gratings into the sewers. They had been washing the front of the shop, and a lot of mud had accumulated. He told them of it, and went on his beat. On his return he saw them repeating the offence, when he considered it his duty to report the circumstance to the Metropolitan Board of Works.-The defendants, in answer to the complaint, said that they did not think they were doing any harm, as they were only sweeping the slops off the pavement. They had frequently seen the scavengers sweep thicker stuff than that down the gully-holes.-Mr. Napier informed his worship that if the scavengers were seen to do that by the police or any of the officials connected with the Metropolitan Board of Works, they would render themselves liable to be severely punished. Only a few days ago a parish official was fined heavily for causing the scavengers to sweep snow and mud into the sewers. He further stated that the Metropolitan Board expended thousands yearly in cleansing the sewers of mud thrown down by persons in the vicinity. However, he did not press for a heavy penalty in this case.-Mr. Partridge told the defendants that they had acted wrongly in sweeping the mud into the sewers; but as they expressed their regret he fined each of them in the mitigated penalty of 25. and the

costs.

NUISANCE CAUSED BY SEWAGE TANKS.

AT the police-court at Stoke, before the stipendiary magistrate, the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses' of Newcastle (Staffordshire), as owners of certain sewage-tanks situate on the London-road, in the borough of Stoke, were summoned by the Stoke Corporation, as the urban sanitary authority, for having allowed a nuisance to exist by reason of the sewage flowing into the tanks. It was stated that the tanks in question were constructed nearly twenty years ago, and that they were situated in the municipal borough of Stoke. They were within 150 yards of the Stoke workhouse. The nuisance complained of was caused by the depositing of the sewage of Newcastle in these tanks.E. W. Howell, sanitary inspector for Stoke, said he had visited the tanks. He went there on February 21, when the outlet was far worse than the inlet. There were masses of filth there. On March 5 he again went there, and the Lyme brook was full of foul matter. On March 10 he went there with the surveyor and medical officer, and again on March 21 and 22. There had been an improve

ment at the latter date, but still there was a nuisance.Mr. Lynam, borough surveyor, Stoke; Mr. M. Ashwell, medical officer; and Mr. R. H. Wynne, gave corroborative evidence, and declared in the most positive manner that the tanks were a nuisance. For the defence, Mr. Chapman, borough surveyor, Newcastle, said that since July last there had been no nuisance in connection with the tanks. He was sure that since that time lime, in addition to charcoal and carbolic acid, had been used there, and there had been nothing offensive in the tanks. There were drains from the workhouse, and also the graveyard connected with the workhouse, into the canal, and the stench from the canal was worse than that from the tanks.-G. Whittaker, who had lived in a cottage a short distance from the tanks nineteen years and a-half, and his wife, who had lived there since she was married-twelve years-spoke of the canal as being a great nuisance, whilst the tanks were no nuisance to them. They declared that there had been a great improvement in the tanks since July last, whilst the canal continued to be a nuisance.— Mr. A. Leech, the mayor of Newcastle, was also called. He declared that the Newcastle authorities had done their best to prevent any nuisance arising from the sewage tanks; and that the tanks were nearly free from offensive smells, whilst the canal was a real nuisance as the receptacle of the sewage flowing from the Spittals, the workhouse graveyard, and the houses in Stoke parish, which were just beyond the Newcastle boundary.-R. Downing, foreman, employed at the tanks, gave evidence that since July last extra precautions had been taken by the use of lime to prevent any nuisance arising.-The magistrate made an

Legal Notes and Queries.

WHAT IS EXPOSING FOR SALE?

AT a recent meeting of the Lewisham District Board of Works, Mr. Heisch presented his quarterly report, in which he said :-'I would beg to call the attention of the board to the fact that in several cases it has been decided

by the magistrates that a milkman carrying round milk is not exposing it for sale within the meaning of the Act, so that he is liable to no penalty for refusing to sell to the inspector. If this be the law one of the most useful sections of the Act is, as regards milk, a dead letter, and unless private individuals choose to prosecute, the milkmen can give them what they please.' Several members of the board endorsed the analyst's opinion that the sale of adulterated milk to an officer of the district board, local board of health, or vestry, is not to his prejudice. The board were of opinion that when a case of this character arises in the Lewisham district that it should be taken to the Queen's Bench, and if decided against the board, that they should go to Parliament.

THE KEIGHLEY ANTI-VACCINATION

GUARDIANS.

A SPECIAL meeting of the Keighley Union guardians was held last week, for the purpose of considering whether a cheque should be drawn for the payment of the cost of the prosecutors in the matter of the mandamus obtained by the Local Government Board to compel the guardians to carry out the Vaccination Acts, the guardians having been ordered by the court to pay such costs, which amounted to 128/. 14s. Id. An intimation had been given by the solicitors of the Local Government Board that if the costs were not paid immediately an execution would be issued. There were only four guardians present.-The Chairman characterised the levying of the costs upon the guardians as an utterly unjust proceeding. He moved that a cheque be drawn and the costs paid under protest.-Mr. Sedgwick seconded the motion, which was carried; and the cheque was signed by the chairman and Messrs. Newbould and Sedgwick.It is rumoured, says the Leeds Mercury, that when the payment comes before the auditor at the next

audit, in about six months, it will be objected to, and the question of whether the costs can be paid out of the rates will be raised.

Reviews.

Our Canal Population. By GEORGE SMITH, F.S.A. London: Houghton and Co.

FEW persons are aware that our canal population equals that of a large town, being above 100,000 in number. They are a distinct class in themselves, living and floating on our rivers and canals in a state of wretchedness, misery, immorality, cruelty and evil training that carries peril with it.' This population lives in about 25,000 boats or barges, which ply our canals, that are about 4,710 miles in length, as well as in many cases upon the rivers into which the canals discharge themselves. Some of the cabins are comparatively clean and comfortable, but the majority are the most filthy holes imaginable, swarming with bugs and other vermin, osten heated to much too high a temperature by stoves placed in them, and frequently so offensive as to make one feel sick if unaccustomed to such smells. 'Fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, sleep at the same time, and in the same bed.' Mr. Smith says, 'in these places girls of seventeen give birth to children, the fathers of which are members of their own family.' The women can rarely undress, often not for a fortnight at a time, use frightful language, and are utterly debased in social position, health, and morals. The so called cabins average 6 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, by 4 feet 6 inches, or in other words contain about 200 cubic feet of space. The 'boater' is described as a being whose idea of life generally rises no higher than that of animals. He and his wife and children 'eat together, sleep together, drink together, live together and die together in these filthy places; and that according to their notions is the beginning and end of life; nobody cares for them, and they care for nobody. Of course there are exceptions as in any other case.' Mr. Smith goes on to make the statement which is scarcely credible in this Christian country, that in spite of the thousands of pounds collected by the Boatmen's Mission,' and the 'Seamen's Mission,' 95 per cent. cannot read or write, 90 per cent. are drunkards, who are habitually addicted to swearing and blasphemy, and not 2 per cent. are members of a Christian church, and 60 per cent. are living as men and wives in an unmarried state.' The evidence given before the Royal Commission corroborates this statement, and shows that 'the boatmen and their families are worse off than they were twenty-five years since,' in all matters relating to health and morality. Thus, J. H., of Stoke Golding, lives constantly in his boat, and has no other home, although his wife and five children live with him. J. O., of Stockton Wharf lives with a wife and seven children in a small

cabin, etc. The following is extracted from the Potteries Examiner, of November 1, 1873. 'We visited some of the barges with Mr. Smith. In the first boat we visited we were told that a little girl lay dangerously ill, although several other children were in the same boat; in another we found the husband, wife, and two other grown persons.' In the Leicester Daily Post (April 27, 1874) it is stated that in one cabin containing 202 cubic feet of space, there were a man, his wife, and six children, one of the girls being sixteen years of age, and another of fourteen. The wife was asked where she put her children at night, when she showed a table in front of the fire, and said three children slept on that, two lay under the bed in which the parents slept, and two in a little cupboard above. Other cases of frightful overcrowding, very many of them most indecent, are mentioned in this article.

The inspector of the Nantwich Rural Sanitary Authority abundantly confirms all that Mr. Smith has said as to the state in which the boaters live. He had found malignant small-pox on board a boat which was carrying the infection all through the district. In another boat a child who

had died from typhus was lying unburied in the same cabin with its mother, who was ill of the same disease. These infected boats are not isolated, as a gentleman jumped into one to cross the canal, and found it ‘a veritable fever den.' When the fever barge arrives at its destination, it pushes its way amongst the others, and lies there unnoticed by any sanitary authority, and perhaps even a doctor is not sent for. The children run ashore and play with others at the wharves, the wife makes purchases at the shops, and infectious diseases are thus spread broadMr. cast amongst those with whom they come in contact. Davenport also says that small-pox cases and dead bodies were frequently carried through the Nantwich district to Wolverhampton.' In addition to these a case was mentioned at Polesworth where a woman was confined in one of these cabins, without a friend in the world beyond the man who called himself her husband, who had left her to shift for herself. Some women on the bank went to her assistance, and she recovered in a few days.

All the bargees or boaters are not of this low class, as those who ply on the river Thames or on the Surrey Canal are more respectable, the mother and children rarely living in the cabin, except occasionally in summer. The boaters we have described are those who make long voyages between the midland counties and the north, but as they constitute the great majority, something should be done to remedy these shocking sanitary and social scandals. It may be said that the young men and women, and even the children, are frequently healthy looking and stalwart, because their lives are passed during the daytime in the open air, but that is no reason why they should be totally uneducated, and should lead lives which make them brutal, vicious, and utterly selfish. We have no statistics relating

to boaters and their families, and therefore do not know how many die during early childhood from preventable diseases, and help to spread infection amongst the population living on the banks of the canals, or at the places where their journeys terminate. At any rate some stringent measures should be passed by the legislature to prevent overcrowding, to diminish the risk of infection when epidemic diseases occur in the boats, and if possible to compel the attendance of the children at some school. The recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Factory Acts, recently presented to Parliament, refer amongst other classes to the canal population. The Commissioner recommends that young females and children over three years of age should not be allowed to reside in these boats.

Mr. Smith proposes some more stringent regulations, in which we quite agree with him. They are as follows: 1. That no girls under eighteen years of age should be allowed, unless married, to live and work on the boats; 2. That no boy under thirteen years of age shall sleep or work on the boats; 3. That every person above eighteen years of age should have at least 75 cubic feet, and every boy between thirteen and eighteen should have 50 cubic feet of space in a cabin; 4. That the names of the boatowner and captain should be painted on each boat, and that the tonnage and number of persons allowed to live and sleep on the boat should be entered on a register; 5. That the workshop inspectors, sanitary inspectors, or others to be specially appointed, should be empowered to enter the cabin and detain the boat until all the law required was carried out; 6. That power should be given, as in the case of workshops, enabling the inspectors to summon the captain or owner for default in carrying any of these regulations into effect; 7. That a proper certificate as to the date of birth should alone be admissible as proof of the age of children; and, lastly, that after two years the children should be compelled to pass the second standard of the Education Act.

We shall conclude this brief review with an epitome of some of the evidence given before the Royal Commission. One witness said that a man and his wife and four, five, six, or seven children frequently lived together in the cabin. He could not tell if the births were registered.

The manager of the North Staffordshire canal stated that the boat-children are in a worse position now, as regards education and morality, than they were twenty-five years ago. Another witness said that the boaters worked nearly as much on Sundays as on other days, as they were unwilling to lose a turn, and consequently there was no opportunity to send a child to school. If the recommendations of the commission be carried out that no child above three years of age shall be allowed to reside on the boats, many of the moral scandals will be avoided, but unless some regulations as regards the amount of cubic space for those who reside in the cabins be enforced, as well as some means for preventing the spreading of epidemic diseases, be adopted, injury to the health of the boaters and their families as well as of those with whom they mingle, will not be effectually prevented. We therefore think that the recommendations contained in the report of the commission are insufficient to meet the sanitary exigencies of the case, and to prevent the horrible social evils we have so briefly described.

SEEDS OF DISEASE.'

THIS is the title of a lecture delivered by Dr. Arthur Ransome before the Manchester and Salford Sanitary Association. The lecturer began his lecture by putting the question, why should not all sanitary reform be left to the medical officer of health? He replies that the sanitary association should still act energetically, (1) because it is not the function of the corporation to investigate questions of sanitary science, nor to invite discussion upon its principles. (2) Because the mechanical carrying out of sanitary work, would have but little permanent effect without the direct teaching of sanitary laws. (3) Because in this way the association can give no small help to the constituted authorities of the community, and (4) Because the association can obtain information which cannot be procured by any public officials.

After giving this introduction Dr. Ransome said that under the term 'seeds of disease' he wished to speak of certain sources of disease and death, and the means by which they may be prevented. He believes that these sources of disease are living organisms which act upon the human body and produce the diseases known as zymotic. Before vaccination was introduced, small-pox caused one death in every ten, and amongst children under ten years old, the mortality was as large as one third of the deaths from all causes, and that at the present time the average number of deaths from zymotic diseases is at least one-fifth of the whole. Dr. Ransome considers that Drs. Beale and Saunderson have succeeded in showing by the microscope the germs of small-pox, and the mode of their reproduction is such that no man accustomed to observe the ways of living beings would hesitate to pronounce at once 'that this object was a living being.'

It is true as regards epidemic diseases generally that the object by which they spread is invisible to the eye, but as each shows regular and definite changes, has a limited term of life, and throws off particles which will reproduce the like, we could on these grounds scarcely refuse their claim to be living organisms. We cannot perform analogous experiments on children to these of Pasteur, but the history of the cholera attacks which followed the use of the water of the Broad Street pump are just as conclusive as his, for upwards of 500 people were carried off in ten days, all of whom lived within 250 yards of this pump.

Secondly, the influences which retard the progress of epidemic diseases, are those which will stop or prevent putrefaction or fermentation, viz., cleanliness, heat, and certain metallic salts. The realisation of this fact is important, and shows that we have a living thing to deal with, and not agents such as those we meet within a chemist's shop. Arsenic may remain untouched for years and do no harm, but the most minute portion of the living poison may rest undisturbed for weeks or months, and then suddenly begin to grow and spread destruction and desola

tion amongst the nation. 'Here then is the practical lesson, that all the favourite resting-places of these germs must be rooted out, and all that will foster or predispose to their growth must be done away. Hence the value of the general work of this sanitary association, and the urgency of its precepts with regard to cleanliness and purity in all things-in dwellings, in clothing, in person, in food and drink, and in the air we breathe.'

It will be at once seen that, with a living thing to combat, we must prevent the spreading of the disease by isolation and disinfection, for if the subtle thing is permitted to escape, then it is hopeless to arrest its course. Isolation of the rich in houses specially provided for them is therefore of the first importance, and the precautions to be adapted in ordinary dwellings must be carried out with the greatest care when isolation in special houses cannot be arranged. In the meantime we must try to find out the favourite nests, the breeding-places, the mode of growth, and the more usual food' of those organic (living) things which give rise to zymotic diseases.

In order to carry on such an inquiry we must have not only a local, but a natural system of registration of disease, by which we could track the course of these diseases from place to place, and trace them to their original place of outbreak, in the same way as meteorologists have had their stations in different parts of the earth, and thus deduced the laws of storms and the doctrine of cycles of atmospheric states. How important would it be if we could obtain similar records of epidemics, and if these tornadoes of disease could be brought within our knowledge as plainly as atmospheric disturbances.' The only means of obtaining this knowledge is for a return to be made to the officer of health of every case of epidemic disease which may occur in either public or private medical practice, so that proper disinfection and isolation can be carried out. An old writer (Place) has said: 'Epidemics are a present from the poor to the rich, as a recompense for their neglect.' Let us not look at the matter in so selfish a light, but endeavour to prevent these and other remediable diseases out of a spirit of common humanity, and not merely as an act of self-preservation.

We have contented ourselves with giving an abstract of Dr. Ransome's address, without any comment, as the subject is one too large for full discussion in this journal, and anything short of that would fail to be satisfactory to ourselves or our readers.

Correspondence.

All communications must bear the signature of the writer, not necessarily for publication.

A STEP IN ADVANCE AT COVENTRY. (To the Editor of the SANITARY Record.) SIR,-In your issue of Saturday last you noticed under the above heading a memorial which has been presented to the Local Government Board by the sanitary authority for this city, asking that it might be made compulsory upon householders to give notice to the local sanitary authority of the occurrence of infectious disease in their houses.

As no immediate action is likely to be taken on the memorial, the sanitary authority have now passed a resolution to invite the medical men of the town to make an early report of all cases of infectious disease coming under their notice, and have agreed to pay a fee of 3s. 6d. for each report.

I think it will be allowed by all who are conversant with the many difficulties under which the medical officer now labours, that both the memorial and resolution strike at the root of the gravest of those difficulties, for we really have not any reliable and early source of information of the outbreak of disease except when a death occurs.

During the past two years medical officers have been racking their brains to find some method of checking the

frightful fatality occurring daily from scarlet fever, but with little results, the cause of the failure being to a great extent the fact that no organised system exists of reporting immediately the first case or cases occurring in any district; on the contrary, the fever nearly always gets a week or two's start of the medical officer, and, its infective properties being so powerful, that time is ample to sow the seeds of a serious epidemic, so that the golden moments are lost when, by the isolation of two or three cases, hundreds of lives might be saved by thus stamping out the disease. The Coventry Sanitary Authority was led to adopt this course from the experience gained during an epidemic of scarlet fever occurring last year and the previous year. The disease existed chiefly amongst the artisan class, and these people were found, for want of some supervision, to expose their children and those of their neighbours in the most reckless manner to the infection. Children were frequently sent to school from infected houses; the little sufferers were even sent themselves in the earlier and later stages of the malady. In more than one instance I discovered children being taken to a day nursery during working hours while suffering from the fever, the mothers taking them home and nursing them at night, and going direct to work in a factory in the morning. I need scarcely say that this conduct has been found to spread the disease in large numbers of cases. It was dealt with when discovered; but how much mischief had been done before the discovery? For several months last year the number of cases of scarlet fever in the district was so small, that had it been known where they existed they could easily have been dealt with so as to prevent any further spread of the disease; but for the want of that information, the necessary steps could not be taken, and it continues to exist with fatal results. If a large number of cases are reported by the medical men, the subsequent dealing with them will no doubt be a matter of difficulty; still if only one inspector were appointed to visit the houses as frequently as possible, much might be done by him to prevent the wholesale spread of disease which has hitherto taken place; in case of an epidemic a large staff of inspectors would no doubt be necessary. The working of the system, I dare say, will be watched with interest by many, and I hope before long to be able to report favourably upon it. MARK A. FENTON, M.D., Medical Officer of Health of Coventry Urban Sanitary District.

Coventry: April 17, 1876.

VACCINATION IN ST. GEORGE'S, HANOVER SQUARE.

(To the Editor of the SANITARY RECORD.)

SIR,-With regard to your notice of my last annual report on the sanitary condition of St. George's, Hanover Square, I shall be glad if you will allow me to mention that the vaccination returns sent to me are by no means complete, but that I believe that vaccination is efficiently carried out in the parish. The reason that I gave for epidemics of small-pox being now-a-days so much more fatal than they ought to be, was that re-vaccination is not sufficiently practised.

W. H. CORFIELD, M.A., M.D. (Oxon.),
F.R.C.P. (Lond.) Medical Officer
of Health for St. George's,
Hanover Square.

10, Bolton Row, Mayfair, W.

Sanitary Inventions.

THE SANITARY EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS

SOAP.

Mr. Joseph Bosisto, of Melbourne, who has given much attention to the peculiar properties of the Eucalyptus, has come to the conclusion that its purifying qualities are due to the presence of a volatile acid and a volatile oil, contained, the first in most parts of the tree, the latter in the leaves only. The volatile oil is exhaled as well as the acid, and their aroma may be detected in the air by persons travelling in the bush, giving an invigorating and healthy tone to the atmosphere.

Messrs. Whitaker and Grossmith, of 120, Fore Street, City, have had the happy idea of combining the oil distilled from the leaves of the odorata species of Eucalyptus with a toilet soap, which is very agreeable in use, giving out a pleasant juniper-like odour. It thus forms a valuable purifier of the skin, as well as a disinfectant of the air, and is highly to be recommended for use in the sick room, both by patient and attendant. Travellers in marshy countries, or cities where fever is rife, will also find this soap a valuable adjunct to their toilet necessaries, from its disinfectant as well as its purifying characteristics.

NESTLE'S MILK FOOD.

THIS food, prepared in Switzerland, composed of milk, wheat, and a little sugar by a new method of Mr. Nestle's invention, comes to us endorsed by the recommendation of many eminent physicians both English and foreign. The combination contains all the elements necessary for the complete nourishment of infants, and is an excellent food for children and invalids. For infants especially, its unvarying composition gives it a decided advantage over the feeding-pap frequently made without proper care, by unskilled and careless persons. As an adjunct to a scanty supply of breast-milk Nestle's milkfood will be found of great value. A great argument in its favour is that children like it very much, and take it with avidity, and, from the best evidence we can obtain, thrive on it. It is very easily prepared, with water only, and we recommend it to the attention of mothers and nurses as a wholesome, nutritious, and agreeable food, suitable for all ages and from the earliest periods of infancy.

APPOINTMENTS OF HEALTH OFFI

CERS, INSPECTORS OF NUISANCES,
ETC.

ARKWRIGHT, Mr. Thomas, has been appointed Inspector of Nuisances
for three years for the Austonley, Cartworth, Holme, Netherthong,
and Upperthong Urban Sanitary Districts, vice Cuttell, deceased.
CANTLOW, Mr. John Warne, has been appointed Surveyor to the
Shanklin Urban Sanitary Authority, vice Day, resigned.
DIXON, John, M.D., Univ. St. And., L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S.
Eng, L.S.A. Lond., has been appointed Medical Officer of
Health for the parish of Bermondsey, vice Parker, resigned, at
160l. per annum.

HOMER, J., Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Leyburn Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Grime, resigned.

HURFORD, Mr. T., has been reappointed Inspector of Nuisances for the Chard Rural Sanitary District, at 100 for one year. KENDALL, Walter Benger, L. R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S. Eng., has been appointed Medical Officer of Health for the Kidsgrove Urban Sanitary District.

REDWOOD, Thomas Hall, M.D. Univ. Durh., L.R.C.P. Lond.,
M.R.C.S. Eng., has been reappointed Medical Officer of Health
for the Rhymney Urban Sanitary District for one year.
SCOTT, William Lascelles, F.C.S., has been reappointed Public
Analyst for the Northern Division of Staffordshire for three
months, pending the proposed appointment of one for the whole
County instead of one for the Northern Division and one for the
Southern, as heretofore.

WEBB, Charles Frere, M.R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S. Eng., has been reappointed Medical Officer of Health for the Basingstoke Urban Sanitary District at 60l. for one year.

WILCOX, William, L.R.C.P. Edin., M.R.C.S. Eng., has been ap pointed Medical Officer of Health for the North Walsham Urban Sanitary District.