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although he is sometimes late in doing so. There is no doubt
this Act will tend to decrease the number of these cases. I
have, from the first, sent notice to the Superintendent of the
School Board Visitors of the occurrence of cases of scarlet fever
and diphtheria (and should do so of small-pox if it occurred),
so as to prevent any children being sent to school from infected
houses. I have also forwarded to all parents a letter
requesting that their children should not be sent to school until
the medical practitioner in attendance be of opinion that it
might be safely done. This Act has largely increased the
work of the sanitary officers not only as regards myself, and in
the clerical department, but also in visiting the houses in which
the diseases occurred, as well as in supervising their disinfection
as soon as the cases were removed or had recovered.
Diphtheria has been prevalent during the year all over the
district, and has caused a large number of deaths, as no less
than 93 were registered amongst the residents of this district.
In the early part of the year, before the Infectious Diseases
Notification Act was in force, very few non-fatal cases came to
my knowledge, but since then I have received notice of a
large number. Thus the Act came into force on October 30, and
during the two months ending December 28, there were 63 cases
certified, and 23 deaths, whilst for the other 10 months I became
acquainted with 106 cases and 70 deaths. A considerable proportion
of the cases before October 28th were discovered by making
special enquiries from the masters of public schools and other
persons. There was only one limited outbreak in connection
with one of those schools, viz., that of St. Mary's, Barn Street,
Stoke Newington. As the only cases in the neighbourhood
occurred amongst the scholars and their relatives, I requested
the school to be closed, which was done, soon after which the
disease disappeared. There were several instances of an
almost simultaneous outbreak in one family, as many as 7
cases having thus occurred; in two other families 5 in each;
and in two others 3 cases each. In no one of these could any