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accept the appointment, were thrown open to the public for
tho gratuitous supply of medicines and disinfectants to the
poor and needy, and each one was supplied with formulæ and
directions by the Officer of Health. Any case of diarrhœa or
cholera was attended to by the medical visitors, whose proscriptions
were dispensed at the chemists' establishments.
In all cases of epidemic disease the directions given were,
that a sufficiently largo vessel containing Burnett's Disinfecting
Fluid (solution of chloride of zinc), mixed with water in
the proportion of 4 fluid ounces to a gallon, should be placed in
readiness outside the house, into which all infected clothing,
&c., should be placed immediately after removal from the
patient.
Carbolate of lime (McDougall's Powder) was supplied, to be
placed in the vessels used for the reception of the dejections
of patients suffering from diarrhoea, &c.; infected articles of
wearing apparel, beds, &c., were burned under the superintendence
of the Inspectors of Nuisances; a small kiln was
erected for this purpose upon a piece of land adjoining the
cemetery.
The Board of Works held themselves responsible for articles
of wearing apparel, &c., thus destroyed; the few cases of
cholera not having been deemed sufficient to warrant the expense
required for the erection of disinfecting works.
Handbills, recommended by the Association of Medical
Officers of Health, were printed and circulated in every part
of the district, and the Water Companies were communicated
with, requesting them to be more than ordinarily careful in
the water supply.
Partly owing no doubt to the prompt action of the Board
of Works in carrying out the Privy Council Regulations, and
the careful attention which was paid to each individual case
of diarrhoea, tho eases of cholera in the district were very few,
and only 10 deaths were registered from this cause in a population
of 30,000.
Tho history of some of these cases, however, is important,
from the evident connection between them and the infected
districts.