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burned and the dust disinfected before removal. This was most
essential, as the dust-men were seen to take the rags out of the
dust and place them in a bag for sale. The men were warned
not to do so for the future if they found any in the dust, even
although disinfectants were freely used.
Before passing from the subject of the Small Pox Epidemic, I
desire to express my great objection to the term "preventable
diseases" as used by the Registrar General. A cursory perusal
of his reports would lead many to believe that the best test of
the Sanitary condition of any given locality is that afforded by
the proportion of deaths from "all causes" to those from
epidemic diseases, for all diseases of that class are grouped together
as preventable diseases. Now as I have many times stated
to this Board and elsewhere, that there is very good grounds for
believing that epidemic diseases will never cease to prevail in
civilised life, as the ordinary courtesies of society necessitate a
certain intermixture of the population, and consequently of
persons being exposed to the causes of such diseases. Besides
which, as I have before stated, the proportion of deaths from
these causes does not ordinarily vary very greatly from year to
year, as one or more is almost invariably epidemic at any given
period. Further, as the eruptive fevers occur generally but once
in a person's lifetime, the prevalence of disease and the consequent
mortality will depend in a great measure on the number
susceptiblo to it. In a community containing an excessive
proportion of children, as compared with the adult population,
we must expect a correspondingly large proportion of Scarlet
Fever, Measles, Whooping Cough and Diarrhœa, so that the
death-rate from these causes must be likely to be higher in
this district both now and for the future than hitherto, as there
are a larger proportion of children and a comparatively smaller
number of adults than there were before 1806. It has been