played a part in carrying the germs into 

 houses under such conditions. Ice creams 

 were condemned on account of the danger 

 of conveying germs ; also dirty cowsheds, 

 and a tainted milk supply. Cows were 

 often kept in small yards, without regard 

 to cleanliness, and this often applied to 

 couutrj^ districts as well as to towns. A 

 company was being formed to sell Pas- 

 teuriseci milk in the city, which should l>e 

 a great public boon. There should be 

 careful selection of building sites, so as 

 not to build on ground made up of 

 all kinds of tilthy haulage ; there should 

 be good ventilation, with plenty of sun- 

 light in the rooms ; subsoil drainage to 

 remove all dampness ; paving of yards to 

 prevent exhalations and soakage ; active 

 cultivation in gardens to keep the soil 

 pure ; removal of all garbage, and the 

 destruction of the same ; and a proper 

 system of drainage to carry away all waste 

 products. It was very necessary that all 

 household garbage should be removed, and 

 he trusted ere long to see in Hobart 

 a Destructor in operation for this purpose. 

 He next dwelt upon the necessity for 

 a proper system of drainage to carry 

 away all waste products as quickly as 

 possible. It might be argued that drains 

 and sewer gas were means of spreading 

 tjiDhoid, but that was very doubtful. With 

 a properly constructed system of sewers, 

 well ventilated and trapped, there need be 

 no fear of sewer gas. The prevalence of 

 typhoid fever had diminished in every city 

 or town where underground drainage has 

 been established. When Hobart got an 

 underground system of drainage there 

 was every reason to believe that the pre- 

 valence of typhoid would be greatly dimin- 

 ished, though it would be going too far to 

 say that it would be eradicated — at any 

 rate for some time to come. Great care 

 would have to be exercised during the dis- 

 turbance of the soil, in laying the sewers, 

 to pi event the possibility of the disease in- 

 creasing. In the end, however, the benefit 

 must indeed be great, and typhoid, it 

 might be reasonably hoped, reduced to an 

 occasional visitor. The necessity for 

 underground drainage was made very 

 evident to those who had to do with the 

 sanitary conditions of the city. He exhibited 

 figures and charts showing the marvellous 

 improvement effected by underground 

 drainage as regards typhoid and the 

 death-rate in numerous cities and towns. 

 By these means typhoid in England had 

 been reduced from 3*9 deaths per 10,000 in 

 1869 to 1-7 in 1891-1895. There was a reduc- 

 tion of 50 per cent, of typhoid cases in 25 

 towns after underground drainage was in- 

 troduced. In Cardiff it was reduced from 

 17-5 in 1847 to 1854 to 4-0 in 1884-1888 ; 

 Leicester, 14*5 to 2*2 ; Bristol, 10*5 to 

 1*4. Numerous other instances were 

 quoted. In Sydney in 1886 it stood 



at 9-9, and in 1895 at 1'9. In 

 Hobart it has been flitting up and down 

 without any tendency to decrease. The 

 death-rate from other causes was alsa 

 much reduced by drainage. In spite of 

 these figures there were some who con- 

 tinued to argue ttiat underground drainage 

 would not be the means of eradicating 

 typhoid ; and, further, that there were 

 cities even \\'ii.hiu the boundaries of the 

 Australasian Continent which had surface 

 drainage and a pan system, and which 

 enjoyed immunity from typhoid fever. 

 Ballarat had been cited. A member 

 of the House of Assembly during 

 the discussion on the Drainage Bill 

 gave that city as an example of what 

 could be done without a drainage scheme. 

 He (Dr. Sprott) had taken the following 

 figures from the health reports of Victoria. 

 In 1892-3-4 there were reported in the 

 city of Ballarat, with a population of 

 22,199, .55, .53, and 125 cases of typhoid in 

 those respective years. In 1896, typhoid 

 was so prevalent there that the Ballarat 

 City Council asked Dr. Gresswell to 

 advise as to the best means of 

 preventing the annual recurrence of 

 typhoid in that city. During the 

 first two months of this year there 

 were registered in Ballarat and suburbs, 

 with a population of about 40,000, 13 deaths 

 from typhoid — a higher rate than in Hobart 

 during the same two months. How, then, 

 could anyone quote Ballarat as being free 

 from typhoid? A recent report by the 

 Health Officer of Nottingham reported 

 that there, while other conditions were 

 uniform, there were three classes of 

 houses, namely, (1) those with midden 

 privies, (2) pans, (3) water-closets. The 

 Health Officer took the average num- 

 ber of cases from 1887 to 1896, and 

 reported as follows : — There was one 

 case of typhoid per annum for every 37 

 houses with midden privies ; one in every 

 120 houses where pans are used ; and only 

 one in 558 houses provided with water 

 closets. Many of the first group were 

 houses of a good character, while the 

 water-closets were by no means conni.ea 

 to superior neighbourhoods. Such a re- 

 port as that (Dr. Sprott continued),, 

 with other facts already given, should 

 convince anyone that the water-carriage 

 system, as far as the prevalence of 

 typhoid fever was concerned, had every- 

 thing to recommend it. As far as 

 cleanliness and comfort were con- 

 cerned, no one could doubt the superiority 

 of the one over the other — in fact, people 

 who had been accustomed to the water- 

 carriage system had a horror of being any- 

 where in the vicinity of a conservancy 

 system. It must be remembered that 

 Melbourne would shortly have what 

 Sydney and Adelaide had already accom- 

 plished; and if Hobart refused to follow the 



