LITERARY lYOTICES. 



373 



Dr. Geoi'ge Derby, its former able Secretary, 

 who died June 20, 1SY4; and to whose ex- 

 cellent judgment and untiring exertions the 

 usefulness of the Board in past years, and 

 its present high position as an authority in 

 'sanitary matters, are largely due. 



The subjects of the papers contained in 

 this report are the following: 



" Inebriate Asylums or Hospitals," by 

 Henry I. Bowditch, M. D. In this paper 

 the line has been drawn between vicious and 

 morbid drunkenness : yet the former may 

 finally become the latter. The writer sug- 

 gests a means of dealiiig, through inebriate 

 asylums, with one of the most troublesome 

 questions of the day. The Board, feeling 

 the importance of the subject, has passed a 

 resolution recommending to the Legislature, 

 as a sanitary measure of the highest im- 

 portance, the establishment or endowment of 

 one or more inebriate asylums or hospitals. 



"The Value of Health to the State," 

 by W. E. Boardman, M. D., of Boston. 

 Whether all disease, or any class of dis- 

 eases, can be prevented or "stamped out" 

 or not, the experience of all countries has 

 shown that the death-rate may be very sensi- 

 bly diminished by attention to sanitary laws ; 

 and tlie writer has shown in this article that 

 the State can afford to spend some millions 

 of dollars in saving to itself the immense 

 losses now occasioned by disease and con- 

 sequent poverty in its citizens. 



" On the Transportation of Live-Stock," 

 by J. C. Hoadly, Esq., of Lawrence, mem- 

 ber of the Board. This essay will connnend 

 jtsclf to all persons interested in cattle-trans- 

 portation, whether financially or from a de- 

 sire that the transportation and slaughter- 

 ing of animals may be attended with the 

 least amount of suffering possible, and be 

 conducted in a way to secure to tlie com- 

 munity the best meat. 



" Our Meat Supply and Public Health," 

 by C. F. Folsom, M. D., Secretary of the 

 Board. In this paper are considered the 

 various diseases, parasitic and others, which 

 affect the quality of butcher's meat consid- 

 ered as an article of food for man. The 

 opinions of experts in reference to other 

 conditions in which animal food is some- 

 times found, and some facts bearing upon 

 the question of its suitableness for our mar- 

 kets, are also shown. The writer divides 



meat into three classes : 1. That which is 

 unquestionably of first-rate quality, and 

 from animals perfectly sound and healthy; 

 2. That which is innutritive or lacking in 

 the qualities which the best meat should 

 possess, and inspection is urged for this ou 

 economic grounds ; 3. That which is posi- 

 tively harmful or dangerous, and in this case 

 inspection is recommended as being neces- 

 sary on sanitary grounds ; finally, the only 

 safe way with regard to pork is shown to 

 consist in never eating it unless thoroughly 

 cooked. 



" Cremation and Burial, an Examination 

 of their Relative Advantages," by J. F. Ad 

 ams, M. D., of Pittsfield. The writer con- 

 cludes that there exists no necessity, on sani- 

 tary or economic grounds, for any change at 

 present, in our manner of disposing of the 

 dead. He shows that cemeteries, if managed 

 with proper care, may be made to conduce to 

 the welfare of the public by affording parks 

 abounding in luxuriant vegetation. At the 

 same time, there is no real objection to ere 

 mation, excepting that which arises from 

 religious feeling or association, and which 

 should be respected, so that individuals 

 should be allowed to choose in what way 

 their own remains are to be disposed of. 



Other papers are : "The Brighton Abat 

 toir," in which the daily average amount of 

 meat used by each individual of the six hun- 

 dred thousand supplied by Boston markets 

 is estimated to be about eleven ounces. 

 The paper gives the regulations of the Butch 

 ers' Slaughtering and Melting Association, 

 the Revised Sanitary Regulations of the 

 State Board oi Health, an Analysis of But 

 ter made from Suet, and the Acts in regard 

 to establishing Abattoirs ; " On the Compo 

 sition of the Air of the Ground Atmosphere," 

 by Prof. Wra. Ripley Nichols, of Boston ; 

 " The Ventilation of Railroad-Cars," by T. 

 W. Fisher, M. D., of Boston, with "Chemi- 

 cal Analyses of the Air in Cars," by Prof. 

 Xichols ; " Health of Towns ; " and a " Re 

 port on the Sanitary Condition of the State 

 Prison at Charlestown," close the volume. 



The Law of Inhkritance, or the Philos 

 OPHY OF Breeding. By E. Lewis Stur 



TEVANT, M. D. 



The two great efforts of the agriculturist 

 should be how to raise the best crops, and 



