of every w.c. outside the house, and the continuing of it The above are most valuable requirements, and Dr. Lake holds some very decided opinions as to the ventilation of the drains and the maintenance of this ventilation. The recommendation as to the provision of a fireplace in each room-a matter he was not possessed of power to require, but only to suggest-ought, he thinks, nevertheless to be made a compulsory matter. All medical men know how valuable in certain cases of illness is the possession of a fireplace as a means of warmth and ventilation. We ourselves think that this matter should be lifted out of the permissive region of law and rendered obligatory on all who think of building ever so small a house. THE PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE WEEK ENDING APRIL 26, 1879. IN twenty-three of the largest cities of the United Kingdom 6,210 births and 4,097 deaths were registered last week, equal to annual rates of 38.1 and 25.1 per 1,000 of the estimated population. The annual death-rate was equal to 20.5 in Edinburgh, 24.2 in Glasgow, and 35'0 in Dublin. Small-pox caused 9 more deaths in Dublin, raising the number of fatal cases recorded in that city since the beginning of the year to 280. Fever (including typhus, enteric, and simple) caused 119 deaths in Dublin during the first quarter of this year, equal to an annual rate of 1.60 per 1,000 of the population, which was more than five times the average fever-rate during the same period in twenty of the largest English towns. In the twenty English towns the births exceeded by 246, and the deaths by 159, the average weekly numbers during 1878. The deaths were 125 less than those returned in the previous week, and included 426 which were referred to the seven principal zymotic diseases, of which 127 resulted from whooping-cough, 81 from scarlet fever, 80 from measles, and 38 from fever, principally enteric. The annual death-rate from these seven zymotic diseases averaged 30 per 1,000 in the twenty towns; it was but 0.7 in Wolverhampton, and ranged upwards to 4'0 in Sheffield, 41 in Sunderland, and 4.2 in Oldham. Whooping-cough showed the largest proportional fatality in Sheffield, Oldham, and Birmingham; and scarlet fever in Sunderland and Oldham. Diphtheria caused 2 more deaths in Plymouth; and 10 more deaths were referred to smallpox in London, although no fatal case of this disease was recorded in any of the nineteen large provincial towns. The number of small-pox patients in the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals, which had steadily declined from 353 to 232 in the eight preceding weeks, further fell last week to 222; no less than 50 new cases of small-pox were, however, admitted to these hospitals during last week, against 37 and 47 in the two previous weeks. The annual rate of mortality from all causes per 1,000 of the nearly seven and a-half millions of persons estimated to be living in the twenty towns, which in the two previous weeks had been equal to 24.8 and 259, declined again last week to 24'9. During the past four weeks of the current quarter the death-rate in these towns averaged 26.2 per 1,000 against 25.3 and 258 in the corresponding periods of 1877 and 1878. Bradford last week showed the lowest annual rate of mortality among these twenty towns -17.2 per 1,000. The rates in the other towns, ranged in order from the lowest, were as follow:-Portsmouth, 18.6; Brighton, 188; Wolverhampton, 20.8; Hull, 214; Leeds, 218; Nottingham, 22.2; Liverpool, 23.6; Bristol, 23.6; Sunderland, 24.6; Sheffield, 24'8; Oldham, 24'9; London, 255; Salford, 264; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 270; Birmingham, 279; Norwich, 28.2; Manchester, 28-8; Plymouth, 28.8; and the highest rate during the week was 29.5 in the borough of Leicester. The exces sive rates in the last-mentioned towns do not appear to have been, to any considerable extent, due to exceptional zymotic fatality. The proportion of infant mortality in Leicester was unusally large. In Inner London the deaths from all causes were equal to 25'5, and from the seven zymotic diseases to 3.3 per 1,000 of the population. In the aggregate of the nineteen large provincial towns these rates averaged 24·4 and 2'7 respectively. In the outer ring of suburban districts around London (having a population estimated at little short of a million persons) the death-rate from all causes did not exceed 197, and the zymotic rate was but 2.2 per 1,000. The fatal cases of whooping-cough in the outer ring, which had been 10 and 16 in the two preceding weeks, further rose to 21 last week, of which 7 occurred in the district of West Ham, 2 in Croydon, and 2 in Bromley (Kent). Measles caused 2 more deaths in Sunbury sub-district, making 6 during the past month. SANITARY JOTTINGS. WE are glad to see that Lords Shaftesbury, Aberdeen, and Derby have joined The George Smith, of Coalville, Fund' Committee, which has been formed for the purpose of recognising in a substantial form the valuable services rendered by Mr. George Smith, of Coalville, in procuring the passing of the Brickyard and Canal Boats Act.The estimated population of Victoria at the close of 1878 is stated in the Government Gazette at 879, 386-viz., 478,311 males and 401,075 females. These numbers show 10,570 males and 8,029 females more than at the end of the preceding year.—A small-pox panic has broken out at Nice. Six special vaccination offices have been opened, and it is reported that strangers are going away by every train. We observe that Dr. Gourley, in his quarterly report for West Hartlepool, suggests the advisability of purchasing one of Robinson's excellent apparatuses for loading night soil directly into the carts.A Mr. Birkhead, of Liverpool, has patented a process for the utilisation of the water-power now running to waste in sewers. Mr. Birkhead proposes to separate the water from the solid portions of the sewage, and conduct it to small turbines, to be used as the motive power in driving the machines required to produce the electric light. -At a special meeting of the Evesham Rural Sanitary Authority, the plans of Mr. Pritchard, C.E., for the drainage for the village of Harvington, which has suffered severely from an epidemic of diphtheria, were submitted, and ordered to be sent to the Local Government Board for approval. No less than 326 candidates recently applied for the post of inspector of nuisances at Aberdeen, for which a salary of 100l. a year was offered. The magistrates of Merionethshire are still in default in appointing a public analyst, and seem to doubt whether such an officer is necessary. Correspondence on the subject with the Local Government Board is still going on.- -The removal of the contents of ashpits at West Hartlepool appears to deserve the earliest consideration of the Improvement Commissioners. It is obvious from the last quarterly report of the medical officer of health that a larger staff and much more frequent removal is necessary before the nuisances which are so much complained of can be remedied.- -The Local Government Board are en deavouring to induce the sanitary authorities within the area of the Hartlepool Union to combine for the joint appointment of a medical officer of health. We should be glad to hear that this desirable combination were carried into effect. An official order has been issued constituting Broadstairs a Local Government district.The Teignmouth Local Board propose to purchase a house for the purposes of an Infectious Hospital for their district, at a cost of 500/.. -Sanction has been received by the Cockermouth Rural Sanitary Authority to the borrowing of 9,000l. for works of water-supply for ten contributory places in their district.--The death-rate of Greenock during the month of March was equal to an annual rate of 30'4 per 1,000, and is the largest recorded for some years. Much of the increase is attributed by Dr. Wallace to the prolonged severity of the weather, which, amongst other things, has intensified the virulence of whooping-cough, which has been epidemic in the town for some months. Mr. Tomlinson, surgeon and public vaccinator of the St. Mary District of Maldon Union, has, upon the recommendation of the Government inspector, recently received an award of 127. 6s. for successful vaccination in his district. This is from a sum annually voted by Parliament for the encouragement and promotion of successful public vaccination.. The following is a list of the members of the first Stapleton Local Board and Urban Sanitary Authority, viz., Messrs. John Yalland, Robert Lowe, Grant Vassall, Samuel Jones, Isaac Butler, Charles Harding, John Smyth Osborne, Joseph Ball, Frederick Greenway, Edwin Redding, Thomas Parker, Edward William Boult Monks, and Major Charles Castle. -At the last meeting of the Woodford Local Board and Urban Sanitary Authority, Essex, a motion was made that a medical officer of health be appointed for the district, but it was not seconded, and therefore came to nothing. One member remarked that as they had done without a medical officer up to this time they could continue to do so; if the board kept on appointing officers the rates would become intolerable.'-Lung diseases, including pulmonary consumption, continue to be exceptionally prevalent and fatal at Salford. During the week ended the 19th ultimo, twenty-nine deaths occurred from these causes alone. The death-roll during this week was equal to an annual rate of 27.87 per 1,000.Last quarter no deaths from zymotic diseases of any kind occurred in the Whitby Rural District. The death-rate was under 12 per 1,000.It is proposed to erect a monument in Newcastle to the memory of the late Richard Grainger, one of the greatest sanitary reformers of his age, by whose enterprise many of the rookeries and fever dens which once disgraced his native town have been replaced by splendid streets and public buildings second to none in the kingdom.The project of supplying Newcastle and other Tyneside towns with sea-water has again been mooted. -One of the most unfortunate results of the present strikes and general depression of trade in the North, is the prevalence of overcrowding with its concomitant evils, many persons out of employment having naturally sought shelter with their friends. It is computed that within the municipal and parliamentary boundaries of the borough of Sunderland alone, there are now at least 3,000 houses unoccupied. Special Reports. DOMESTIC FILTRATION. AT the last quarterly meeting of the Birmingham and Midland Counties Association of Medical Officers of Health, Dr. Bostock Hill, county analyst for Warwickshire, read an interesting paper on The Filtration of Water.' Drawing the particular attention of his hearers to the question of domestic filtration, Dr. Hill said that a filter for that purpose required to be carefully and scientifically constructed, and used with common sense. It required changed at intervals depending largely on the quality of to be repeatedly cleansed, and, the filtering medium itself the water passed through it and the nature of the filtering material. A filter was commonly believed to be some wonderful machine which had an almost miraculous power of abstracting and retaining in its own body all the impurities of the water, going on year after year without renewing, or even cleansing, until at last it became useless. The use of sponge and sand in filters was undesirable, because their effects were chiefly on suspended organic matter, and scarcely, if at all, on dissolved organic matter. He had no doubt that many of the cheaper kind of filters were useless, or nearly so, to purify water containing large quantities of suspended and dissolved organic matter. Dr. Hill proceeded to adduce evidence at considerable length upon the suitability of charcoal as a filtering medium, and he stated that he found that material wanting in some respects. Spongy iron, he pointed out, was an efficacious medium of filtration. Having referred to the fact of water propagating typhoid fever, Dr. Hill asked, if a filter was powerless to receive typhoid and other similar poison, how should water be treated so as to make it reasonably safe for domestic use? The answer to that was-first boil and then filter the water; boil it for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, allow it to cool, and then filter it. Fresh water should be boiled each morning, throwing away any that might be left from the previous day. If filtered in a properly-constructed filter, boiled water was as pleasant to the taste as ordinary unboiled filtered water. NON-POISONOUS PAINTS. FOR many years the evils of lead paint have been recognised, but hitherto, although various substitutes have been suggested and brought forward, all have failed in some respect to reach the point of excellence necessary to ensure their general use. About ten years since Mr. Thomas Griffiths, of Liverpool, determined to spare no effort to produce a material which should be free from any poisonous ingredient, and which at the same time should not be open to the same practical objections that painters have to zinc oxide. In one room, with a hand machine not much larger than a domestic coffee-mill, he set to work, and was so far successful that although the material produced was inferior to what can now be obtained, still its merits were so far appreciated that larger premises had to be taken and steam power employed. The trade increased rapidly, improvements in the processes of manufacture were discovered, and it was found desirable to erect a large factory on the banks of the Thames, at Charlton, near Woolwich. On April 7, several men of science and representatives of the Press were afforded an opportunity of inspecting the works and seeing the processes of manufacture from the raw material to the finished article. The business is now conducted in the name of 'The Liverpool Silicate Paint Company,' and we learn that the inventor, Mr. Griffiths, having established the firm upon a sound basis, is about to retire from active management. Three compounds are manufactured by the Company, viz., 'petrifying liquid' or washable distemper, silicate paint,' and enamel paint,' but the basis of most of them is now 'Griffiths' patent white,' or, chemically speaking, an oxy-sulphide of zinc. For the manufacture of petrifying liquid the material is ground in water and mixed with silica and certain gelatinous substances; for silicate paint it is ground in oil; and the enamel paint is obtained by an admixture of certain gums, the precise process being kept a profound secret. On the occasion of the opening of the works Mr. Griffiths showed a series of experiments with his latest production, the 'patent white,' and explained that there were five cardinal points required in a really good paint, viz., covering power or 'body,' opacity, whiteness, power of retaining that whiteness in the presence of gases, and durability. The great covering power of the new white, in contrast with pure carbonate of lead, was clearly shown on four boards, painted black and of equal size, each measuring 46 square feet. Eight ounces of pure carbonate of lead, stiffly ground in oil, and of three different qualities of the patent white,' were weighed out and oil added. A decorator then applied them to the boards, with the following results : White lead and oil actually used weighed 9 oz. = 100 per cent. covering power. 5 oz. 180 per cent. covering power. Griffiths' Patent White A Griffiths' Patent White B 5 oz. 189 per cent. covering power. 4 oz. 236 per cent. covering power. In opacity the lead paint was much inferior to any of the three other samples, and in colour also, looking quite yellow by the side of them; and, with respect to permanence of colour, boards painted with lead and the patent white' were subjected to the action of sewer-gas, which quickly turned the lead a dark brown or coffee colour, but the patent white' was unaffected in the least. The durability of the pigment was as fully demonstrated, two pieces of iron being coated with lead and the 'new white,' and then put into a red-hot furnace, the lead entirely disappearing; but Griffiths' patent white' came out from the severe test perfect in colour and in substance. The process of the manufacture of 'patent white' is commenced on the roof of the new building. Lying around are piles of zinc stripped from old roofs, cisterns, etc., which probably many a householder has been only [too glad to get rid of. This is placed in immense lead-lined tanks, fully exposed to the air, and resting on the firm iron and concrete roof specially constructed to bear the enormous weight of the zinc and acids used to produce the paint. Sulphuric and muriatic acids are pumped from below into these tanks through vulcanite pipes, and there dissolve the zinc. The solution then passes through pipes into tanks in the room below, where the iron and other impurities are taken from it. In an adjoining room are huge iron vats, where chemical compounds and sulphur are boiled by the action of steam; these compounds are mixed with the solution of zinc, which is conveyed into precipitating tanks on the floor beneath. The precipitate is now collected and pumped by steam power into filter presses, the pressure being 30 lbs. to the square inch, and after a little of this treatment there is nothing left but cakes of solid matter. These cakes are taken to furnaces erected in the middle of the yard, burnt to nearly a white heat, and then thrown whilst hot into cold water. The material then has to be carefully washed and again passed through presses to extract the water. From these presses the pigment is conveyed on trays to a large drying room, capable of holding about 70 tons at a time. It is placed on iron racks, where it remains about 48 hours, and is then ready for mixing with oil, after which it is placed in iron kegs or casks, ready for use. We have made several experiments with this paint, and can with confidence recommend it. Another extensive wing of the building contains the laboratory where the Company's chemists are constantly at work making experiments, attempting improvements, testing samples, etc.; drying and varnish rooms are also conveniently situated, and plenty of space is given for storage, packing, etc. Of the dimensions and importance of the works some conception may be formed from the fact that 50 tons of silicate paints can be produced per week; and when the plant is completed 50 tons of 'Griffiths' patent white' will also be manufactured in the same time. Everywhere we noticed that cleanliness prevailed, and that all the rooms were well lighted and ventilated; the floors are mostly of iron and concrete finished in Portland cement, laid so that all slop is at once carried off. Tramways run in all directions to facilitate the conveyance of the goods from the various parts of the building and along the private jetty, whence the goods are shipped for export or taken to the Company's London wharf. Finally, it should be recorded that to Mr. Ernest Turner, architect, of Regent Street, and to Messrs. Vernon & Ewens, as contractors, of Cheltenham, appertains the credit of raising, at the estimated cost of 25,000!., a factory which will rank high amongst the most flourishing and useful industries of this country. It is a matter of regret that Mr. Griffiths is about to retire from an active share in the Company's work. He has, however, developed and established an important industry, and it will be continued with energy and enterprise. Such reward as honorary distinctions can give are his-the highest medal at Paris at last year's Exhibition was accorded him, the 1878 medal of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain fell to his share, and we understand he has also been elected a fellow of the Chemical Society for his valuable invention. The manufacture of the 'patent white' that bears his name has formed the subject of numerous papers at the meetings of scientific societies. But his greatest distinction is the inevitable association of his name with a humane application of science which will probably save more suffering than lead paints have caused, enormous though this may be. The following remarks made on the occasion of the opening of the new works will be found both interesting and useful from a sanitary point of view. Mr. Griffiths said :—Gentlemen,-I have to thank you on behalf of myself and partners for the honour you have conferred upon us by a visit to our works; and I take it as a proof that you recognise the efforts we are making in the cause of sanitary science. No doubt many of you are aware that this Company does not allow poisons of any description to enter into the composition of their paints, and therefore the tenant need have no fear as to the health of his family when the spring painting begins. The working painter will not be absorbing an accumulative poison into his system, which will undermine his own health and that of his little ones, nor will the men engaged in the manufacture of these pigments shorten their lives, as is the sad case in works where lead pigments are manufactured. I heard of one manufacturer in the North of England who confessed that he lost either a man or a woman every week from his works through lead poisoning. When I first introduced non-poisonous paints I had to fight a hard battle against the most deep-rooted prejudice. I fought the battle step by step; but it was a hard and a very expensive struggle. My greatest friends were those persons who advocated sanitary reform, and but for them I might have been beaten ; still I persevered, the 'press' kindly advocating the cause from a humanitarian and public health point of view. The goods seemed to grow in favour, thanks to some hard pushing for their introduction; not but what there were plenty of faults in the manufacture of paint from a new substance like silica, which took time and study to remedy. Seeing the evil results from the manufacture and use of lead paints, I had directed my attention to producing a 'white' that should take the place of lead, and in 1870-71 I commenced experimenting to find some substance that had as much covering power or body as carbonate of lead, and that should be as white, but of a more durable nature and that could take the place of the poisonous substance used daily in our houses, our churches, our factories, and our ships. I soon after brought out what is now known as 'Griffiths' patent white.' It is a zinc, but not an oxide; it is an oxy-sulphide of that metal, and has over 100 per cent. more covering properties than either lead or oxide of zinc. We anticipate before long to be compelled to extend our premises still more, as the foreign as well as our own Government are taking to our productions. We have also the contract now for the supply for twelve months of the Imperial Navy of Germany. When the plant for the production of Griffiths' patent white' is finished, we shall be the largest producers of white pigment in the kingdom. The French Government, during the Exhibition, called an International Health Congress, at which about eighteen nationalities were represented, and one of the greatest questions brought forward during that Congress by the representatives of the French Government was How to diminish the dangers incurred by workmen where white lead and other poisonous substances are employed.' They little anticipated at the time that, not only could the evils be diminished, but entirely obviated by a far superior substance; and, when Professor Lutschaunig and Dr. Phipson rose and read their papers upon my invention, it was hailed with the greatest delight of relief and pleasure. I had a letter a few days ago from the president of the jury of the International Exhibition, informing me that the French Government are sending over a gentleman to inquire into the manufacture of this substance; but close to Paris one of my partners has erected works for its production, and in a very short time he will be able to supply 'la belle France' with all she may require. I am now about to retire from active business and the Company, having seen it well and firmly established; but I leave behind me good and energetic partners, who I know will do everything in their power to extend the sale of non-poisonous paints and promote the cause of sanitation. Dr. Bartlett, F.C.S., divided his remarks into three main sections: (1) the paint occasioned no illness to those who made it; (2) the workpeople who used it escaped the illnesses to which painters generally are subject; (3) no ill effects are produced when the paint is applied to the interior of houses. When, seven years ago, the subject of paints was brought before him, he considered the points to which he had referred, and found that those who make or those who use lead paints, together with those for whom they are used, suffer various degrees of injury to health. No great pains had, till within that time, been taken to secure anything like accurate returns of the damage done to health by lead paints. But at the present moment there were accumulated records as to the effects of those poisonous paints stored up in the registers of the dockyards of England and other maritime countries; and medical men now spoke from certain and exact knowledge of the heavy penalties paid by painters for the ignorance which condemned them to the daily manipulation of the deleterious substances of which lead paints are so largely composed. But it was impossible to estimate the damage done to the health of the unconscious victims of that applied ignorance who took an innocent delight in the luxury of a 'clean-painted' house. The former class were under control, and their ills admitted of❘ tabulation and registration. In the neighbourhood of three dockyards were three hospitals, in which as many as 120 victims of lead poisoning have been lying at one time. From these records it would not be difficult to arrive at a conclusion as to the injury caused to the occupiers of ordinary dwelling-houses, treated in the ordinary way, at an interval of three or seven years, with the same class of paints as those found so injurious to the robust workers in our dockyards. Considering the thousands of tons of lead paint used in the embellishment of dwelling-houses, shops, churches, schools, etc., every year, there must be hundreds of thousands of cases of obscure disease which might be swept away at one stroke by the universal adoption of a non-deleterious pigment. Such a pigment had long been striven for, and efforts had been made, with more or less success, to introduce some harmless substitute for the subtle poison of lead salts. But up to the introduction of the truly sanitary and beneficent product of Mr. Griffiths' research, none of these substitutes had conciliated public favour. The Medical Society of London hoped soon to have testimony enough in hand to warrant a deputation in waiting on the Local Government Board or the Home Secretary for the purpose of asking whether the use of lead paints could not be made to receive legal recognition of its being an offence against public health. Such an offence was recognised in the preparation of poisonous wall-papers. When we came to the question of protecting our ironclads by means of paint, we found that the present means of coating failed. Many compositions had been tried, some a little better some a little worse than others. The authorities were driven back to their red lead, and that invariably killed a proportion of the men employed to lay it on or chip it off. Even oxide of zinc had given way under the action of gases, and he believed there was an extra premium on vessels carrying sugar. Griffiths's paint withstood heat, rust, sea-water, and the influence of gases, entering into chemical combination with the iron, and forming an impermeable film on its surface. Six months' wear had not bared the edges and corners of iron which had been coated with the sulphide of zinc paint. There were other points of view from which the pigment question might be regarded, the economical as well as the humanitarian. The greater the economy the greater the humanity. A gentleman present on the part of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, stated that the authorities of the Arsenal were using the productions of the Company with most satisfactory results. 'Griffiths' patent white' was the best pigment, both for colour and body, that had yet come under his notice, and he felt certain that it would be adopted by all departments of the Government, and be the ultimate means of sparing much suffering and loss of life. THE MIDLAND COUNTIES ASSOCIATION OF A MEETING of the members of this Association was on Monday, May 26, when a paper is promised by Mr. Booker, on 'Some of the Duties of an Inspector of Nui sances. Medical Officers' Reports. CHESTER.-We could have wished for more information than is given in Dr. Kenyon's report for 1878 as to the present sanitary conditions prevailing in this city, especially in the old overcrowded and densely-populated 'rows.' Steady progress appears, however, to have been made in effecting structural improvements in connection with the drainage of house premises, ventilation of drains, and disconnection of waste-pipes. During the year, 334 water-closets were substituted for 285 middens, with marked benefit to the inhabitants. A public abattoir seems to be much required, the existing private slaughterhouses being situated in crowded parts of the town, and so built as to render it impossible in some cases to conduct them without nuisance. During the year, 783 deaths occurred, a number equal to 20'02 per 1,000 of the population. This is below the number for 1877, and considerably below that for 1876. There is a decided decrease in the mortality from chest diseases and from measles as compared with 1877, but scarlatina shows an increase of 21 deaths. Enteric fever caused 12 deaths and typhus 4. Three of these latter happened in connection with an outbreak in a single court, where several persons, all of whom were at once removed to hospital, were attacked. The Fever Hospital seems to have been of immense service, not only in this outbreak, but in the outbreaks of enteric and scarlet fevers. During the year no less than 84 cases of fevers of all sorts were removed to hospital, and Dr. Kenyon records with satisfaction the increasing favour in which the accommodation afforded by the hospital is viewed by the people. COCKERMOUTH RURAL.-The death-rate in this dis trict is calculated by Dr. Ward to be 170 per 1,000, 446 deaths having occurred during the year. Of these 48 were from zymotic diseases, including 2 from measles, 5 from scarlet fever, 2 from whooping-cough, 8 from different forms of fever, and 31 from diarrhoea and dysentery. The number of uncertified deaths is very high, ranging from 4'3 in the Keswick sub-district to 12.5 and 16.0 in the Cockermouth and Maryport sub-districts respectively. There is evidently much to be done in improving the system of excrement disposal in the district, and the authority have a good adviser on the subject in Dr. Ward. Important works are now in progress for the supply to a considerable portion of the population of the district of proper and sufficient water, which is undoubtedly much required. DORCHESTER RURAL.-It would have been well for Mr. Day, in making his first annual report, to have given more particulars than he has done with regard to the sanitary conditions prevailing in his district. It is always important that in first reports medical officers of health should give in detail what is the state of their districts as regards watersupply, drainage, excrement disposal, dwellings, etc., so that the progress made in these matters in subsequent years may be the better estimated. However, 1878 seems to have been a healthy year, no death occurring from either measles, scarlet fever, small-pox, or diphtheria; only I from whooping-cough, and 2 from diarrhoea. The general death rate is calculated by Mr. Day as 15.2, but he excludes for no apparent reason the deaths in the workhouse, which, according to the figures given, would raise the rate to 17.1 per 1,000. HILLHEAD.-During 1878, 89 deaths occurred in this burgh, which is under the medical supervision of Dr. James Christie, the editor of the Sanitary Journal. The death-rate is low-13.69 per 1,000, but this may partly be accounted for by the exceptional social position of the inhabitants. Zymotic diseases caused no less than 22:48. per cent. of the total mortality. Enteric fever-an epidemic of which, due to milk contamination, prevailed in the early part of the year-was fatal in seven instances. Measles and whooping-cough were also prevalent. Dr. Christie adds the weight of his opinion to that of the countless medical officers of health who have expressed themselves powerless to grapple with infectious diseases until intimation to the local authorities of the outbreak of cases is made compulsory. KESWICK.-Dr. Ward has certainly acquired in perfection the art of telling unpleasant truths in as inviting a form as possible. We read between the lines of his last flowery report on Keswick, that there is still much to be lation and wholesomeness of dwellings; but a superficial done with regard to water-supply, drainage, and the ventireader would certainly not detect this. The death-rate is, as it ought to be, low (14.3 per 1,000), but the figures are too small to permit any trustworthy data to be gathered as to the relative prevalence of the different classes of disease. We may note, however, the high death-rate from pulmonary consumption, which certainly does not bespeak healthy surroundings. NEWBIGGIN.-The chief feature of sanitary importance in this district during 1878 was the prevalence of scarlet fever, which, although of a mild type, caused much trouble to the health officer, Dr. Reid. The death-rate of Newbiggin was a few years ago very high, and it is still much too heavy (22 per 1,000). Not much information is given in the report as to the sanitary conditions of the district, but it appears to be a fisher village of the usual type. READING RURAL.-This is a small district, containing only about a thousand people, and there is not much, therefore, for Dr. Shea to say about it. The total number of deaths was 15, 3 of which were from scarlatina, and 1 from diarrhoea. Considerable improvement was effected during the year in many of the cottages in the lower part of the district, and sanitary work generally seems to be well sustained. TEIGNMOUTH.-This is a very practical little report, and gives a good and succinct account of the proceedings taken and advice given by the medical officer of health during 1878. In that year 197 births were registered and 129 deaths, the latter being equal to a mortality of 18.4 per 1,000. This rate is slightly above the mean for the last ten years, but the zymotic rate, and especially the enteric fever rate, are much above their respective means for the same period. Three deaths occurred from enteric fever, and 29 cases of that disease were brought to Dr. Lake's knowledge. Sewer-gas appears to have been mainly responsible for these cases, there being no ground in any instance for regarding the water or the milk-supply as the source of infection. A mortuary has been erected in the district, but a disinfecting chamber in connection with it has not yet been commenced. A proper hospital for infectious diseases seems to be much wanted. TRURO.-The sanitary state of this city is eminently unsatisfactory. Last year no less than 296 deaths occurred, equal to the very high rate of 26.79 per 1,000. Of these the large number of 92 deaths were from zymotic diseases. -from whooping-cough 52, all but two under five years old; from measles 12, and from diarrhoea 14, all under five; 9 from enteric fever, and I from diphtheria. More than half the mortality (150 deaths) occurred in children under five years of age, and this in itself is a conclusive evidence of bad sanitary surroundings. Mr. Sharp does not give any explanation as to this infantile mortality, but the facts which he adduces as to the general condition of the town are sufficiently suggestive. Thus the sewerage, is defective, the water-supply derived from wells exposed to pollution, and the system of excrement disposal allowing of soakage of sewage into the soil. More than 50. cases of typhoid fever came during the year to the knowledge of the medical officer. The chief outbreaks occurred |