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Officers of Health; by Mr. Michael, Q.C., for the Social Science
Association (Public Health Section); and by Mr. Ernest Hart,
for the National Health Society. As an expression of opinion
from the official, the professional, and the general public point
of view respectively, nothing could well have been more impressive
than this great deputation, or more weighty than the statements
brought under the President's notice. Nothing,
however, to appearance, could well have been more discouraging
than the President's reception of the deputation, followed by the
stereotyped promise to give the matter his best consideration.
But, quite unexpectedly, it may be added, results of vital
importance to the health of the Metropolis were the almost
accidental outcome of the meeting. The President had spoken
of Notification as of little value unless hospital accommodation
were provided. The hospital question, he said, was underlying
the whole of the subjects brought to his notice—at a time when
all available accommodation had been exhausted, and multitudes
of small-pox patients were lying in their own homes, acting as
so many centres of infection. He pressed, therefore, for
definite information "How was the emergency to be met?'' At
the request of the deputation, I stated my views to the effect
that small-pox patients should be removed out of London
altogether. This plan, almost immediately afterwards recommended
by the President to the Asylums Board, was by that
body carried into effect, with remarkable energy and with
lasting benefit to the Metropolis.
The Conference then appeared to be a failure. But good
seed had been sown; public attention had been drawn to the
subject of Notification, which was advocated in a leader in the
Times ; and although nearly seven years were to elapse before
your Vestry should again take it up, much discussion helped to
enlighten public opinion and prepare the way for legislation.
Meanwhile, utterances of weight were not wanting. Thus,
Dr. George Buchanan, the Medical Officer to the Local