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1027 THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.-PUBLIC HEALTH AND POOR LAW. Simons Town deaths were occurring daily and there were, according to the latest account, 20 dangerously ill and 40 seriously ill. The diseases from which the Boer prisoners are suffering were contracted whilst serving against us in the field and are attributable to the terribly insanitary conditions under which they had been living and the hardships which they had undergone. Statements having been made that the Simons Town water and the overcrowding of the transports were responsible for the outbreak of typhoid fever among the Boer prisoners, the admiral and the principal medical officer inspected the trans- ports with the result that such cases as could be removed were sent ashore to a special hospital. Arrangements have also been made to prevent overcrowding. The typhoid fever and measles from which some of the prisoners are suffering were contracted in the trenches at Paardeberg. Many of General Cronje’s men were so worn out after their hardships that they had little strength left to fight disease. The prisoners have made no complaint as to their treatment or food. The water which they drink is from the Simons Town reservoir and is the same as that supplied to the whole of the fleet. The departure of the transports with the Boer prisoners for St. Helena had been delayed for a time owing to the increase of sickness among the prisoners. Enteric fever, that scourge of modern armies, is unfortu- nately largely prevalent among our troops in South Africa, as may be seen from the number of fatal cases recorded in ’, the Army sick returns, and we are afraid that it is bound to go on increasing until the cold season establishes itself and ’’ the troops are on the march and daily taking up new ground. Old camping grounds are almost invariably unhealthy from soil-soakage and fouling under even fairly good sanitary management, but where this has been altogether set at nought and dirt and surface pollution of all kinds have been allowed to take place and accumulate, as has been the case with sites occupied by the Boer troops, these are especially unhealthy and a plentiful crop of disease, in the shape of enteric fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, and a septic form of pneumonia may be expected to follow their occupation. A number of troops and horses are arriving weekly at the Cape from this and other countries. A complete hospital, "The Princess Christian’s Hospital," the gift of Mr. Alfred Moseley, has arrived at Durban. It is to be erected at once near Pinetown. Major Mathias, R.A.M.C., is in charge. It is to be used as a relief base hospital to the hospital at Pietermaritzburg. A return recently issued from the War Office shows that up to the end of last week the total casualties reported since the beginning of the war are as follows : Killed, wounded, missing, and prisoners: officers, 1007; non-commissioned officers and men, 14,634. Of these the officers killed numbered 202 and non-commissioned officers and men 1945; I wounded officers 655, non-commissioned officers and men 9324 ; missing and prisoners : officers 150, non-commissioned officers and men 3365. The total losses (exclusive of sick and wounded men now in British hospitals in South Africa) are returned as 12,200. Public Health and Poor Law. LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT. REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH. St. Mar.1llebone Sanitary Distr6ct.-Mr. Wynter Blyth, referring in his current monthly report to the enormous mortality during the month of January, observes that influenza, which was in the main responsible for the increase, has never been more prevalent. At least 75 per cent. of the population have been, he affirms, more or less affected. This is a large proportion, and it would have been instructive if Mr. Blyth could have furnished the data or impressions upon which he founds his conclusion. The decision of the Lord Chief Justice as to the classing of Salvation Army shelters as common lodging-houses is warmly welcomed by Mr. Blyth, who evidently looks forward to the time when, under the pro- visions of the Local Government Act, 1899, the Borough Council of St. Marylebone will take steps under Section 5 for the transfer of the county council’s power in this particular to the borough council. He thinks that the control of these institutions cannot be conveniently carried out by the central authority. Poole Urban and Port District -The general death-rate of Poole during 1899 was 17’47 and the zymotic death-rate 0-16 per 1000 in each instance, while the infantile mortality amounted to as much as 173 per 1000 births. In a popula- tion estimated at 18,603 there were during 1899 74 cases of scarlet fever, but out of this number no death took place, the disease, it appears, being of a very mild type. We do not gather from Dr. H. A. Lawton’s report whether the sewerage system for Poole is complete, or if complete whether it is in all respects satisfactory, but as we note that the removal of night soil has been regularly and satisfactorily carried out we conclude that the water-carriage system is not yet general in Poole. The health of the port has been, we are told, satisfactory, there being but one case of infectious disease- enteric fever-which came to the notice of the sanitary authority. Carlisle Urban District.-A system of voluntary notifica- tion of pulmonary phthisis, tabes mesenterica, and tuberculous meningitis is in force in this district in so far as parochial medical officers and the house surgeons at public institutions are concerned, and between Nov. lst and Dec. 31st eight cases of phthisis and one each of tabes mesenterica and tuberculous meningitis were notified. We are not told what action was taken in these cases, but it may be assumed that good use was made of the information, though we are curious to know what method was adopted for dealing with the case of tuberculous meningitis. Carlisle is well to the front in that it has appointed a veterinary inspector to examine the cows in the district. There were diagnosed by this officer during 1899 eight cases of inflammation of the udder, seven of gastric derangement, three of tuberculosis, two of pneumonia and pleurisy, two of septic inflammation of the womb, two of septicasmia, and one each of milk fever, con- gestion of the lungs, and paralysis. The milk in each instance was directed to be destroyed. 177 newly-purchased cows were found to be free from tuberculosis of the udder and nine showed signs of having suffered from previous inflammation of the udder; of these nine seven were tested with tuberculin and two reacted, the two which were not tested being re-sold. Mr. Craig Robinson, the veterinary inspector, reports that. altogether 3775 examinations were made to ascertain the presence of disease likely to be prejudicial to milk. We are not told in this report what action is taken when a cow is found to react to the tuberculin test or whether any com- pensation is allowed. Perhaps Mr. Robinson will kindly intimate this in his next annual report. Chesterfield Urban District.-There appears to be a hitch in the provision of an isolation hospital for the use of this district and certain portions of North Derbyshire. The pro- vision was to have been made under the Isolation Hospitals Act, 1893, but the preliminary inquiry as to the loan has not yet been held and there is apparently some difference of opinion as to the constitution of the hospital committee. Perhaps the matter is being held over pending consideration by Parliament of the Isolation Hospitals (Amendment) Bill, which provides for the borrowing of money by the county councils for the assistance of local authorities anxious to provide hospital accommodation. The housing of the work- ing classes has been to the fore in Chesterfield during 1899. Dr. Meredith Richards hesitates to close certain houses which he has reported as " unnt for human habitation" as there are no houses in existence suitable for quite the poorest classes. For this residuum of the population private enterprise cannot, Dr. Richards thinks, cater, and the town should, he urges, erect some artisans’ dwellings. He condemns the practice of buying up insanitary areas since so much of the money which might otherwise be spent on building is swallowed up by compensating the rack-renting owners of insanitary property. But with decent houses pro- vided by the sanitary authority the insanitary houses might be gradually closed without compensation. Experiments were continued during 1899 as to the precise effect upon the Chesterfield sewage of biological treatment by anaerobic and aerobic filters, previous investigations having shown that double filtration of the tank effluent is essential to the production of a satisfactory effluent. The average results as regards albuminoid ammonia, expressed in parts per 100,000, of a series of experiments are shown thus : Tank effluent. Anaerobic filter. Aerobic. 0’72 ............ 0-38 ............ 0-086 It is not quite clear from the report what treatment-if any- is adopted in the tank.
