192 president's address — section I. 



The disinfection of clothing, bedding, and furnishings of all 

 kinds requires special apparatus, either fixed or locomotive. All 

 experience is showing more and more clearly that disinfection by 

 heat is more efficacious than disinfection by chemicals; conseqviently 

 hot air or steam should be used wherever practicable. 



It is proposed by some to apply the principle of disinfection by 

 heat to the bodies of those who have died of infectious diseases. 

 This is hardly likely to become a general jjractice at present, though 

 it seems that cremation is slowly coming into favor ; but as regards 

 the burial of infected bodies, some regulation is necessary both as 

 to time and method. The earliest practicable burial should be 

 insisted on, due precautions taken for the disinfection of the body 

 and coffin, and the use of vaults strictly forbidden. I wovild that 

 it were forbidden with respect to all burials. 



YII. 



ADMIXISTRATION. 



The proper carrying out of all this sanitary work by the medical, 

 engineering, and inspecting staff is rendered possible or impossible 

 by the manner and spirit in which it is regarded by the general or 

 local government under which it is undertaken. Unfortunately 

 its importance is generally under-estimated, especially in young 

 commimities. It would be natural to suppose that the offshoots 

 of older civilised peoples would, after they had fairly settled down 

 in new countries, continue the work of sanitation fi'om the point 

 arrived at in their old home But no. It seems that our race is 

 determined at every fresh settlement to ignore the experience of 

 its past, or to deem that its new circumstances are so exceptional 

 as to render that experience worthless. Sanitarians are thus con- 

 stantly told, " That is all very well in England, but it is quite 

 unnecessary here." So the old battle against preventible disease 

 has to be fought all over again, not only in every country, but 

 almost in every town in it. There is frequently no definite 

 Government policy in health matters, and no genei-ally expressed 

 public opinion asking for such a policy. The consequence is 

 that the financial difficulties in the way of sanitation are 

 greatly aggravated. From no point of view is the truth of the 

 old saw, " Prevention is better than cure," more forcibl}- illus- 

 trated than from the financial one. A small sum judiciously 

 and continuously spent in preventive measures will — altogether 

 apart from saving life and diminishing suffering — often amount 

 to far less than the cost of the measures taken to meet a scare. 

 Some years ago we had such a scare in Tasmania. A few 

 cases of smallpox occurred in Launceston — thirty-three. Math ten 

 deaths. The Vaccination Act had virtually become a dead letter, 

 and there was consequently a little panic. The other colonies 

 quarantined us; our postal and shipping services were greatly 



