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danger to the dwellers in the vicinity . . . was of a somewhat
conjectural kind, based rather upon surmise than upon well-ascertained
facts, and nothing was brought to rebut it on the part of the
defence in consequence of an agreement having been arrived at between
the Counsel on both sides that they would not address themselves
to this element of the case." It is alleged that the Asylum
Board "strong in the exercise of what they believed to be their legal
rights, had not been sufficiently careful of the rights of others, and
that they had, as a matter of fact, created what was clearly a nuisance
at common law and in the ordinary acceptation of the term."
The final decision of the House of Lords is that "in so doing they
were acting in excess of their powers"; the trial therefore raised
what is described as an "accidental question." Should there be a
new trial, the essential question whether a small-pox hospital is a
nuisance per se ? is likely to receive consideration, and it is desirable
that this question should be settled.
PREVENTION OF THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS
DISEASES
Is one of the chief duties appertaining to the office I hold; and
it is one which constantly engages the attention of all the officers
in my Department. A difficulty with which we have to contend is
the want of information of the occurrence of illness—information
that would be of the greatest value, particularly at the commencement
of an epidemic when the first cases are often mild, and,
therefore, not fatal. It has been my constant endeavour to increase
our sources of such information, and it may not be out of place
here to state what progress has been made:—
1. By virtue of an arrangement entered into between your Vestry
and the sub-district registrars, I receive notice of every death
from the graver infectious diseases (small-pox, scarlet fever,
diphtheria, typhus, enteric and simple continued fevers),
within a few hours after registration. It may be observed
that when a death has occurred from an infectious disease
there is always a probability of finding cases of illness
in the same house or in the locality, and such discovery not
unfrequently results from the Sanitary Inspector's visit.