532 



SGIEJSICJE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 150. 



infrequently be made the subject of special men- 

 tion in a published report, with great advantage 

 to the public health. The forms of cities, both 

 American and European, were referred to as 

 showing their great diversity. It would be better 

 for the health officer to study the returns, and 

 then publish through the secular press his deduc- 

 tions and observations. This could be done 

 promptly, and would be of great benefit. There 

 could then be issued a monthly bulletin, which 

 could be made as complete as was desirable, and 

 these monthly tables together would form the an- 

 nual report. In the weekly statement to the pub- 

 lic there should be no concealment : it should be 

 frank and full as to the existence of communi- 

 cable disease. Business interests should not be 

 permitted to stand in the way of a free statement 

 as to the existence of diseases liable to become epi- 

 demic, as by so doing time for preparation and 

 protection by neighboring localities would be lost. 

 The graphic form, as by diagram, was heartily 

 commended as a means of education of the peo- 

 ple, showing at a glance facts which would other- 

 wise require hours of study. It was suggested 

 that there be a conference of public officials hav- 

 ing in charge these matters of vital statistics, to 

 devise a plan by which there might be greater uni- 

 formity in the forms of tables and reports. Sub- 

 sequently a committee was appointed, with Dr. 

 Billings as chairman, to present to the association, 

 at its next meeting, forms for the weekly, monthly, 

 and annual bulletins. 



In a paper on the relations of rainf aU and water- 

 supply to cholera. Dr. Henry B. Baker, secretary 

 of the state board of health, Lansing, Mich., 

 showed that the best plan to study cholera is in 

 its home, and that if we can find any means by 

 which its ravages have been diminished there, 

 we may reasonably infer that the same measures 

 adopted here will produce a similar result. With 

 this object the history of cholera has been studied 

 in India, with the most striking results. Six 

 tables and diagrams have been prepared to make 

 the subject more intelligible. Prior to 1869 sur- 

 face or tank water was in use in Calcutta. Dur- 

 ing the five years 1865-69 the average deaths 

 were 4,388 annually, in 1866 being 6,826, and in 

 1867, 2,270. In the year 1869 provision was made 

 for a supply of filtered water, and in 1870 a most 

 remarkable change was noted ; the deaths in that 

 year from cholera being only 1,558, and in 1871 

 falling to 796. Since 1870 there has been a marked 

 reduction, estimated at 3,000 per annum. It was 

 also demonstrated that during the seasons of the 

 year when there was little rain the mortahty 

 increased, and that when the rainfall was most 

 abundant the disease declined, even in the hottest 



weather. During the heated period there were 

 300,000 more gallons of water sent into the city, 

 and consequently less of the tank-water used, and 

 just in that proportion was the mortality dimin- 

 ished. The year 1880 was remarkable for its low 

 mortality, there being in that year but 805 deaths. 

 The rainfall for that year was six inches greater 

 than the mean for forty-eight years. In the sub- 

 urbs the same improvement has not been noticed. 

 This is explaiaed by the fact that the tank-water 

 is still in use there. A sewerage system was 

 devised for Calcutta in 1859, to cost $4,000,000. 

 Thus far $3,100,000 have been expended. The fol- 

 lowing deductions may be drawn : 1. The mor- 

 tality for cholera has been reduced two-thirds by 

 the introduction of filtered water. 2. Both be- 

 fore and since its introduction the rainfall has 

 exercised an important influence on the mortality. 

 3. If the disease has been reduced two-thirds 

 through the improved water-supply, and if one- 

 third depends upon the amount of rainfall, this 

 latter might be still further reduced by increasing 

 still more the supply of good water, so as to make 

 the people independent of the tank-water. 4. If 

 in the home of cholera these agents have produced 

 such beneficial results, we have every reason to 

 believe that similar results would follow a like 

 course pursued elsewhere. 



' The virus of hog cholera,' was the title of a 

 paper by D. E. Salmon, D.V.S., Washington, D.C, 

 Of all the diseases which affect animals in this 

 country, none is more destructive than hog cholera. 

 During the present year it has l)een unusually prev- 

 alent, having appeared in almost every state in 

 the union. It has caused a loss of thirty million 

 dollars. While it has never been shown that it 

 is communicable to man, yet indirectly he is af- 

 fected in other than financial ways. What be- 

 comes of the millions of carcasses of the animals 

 succumbing to the disease ? Large numbers are 

 tin-own into ponds and streams from wliich drink- 

 ing-water is obtained, there to putrefy; others are 

 converted into lard; while but a very small propor- 

 tion are burned or buried. Oftentimes, when these 

 animals first show symptoms of sickness, they are 

 despatched as quickly as possible to market, and 

 there slaughtered, and their meat put up by the 

 packers. The effect of such meat upon the health 

 of human beings is uncertain. 



The questions connected with the virus of this 

 disease are exceedingly interesting. The entire 

 subject of contagion is very much elucidated by its 

 consideration. Anthrax is an endemic or enzootic 

 disease, rather than an epidemic or epizootic. 

 Fowl cholera is not limited by area or soil, but is not 

 disseminated to a distance : it must be taken in the 

 food or inoculated. Hog cholera, on the other 



