to the close of 1876 (the most recent date for which these returns are available), although slightly below the rate in recent years, differed but slightly from the average rate in the corresponding period of the thirty-eight years 1838-75. The birth-rate was as high as any on record, and as the death-rate was unusually low, the rate of increase of population was unprecedentedly high. The amount of emigration, and the proportion of pauperism showed a further decline from that which had prevailed in recent quarters. The value of consols was high, and the rate of discount continued remarkably low. Although bread was somewhat dearer, meat was cheaper, and the price of coals lower than it had been for some years. All these facts, taken as evidence of the nation's material and financial condition, have a more or less direct bearing upon the public health, of which the mortality statistics of the Registrar-General afford the means for judging with approximate accuracy. During the three months ending March last the annual rate of mortality from all causes was equal to 22.3 per 1,000 of the estimated population of England and Wales in the middle of this year, and lower than in any March quarter since 1868. This rate was two per 1,000 below the average rate in the corresponding period of the ten preceding years, 1866-75. The average rate in the first quarter of the thirty-eight years 1838-75 was 24'9; the rates in these years ranged from 216 and 21.8 in 1846 and 1856, to 28.5 and 29.1 in 1847 and 1855. The death-rate in the first quarter of the year is mainly dependent upon the temperature, or rather upon the amount of excessive cold, and the Registrar-General points out that during the three months now under notice the thermometer recorded a temperature below the freezing point of water on only twenty days; these twenty lowest readings showed an aggregate of 70°2 of frost. In the corresponding period of 1855, the coldest winter of recent years, there were fifty-six frosty days, and the aggregate degrees of frost were 405. The warmest recent winter was that of 1872, when frost was recorded on only twelve days, and only 35° of frost were measured. It is noticed that in this very warm winter the death-rate was equal to 23'5 per 1,000 and exceeded by 2.2 the rate which prevailed last quarter. The death-rate among males last quarter was equal to 23.8 and among females to 20.8 per 1,000; or in equal numbers living of each six, as 114 to The excess of the male death-rate is almost 100. invariably proportionally greater in urban than in rural populations. The Registrar-General calls attention to the comparatively high death-rate among the female population in the northern counties in which the males are principally engaged in mining operations; in these counties the male death-rate was below, while that among females exceeded the average rates in England and Wales. The rate of mortality among persons showed, as usual, wide variations in different portions of the English population. It was but 18.3 and 18.9 in the mainly agricultural populations of the South-eastern and South-midland divisions, whereas it was 23.6 in London, and 26.1 in the North-western division, which consists of the two counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. With reference to the effect of sanitary condition upon death-rates it is pointed out that, notwithstanding the far greater average density of population the death-rate in London last quarter was no less than 3'2 per 1,000 lower than the rate in the county of Lancaster; thus in equal numbers living, 114 died in Lancashire to each 100 dying in London. In the principal urban population of England and Wales the death-rate was 23.8 per 1,000, while in the remaining or rural population it did not exceed 20.2. Compared with the average rate in the ten preceding corresponding quarters the proportional decrease of mortality last quarter was greater in the urban than in the rural population. In the twenty largest English towns the death-rate averaged 24.2 per 1,000, and ranged from 177 and 19.3 in Portsmouth and Brighton, to 298 in Manchester and Oldham, and 312 in Salford, where the deathrate is probably somewhat overstated by an underestimate of its present population. In fifty other town districts the death-rate averaged 23.2, and was one per 1,000 lower than the rate in the twenty largest towns the lowest rates in these towns were 13.4 in Barrow-in-Furness, 150 in Middlesborough, and 170 in Yarmouth; while the rate was equal to 29.1 in Wigan, 29.5 in Preston, 299 in Blackburn, and 303 in Stockport. The proportion of infant mortality and of zymotic fatality afford conclusive evidence that the high death-rates in these four lastmentioned towns signify unsatisfactory sanitary condition. The mildness of the winter favourably affected the death-rate at each group of ages. The rate of infant mortality was equal to but 138 per 1,000 births, and was 13 per 1,000 below the average proportion in the seven preceding corresponding quarters. Infant mortality was only 116 in the agricultural southeastern counties, whereas it was 152 per 1,000 births in Lancashire. Among the largest English towns the proportion of infant mortality averaged 142 per 1,000 (ten less than the rate in Lancashire), and ranged from 100 and 119 in Portsmouth and Brighton, to 163 both in Liverpool and Manchester. With regard to the high rate of infant mortality in Lancashire, the Registrar-General remarks that it averaged 194 per 1,000 in the four Lancashire towns of Wigan, Ashton-under-Lyne, Preston, and Blackburn The seven principal zymotic diseases caused rather more than 15,000 deaths in England and Wales during the first three months of this year, equal to an annual rate of 2.5 per 1,000 persons living, which was o8 below the average zymotic rate in the corresponding periods of the seven years 1870-76. In the different English counties this zymotic_rate ranged from II in Sussex, and 12 both in Cambridge and Suffolk, to 34 in Staffordshire, and 3'5 in Lancashire. The average zymotic rate in the twenty largest towns was 30 per 1,000, and while it did not exceed 0.8 and 1.2 in Brighton and Nottingham, it ranged upwards to 4'1 and 5.6 in Manchester and Salford. In fifty other large town districts the rate from these diseases averaged 2.8 per 1,coo, and was equal to 48 in Stoke-upon-Trent, 5.2 in Newport (Monmouth), and 5.5 in Wigan. Although scarlet fever was the most fatal zymotic disease in England and Wales last quarter, its deathrate was lower than that which prevailed in the preceeding three months, and was also below the average rate in the first quarters of the seven years 1870-76. The highest county death-rates from this disease occurred in Northumberland, Wiltshire, and Staffordshire. The fatality both of measles and whooping-cough, which are in great measure dependent upon the temperature, was unusually low, and the mortality from diphtheria and diarrhoea below the average. The rate of mortality from fever showed a further marked decline, which the Registrar-General attributes to the improving sanitary condition of the English population. In the first quarter of 1870 the annual death-rate from fever was equal to 0.75 per 1,000, since which it has steadily declined, until in the corresponding period of this year it did not exceed 0:43. The fever-rate still, however, shows considerable excess among the manufacturing and mining villages of the Northern and North-Western registration divisions, more especially in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in Lancashire, and in Durham. In the largest English towns, the rate of mortality from fever did not exceed o·12 and 0.24 in Brighton and Leicester, whereas it was o'79, 0'80, and 104 per 1,000 respectively, in Portsmouth, Salford, and Liverpool. The fatal cases of small-pox in England and Wales were but 149 during the last three months of 1875, whereas the quarterly numbers have since steadily increased to the 1,943 registered in the three months ending March last, which exceed by 831 the number in the last quarter of 1876. Of these 1,943 small-pox deaths, 1,331 occurred in London and its suburbs, 406 in Lancashire, and 61 in Cheshire, whereas but 145 were recorded in the remaining portions of England and Wales. The annual deathrate from small-pox during the quarter was equal to 1,223 per million living in London and its suburbs, to 528 in Lancashire, and 423 in Cheshire; in the rest of the country the rate from the disease did not exceed 36 per million. The epidemic prevalence of small-pox was, in fact, almost exclusively confined to London, Manchester and Salford, and Liverpool and Birkenhead. Small local outbreaks, however, occurred in Preston, Chatham, Dartford, St. Peters (Isle of Thanet), Hungerford, Berkhampstead, and Ludlow. The statements of anti-vaccinators notwithstanding, it cannot be too generally known that the average mortality from small-pox in England and Wales since 1853, when vaccination became compulsory, is less than half what it was during the whole period of civil registration which preceded the passing of the Compulsory Vaccination Act, notwithstanding the fatal epidemic of 1871-72. The Registrar-General's Quarterly Return, on the whole, is full of evidence of the favourable effect upon the public health, not only of the recent mild winter, but of the improving tone of public opinion in the matter of sanitation. The great question which now awaits solution is how to supplement the principle of pure local self-government in health matters in those districts in which sanitation is still disregarded at a sacrifice of life, and at the cost of an amount of suffering which is almost incalculable. THE SEWAGE CONFERENCE. THE second Annual Conference on the Sewage and Health of Towns at the Society of Arts has been a very successful one. Mr. Stansfeld made a most satisfactory chairman, and to his skill and tact in that capacity much of the success was doubtless due. Dry, or so-called dry, systems of conservancy came first for discussion, and here the Goux system was highly approved. A good number of gentlemen who were thoroughly and practically acquainted with its working details were singularly unanimous in awarding it the palm. The absence of all machinery and the cleanly decency afforded by the bird's-nest-like lining were strongly insisted upon. This testimony was all the more valuable as coming from the chairman and other members of the Halifax Health Committee, as well as from Mr. Haviland and Drs. Ainley, Syson, and other professional sanitarians. Mr. Alderman Taylor's Rochdale system also attracted a large amount of attention. The admirable mechanism with which the Rochdale system is carried out was admitted on all sides, the after manufacture and its results, chemical and economical being chiefly criticised and debated. The Goux and the Rochdale systems, so far as size and construction of closets and tubs, and mode of collection, are practically identical. In fact the Goux is father of the Rochdale system, save that at Rochdale the absorbent lining has been discarded and a liquid disinfectant used in its stead. In discussing the various manufacturing processes, on the one side it was maintained that no known or tried process of manufacture could possibly pay, while on the other it was asserted that several did actually pay a fair trade profit. Professor Way most strongly insisted that excrement manures were general too poor to pay for carriage, and that all attempts to concentrate were attended by loss of money or chemical value, or both. Professor Way, in the course of what may be termed his crossexamination, stated that the chemical value of urine was much greater than that of fæces, and that the moment fæces were added to the urine its value was proportionately decreased. He was then asked how he reconciled this statement with his analyses quoted, evidently with approval, by Dr. Voelcker in the papers he had prepared at the request of the Society of Arts. In these analyses the Professor states that fresh fæces contain per 100 parts, water 7500, organic matter (containing ammonia 182) 22.13, and phosphoric acid 107. Fresh urine, on the other hand, is stated only to contain 2026 organic matter (ammonia 71), and phosphoric acid 040, while the water is 97.00. Professor Way said he referred to the direct results, and also referred to the relative quantities of each. Neither of these explanations really at all touch the questions. It is quite clear that if Professor Way's analyses are correct and correctly quoted, urine is less valuable by one half than fæces weight for weight, and if so, not only Professor Way, but Mr. Gilbert R. Redgrave, will have, in sporting parlance, to hark back a little. House drainage and ventilation naturally excited a good deal of attention, and Mr. Rogers Field opened the ball by explaining his ideas as to the best means of excluding sewer gas from dwellings. His method is a compound of Professor Reynolds' ideas of 1872 with the inlet claimed by Mr. Banner, but although Mr. Rogers Field was evidently indebted to both these gentlemen, he was not disposed to acknowledge their labours. The omission was supplied by Dr. Vacher and other speakers, who insisted on the simplicity and economy of the Reynolds method, and the benefits of the constant through currents of fresh air maintained by the Banner exhaust cowl. Some rather curious notions as to pneumatical laws were expressed by Dr. Thorne, of the Local Government Board. Mr. Baldwin Latham gave some interesting details of a town he had just sewered on a new plan, and in which the first flush of storm-water only flows into the sewage culverts. Mr. Baldwin Latham endeavoured to controvert the prevalent idea that typhoid fever was essentially a drain fever, and Dr. Vacher, in controverting Mr. Latham's ideas, gave the results of his researches on the origin of fever poisons, or germs. Dr. Vacher's remarks were a little misunderstood by many of the audience, who understood him to argue that sewer-gas was in nocuous. Taken altogether the results or conclusions of the conference may be summed up as follows: 1. Dry systems of conservancy may be looked to as great helps in assisting to minimise the sewage difficulty. 2. What is known as the 'separate system' is the system which should be adopted wherever new sewers are constructed. 3. Existing water-closets as a rule-together with house-drains in general-are, from their faulty construction, the means of introducing sewer-gas into dwellings. 4. All house and closet drains should be well ventilated and cut off from direct communication with the sewer. 5. That this disconnection and severance can be well effected at a comparatively small cost. 6. That to ensure thorough ventilation a constant through draught is required, i.e., a cowl-extractor and a fresh-air inlet. THE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAXATION COMMISSION ON SANITARY MATTERS INRELAN D. THE following extract from the report of the Commission on Local Government and Taxation in Ireland which has just been published, furnished positive proof of the soundness of the remarks we have from time to time made on Sanitary Legislation and Administration in Ireland. We reserve further comment for a future occasion. 'Considerable improvements in the sanitary condition of the towns population have undoubtedly been effected in some places since the country was divided into urban and rural sanitary districts, by the Public Health Act of 1874; but the evidence taken by us in the several towns included in this report will show that while in many of them much has been done, far more still remains to be done, and it is impossible to contend that in any one of them have the powers of the sanitary authority been so exercised as to leave little room for further improvement. This, however, it would be most unreasonable to expect, when it is borne in mind that the Act of 1874 has been barely two years in operation, and that the subject of it is one upon which the population everywhere, and not least in Ireland, must require education. In some instances, and we would here especially notice Ennis, Bray, and Queenstown, revelations of a very startling and shocking nature were brought before us indicating an almost culpable degree of apathy on the part, alike of the sanitary authority and the inhabitants; but generally—and whenever an honest endeavour is being made to correct the main evils of defective and inadequate drainage or polluted sources of water-supply-some allowance must, we think, be made for a reluctance to press hardly on individuals, bearing in mind that to carry out stringently all the recommendations of the sanitary officers, however desirable in themselves, without regard to expense, or to the great and inherent difficulties frequently presented by the special circumstances of the locality, would create so strong and general a feeling of opposition to the Act as would imperil its usefulness, and indeed render its enforcement a matter of very great difficulty. We do not, of course, refer to flagrant cases of neglect, such as that noticed in our report upon Limerick, where it was alleged that the most necessary sanitary reforms were avowedly resisted by interested owners, who were themselves members of the sanitary authority, on the ground that to carry them out would amount to a virtual confiscation of their property, but such cases are happily of rare occurrence. Whether it is desirable to maintain the present system, by which the dispensary medical officer is, as such, the sanitary officer for the district of which he is in charge as medical officer, is, we think, deserving of consideration. The addition, if any, to his salary is usually very trifling; the work, if properly carried out, is of a very onerous and insidious character, the direct communication between him and the sanitary authority absolutely nil, and between him and the executive sanitary officer usually of a most casual character, and thus misunderstandings continually arise which might and probably would be readily removed by more direct personal intercourse between the sanitary officer and his employers. In name there is generally a consulting sanitary officer, at a ludicrously small salary, but he is rarely consulted, and, except at Belfast, it is a perfect misnomer. In some of the smaller urban sanitary districts the dispensary officer is both the sanitary and consulting sanitary officer, and where this is not the case there is not unfrequently, a jealousy between the two, which does not tend to promote that good understanding which should subsist between the sanitary authority and their principal sanitary officer, which the dispensary officer now is. Of this a striking illustration was offered at Bray. At Cork some material evidence was given bearing on this question, which is noticed in our report on that city, and the opinion there expressed by Alderman Nagle in favour of the appointment of one medical officer sufficiently well paid to enable him to devote his whole time to the duties of the office, thus rendering him independent of, and indeed debarring him from, private practice, has much to recommend it. Sanitary districts for the appointment of such an officer might probably be advantageously formed here as in England, where the system, wherever it has been tried, has been found we believe to work successfully. The larger |