WHAT IS A FAMILY GRAVE? IN consequence of some interments having recently taken place in All Saints' Churchyard, Upper Norwood, which is closed as a burial-ground to all except the possessors of family graves, the Croydon Board of Health communicated with the Home Secretary, asking for a definition of a 'family grave.' Mr. Cross refers the board to some correspondence which took place on a former occasion with regard to the same subject, and states that the definition of the term 'family grave' in the Order in Council affecting All Saints' Churchyard is that no grave must be considered a family grave unless proof be adduced of exclusive right of use having been granted, either by the existence of some monument, head or foot stone, or evidence of payment, in addition to a fee for interment only, to secure such exclusive right of use, and any extra payment for any other purpose affords no proof of such exclusive right of use having been acquired. TRAMWAY BELLS. MR. W. J. FRASER, Clapham Road, waited on Mr. Chance to obtain his assistance to abate the intolerable nuisance of alarm bells' being fixed on the horses attached to the tramway cars. The noise made was great, and the inhabitants complained of the annoyance. There was a home for incurables near his house, and the patients complained. On Sunday they were discontinued. He had written to the Police Commissioner, who replied that he had no direct power to interfere. The applicant had mentioned the subject to one of the members for the borough, and was advised to apply to this court. The secretary of the company had stated that the bells were for the public safety, and were legal. Mr. Chance expressed his willingness to help the inhabitants, but failed to see that he had the power. An indictment for a nuisance might be preferred. He could well imagine that the incessant jingling of bells was a great annoyance. No doubt the newspapers would mention the circumstance, and the company might remove the bells. [We should have thought that the danger of being run over was a greater nuisance than the bells.] PRESERVED PEAS. T. SPEARING (Messrs. Langton and Co., greengrocers, of Clapham Cross), appeared to answer a summons for selling a tin of peas mixed with copper, so as to render the same injurious to health. The defendant pleaded that he was not aware there was anything deleterious in the peas. He had not sold them since. Mr. S. A. Smith, the inspector, proved purchasing a tin of preserved peas at the defendant's shop, and sending it to the analyst. Mr. Corsellis handed in the certificate of Dr. Muter, the analyst, stating that the peas contained 33 of metallic copper, being equal to 1 1-3 grain of sulphate of copper, injurious to health. The defendant said he bought the peas at a wholesale warehouse in Covent Garden. Mr. Lushington looked at the tin, and said it was a French article. The defendant must be more careful, as the public might have been injured if the peas had been largely consumed. He fined him 20s., and 12s. 6d. costs. J. E. Herbert, of Streatham Place, Streatham, was also summoned. Mr. Corsellis stated that the amount of adulteration was the same as in the last case. The defendant urged that at the time he purchased the peas he was assured by the foreman that they were all right. Mr. Lushington fined him 40s., and 12s. 6d. costs. Mr. R. Grove, of Richmond Road, Putney, appeared to a similar summons. The certificate in this case showed that the peas contained nearly two grains of sulphate of copper. Mr. Corsellis said the brand was not the same. Lashington pointed out to the defendant that it was a great pity he did not obtain a written warranty with the peas, or have them analysed before exposing them for sale, and fined him 205., and 12s. 6d. costs. NUISANCE AT THE PIMLICO CLOTHING WORKS. AT Westminster, Mr. Hales, solicitor, on behalf of some residents of Claverton Street, Pimlico, made an application with reference to a nuisance which he alleged existed at the Army Clothing Department, Pimlico. He stated that the establishment was first built to make soldiers' clothing, but factories had lately been constructed for the purpose of making helmets, and, as India-rubber proofing and naphtha were used there, the fumes emitted from the shafts in the course of preparation or manufacture gave out noxious vapours likely to produce illness. Mr. Chance thought the inspector of nuisances the proper person to be consulted. Another remedy would be by indictment. Mr. Hales said the War Office authorities had been written to, but no notice had been taken. Mr. Chance asked how long the alleged nuisance had been going on, and whether the manufacture was performed with ordinary care and caution? Mr. Hales presumed so; but the matter was very inflammable. He thought if the press noticed the matter some notice would be taken by the government. Mr. Chance was understood to say that if the press noticed the matter he doubted whether that would have much influence. He thought if a memorial were presented by the inhabitants it would receive attention, and failing that, if it were a nuisance the inspector would interfere in the matter. Mr. Hales said he would adopt the suggestion as to the memorial. INTEREST' IN LAND. THE Court of Appeal at Lincoln's Inn has had before it the case of The New River Company v. The Midland the learned judge who tried the case was right, and that Railway Company. Their lordships were of opinion that the appeal must be dismissed. The Midland Company had done what they were entitled by their Act to do, and what that was the cross-examination of their surveyor showed. They had first piled a great quantity of earth upon the ground to form their embankment, which rendered it impossible for the plaintiffs to get at their pipes; and afterwards, when it became necessary to bore a tunnel under their line, they came upon the pipes, which they broke up and removed. All the injury the Midland Company had done to the water-system, apart from the pipes, it was admitted they had repaired and made good. Indeed, the New River Company admitted that if the railway company had given up the pipes, or paid the value of them as they removed them, the River Company would have had no cause of complaint. This, for some reason, the Midland Company had declined to do, and the plaintiffs had then tried to get compensation, averring that they had an interest in the land. Their substantial claim was, however, for the value of the pipes, and their lordships were of opinion that the claim was not one for an interest in land at all. The learned judge was right in saying that the only way, if any, in which they could obtain redress would be under sections 21 and 140 of the Railway Clauses Act. No interest of the plaintiffs in the land had been injured. HOUSE DEMOLITION. APPLICATION was made at Bow-street on behalf of the contractors for the works in progress in Church Lane, St. Giles, for assistance to prevent the interference of the residents with the demolition of the houses, according to the contract entered into with Lord Harris, the owner. The street in question has been notorious as the resort of the lowest class of people, and as a den of thieves of the worst description. The houses on one side had become wholly unfit for habitation, and recently the entire lane had been condemned by the Board of Works. Ample notice was given to the miserable occupants of the tenements, who lived huddled together in dirt and filth like pigs; but few of them would stir from their lodgings, although the work of demolition had commenced, and the whole of the back wall on one side had been removed. One poor old Irish woman of about eighty, who could not speak a word of English, declared through an interpreter that she had no place to go to, and was not going to be beholden to the parish, even if they would take her in; and a number of the other residents now attended to complain that the notice had not been sufficiently long to enable them to get other homes, and that the contractors had actually taken down the cisterns, and left them without water. Mr. Vaughan was afraid that no effort had been made by some of them to get decent homes. The agent for the contractors said it was a very serious matter. A contract had been entered into to do the work in a specified time, but the labourers were threatened in every possible way, and it was almost impossible to proceed with the works. Mr. Vaughan observed that after a given time steps might be authorised to prevent the further molestation of the workmen; but in the meantime he advised that the works should be delayed till an agreement had been come to with the architect, and a day appointed for the final expiration of the notice. BRIEF NOTES OF CASES. CONDITIONS OF A PUBLIC NUISANCE.' 1874. Benjamin v. Storr.-Obstruction of highway by vans.-Action by occupier of adjoining house, because of the interference with his trade.-In actions for damage from a public nuisance the plaintiff must show that the injury is (1) particular and special; (2) direct, not merely consequential; and (3) substantial, not merely temporary, or evanescent.-Judgment for the plaintiff. (43 L.J., C.P., 162; L.R., 9 C.P., 400; 30 L.T., 362.) HIGHWAY ACT 1835, § 85. 1874. Reg. v. Harvey.-A certificate under the hands of two justices is sufficient if it states the existence of the circumstances required by § 85.—It is unnecessary that it should recite that the preliminaries required by § 84 have been complied with. Dictum in Reg. v. Worcestershire (23 L.J., M.C., 113) countenancing an objection on the ground of such omission, not followed. (44 L.J., M.C., 1; L.R., 10 Q.B., 46; 31 L.T., 505.) FOOTPATH. 1875. Reg. v. Burney.—A public footpath having been blocked up at one end by works executed under the authority of Parliament had ceased to be of public utility. -Indictment for misdemeanour.--Conviction.-That the way had become of little utility might be a reason for mitigating the punishment inflicted on the guilty party, but it was no justification for the act of obstruction.-A cul-de-sac may be a public highway. (31 L.T., 828.) LAYING DOWN WATER MAINS. 1874. Goodson v. Richardson.-Laying down watermains under a highway without procuring Parliamentary powers. Consent of the highway board obtained, but not that of the owners of the soil.-Injunction granted in effect requiring the removal of the mains, though no particular injury shown by owner of the soil. (43 L.J., Ch. 790; L.R., 9 Ch. App., 221; 30 L.T., 142.) Legal Notes and Queries. LOCAL BOARD TREASURER-MANAGER DISQUALIFICATION. SIR, B. is the local resident manager of a private banking firm, the head office of which is at the town of L. The senior partner is treasurer of the local board for the town in which B. resides. Can B. act as a member of the local board of his town? It seems to me that he cannot, having regard to the language of the Public Health Act, 1875, Schedule II. (1) 64. Is he not clearly interested' in work done under the authority of the Act? C. [We should be disposed to consider B. legally disqualified: it is clear that in a colloquial sense of the word 'interested,' he is very much interested in the transactions which his employers have with his local board, and to that extent it is clearly very undesirable that he should be a member of the board.] Correspondence. All commu nications must bear the signature of the writer, not necessarily for publication. VACCINATION FROM THE CALF. (To the Editor of the SANITARY RECORD.) SIR,-Though the subject of vaccination by lymph direct from the calf has attracted considerable attention of late, and discussion in medical journals and societies, I have seen no statement in any of the metropolitan journals of its advantages as compared with that by means of human lymph; nay, more than this, the assertion was made not long ago in the Times, that animal vaccine, even when fresh, is much less certain than human vaccine.' I have waited to see whether anyone came forward to contest the truth of this statement; it is important in the public interest that, in case this assertion is not in accordance with established facts, it should at least be challenged. Permit me, whilst endeavouring to draw attention to this important question, to quote the substance of one or two paragraphs from Dr. Warlomont's valuable paper on animal vaccination. Dr. Warlomont insists on the extreme difficulty of securing human subjects for the production of vaccine in sufficient quantities for national use, enjoying perfect immunity from all constitutional taint, and by consequence on the reality of the dangers of human vaccine, however much those dangers may have been exaggerated by ignorant persons. When vaccination is compulsory, he maintains with justice, as I venture to express the opinion, that repugnance on the part of patients to the operation is justified, unless all possible means are used to satisfy reasonable apprehension and that the only means which absolutely excludes the possibility of danger, is the use of animal vaccine :- Dans les pays où il y a obligation pour les parents à faire vacciner leurs enfants, il y a aussi obligation morale pour l'état à fournir aux familles du vaccin qui soit à l'abri de toute suspicion au point de vue des adultérations diathésiques.' Dr. Warlomont draws a further argument for resorting to animal vaccine from the fact that vaccine, however pure in its source and efficacious at first hand, undoubtedly loses its vigour by being passed through human organisms which, though free from absolute impurity, are feeble or cachectic. With regard to efficacy, Dr. Wilson asserts, in opposition to the view maintained in the recent article in the Times, that even fresh animal vaccine is much less certain than human vaccine; that in vaccinations immediately from the calf by ' vaccin vivant,' as he calls it, success where the operator is duly skilful and careful is absolutely invariable, whilst the results from vaccine preserved on ivory points are, according to official report to the Royal Medical Academy of Belgium for the year 1870-71 for vaccinations, 96 per cent. successful, in revaccinations 62 per cent., thus presenting a marked superiority over those obtained in England by human vaccine, where the average of success is 90 per cent. in the vaccinations from tubes, and 96 per cent. by ivory points. With regard to the preservative efficacy of animal vaccine, Dr. Warlomont asserts that of 10,000 infants vaccinated at Brussels between 1865 and 1870, not one was attacked during the terrible outbreak of small-pox in 1870-1871, by that malady, and that the same immunity was enjoyed by the adults re-vaccinated. Finally, Dr. Warlomont remarks that it is a question meriting serious exhaustive examination, whether mothers are not justified in objecting to allowing the vaccine pustule of their infants 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 separately, 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. This 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. 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. THE CONSERVATION OF DISEASE.' (To the Editor of the SANITARY Record.) SIR,-Under the above heading there appears in your last issue a letter from Mr. Wanklyn, referring to the practice of baking clothes, etc., as a means of disinfec tion. 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 sisted in setting fire to the building in which the animal was littered. EDWARD SEATON. 8, Oxford Street, Nottingham, April 30, 1877. Review. Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological Society. Williams and Strahan. 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 MACKINTOSH, Angus, M.D. Univ. Glasg., L.F.P.S. Glasg., and 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. SHORT, John, Esq., has been appointed Treasurer to the Tynemouth Guardians and Rural Sanitary Authority, vice Milburn, de ceased. SMITH, 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. CHELTENHAM. Certifying Factory Surgeon. HEBDEN-BRIDGE URBAN SANITARY DISTRICT, AND TODMORDEN RURAL SANITARY DISTRICT. Medical Officer of Health. Inspector of Nuisances. Application 17th instant, to J. E. Craven, Clerk to the Hebden Bridge Urban Sanitary Authority. LEWISHAM BOARD OF WORKS. Assistant Surveyor: salary not exceeding 250l. per annum. Application, 12th instant, to Samuel Edwards, Clerk, Catford. LLANELLY RURAL SANITARY DISTRICT. Medical Officer of Health: 180. per ann. Application, 8th instant, to Mansel Rees, Clerk to the Authority. MILTON-NEXT-SITTINGBOURNE IMPROVEMENT COMMISSIONERS AND URBAN SANITARY AUTHORITY. Surveyor, Inspector of Nuisances, and Collector: 120l. per annum, and 2 per cent. upon amount collected. Medical Officer of Health: 40/. per annum. Applications, 7th instant, to William Parham, Clerk. NEWBOLD AND DUNSTON LOCAL BOARD AND URBAN SANITARY AUTHORITY, Derbyshire, Clerk. Application, 5th instant, to W. B. Smith Milnes, Esq., Chairman, Dunston Hall, Dunston. Derbyshire. WILTON URBAN SANITARY DISTRICT. Medical Officer of Health: 157. for one year. Application, 9th instant, to Thomas Thring, Clerk to the Authority. WOLVERHAMPTION, CORPORATION AUTHORITY. Surveyor. 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 235 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 too 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. 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 29.8 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 17'0 in Yarmouth; while the rate was equal to 29.1 in Wigan, 29.5 in Preston, 29'9 in Blackburn, and 30.3 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. In the 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 0.8 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 |