PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 267 

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horsehair. Special rules were established in 1896 for the 
sorting of certain dangerous kinds of wool and hair, but it 
has been found that many reported cases of anthrax arose 
in processes other than sorting, and in November, 1899, the 
Secretary of State certified the processes of sorting, washing, 
combing and carding wool, goat-hair and camel-hair as 
dangerous or injurious to health. In April last special 
rules were accordingly issued for the management of hide 
and skin factories and wool-combing factories. 
The number of cases of anthrax in human beings reported 
in the above trades amounted during the past year to 55, of 
which 14 were fatal. This was nearly double the number for 
1898, when 28 were reported, as compared with 23 in 1897, 
and 17 in 18906. 
