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disease has usurped the title originally belonging to the
milder affection. Now there can be no doubt that when
cholera was made one of the notifiable diseases, it was
intended that the name should apply only to the epidemic
disease; but it was not so stated. This leads me to say
further, that I doubt the utility of making so-called "puerperal
fever" and erysipelas notifiable diseases. Puerperal
fever, so far as it is a definite disease, is septicaemia or pyaemia,
neither of which affections is included in the list; and
erysipelas is either the same or a very closely-related affection,
which, in its milder form or earlier stages, is readily
confounded with diseases of quite a different kind.
Of the above cases, 429 (including cases of scarlet fever,
diphtheria, and typhoid fever) were removed to Hospital;
the remainder were treated at home. And, in connection
with these, 987 houses and 1,150 lots of bedding, &c., were
disinfected. And, further, a small number of beds and other
articles, not fit to be disinfected, were destroyed, at a total
cost to the parish of £1 16s. 6d.
Table XXV. is a list of the cases which have been
notified during the year, and of the localities in which they
severally occurred.
In the latter part of the year (December 4th) the Infectious
Disease (Prevention) Act came into operation. It
is an Act in extension of the powers given to Vestries under
former Acts in respect of their dealings with dangerous
infectious diseases. It would be impossible, without quoting
the Act in extenso to make all its provisions clearly intelligible
There are three clauses, however, which, on