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21
kindred subjects among women in particular that the
evils in question are to be combated.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL.
The present arrangement betweeen the District
Council and the Enfield Council whereby a certain
number of beds are reserved in the Enfield Isolation
Hospital for infectious cases from Edmonton, is likely
before long to prove quite inadequate. I should be
wanting in a sense of duty if I allowed the low figures
registered under the notifiable infectious diseases during
the past year to lull the Council into what would be a
false feeling of security. As I have already pointed
out, these figures are largely the result of a quite
exceptional circumstance, namely, the unusual meteorological
conditions that prevailed during the past 12
months and it would be unwise in the extreme to
take them as a starting point for yet better records
in future years. Much as this is to be desired,
it is not, in the nature of things, to be expected,
and although we may benefit for some time
to a considerable extent from the years downpour, a
return to normal conditions of weather is inevitable,
and a hot dry summer may, at any time, rob us of the
temporary advantage we have gained over the organisms
of disease. Moreover, permanent hospital accommodation
cannot be evolved at the point of the
magician's wand. It would take at least 18 months
from the commencement of the work to complete a
properly-built and equipped isolation hospital such
as would be adequate for the needs of our rapidly