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Notwithstanding the closure of several wells from year to year, there
still remain a considerable number in the District, and my efforts will be
directed towards the continued maintenance of those wells, especially when
they exist in the less populous parts of the District.
Bacteriological Examination.
In my report to the Sanitary Committee on October 31st, I urged the
importance of providing some means of having a bacteriological examination
of material from suspected cases of Diphtheria and Enteric Fever when
I explained in detail my reasons for the adoption of this course. The question
was considered at your next meeting, and I think it is a cause for congratulation
that you decided to accede to my wishes in the matter. Arrangements
were then made with the Jenner Institute whereby suspected material
could be sent to the Laboratories of the Institute for examination. The
results so far have been eminently satisfactory, and I wish here to place on
record my sincere thanks to the Medical Practitioners of the District for the
readiness with which they have made use of the means placed at their disposal
for such diagnosis, as without their support this innovation would have
been useless. It entails additional work on their part, but this has been
cheerfully given, and it is an index of the value they ascribe to this method
which I am sure must meet with your warmest approbation, and I hope that
in the near future a laboratory will be provided in the District, when the results
of such bacteriological examination will be obtained even more
speedily than is the case at present.
Isolation Hospital.
Another cause for congratulation, and one which marks an epoch in the
advance of sanitation in the District, is the completion of the joint Richmond
and Heston and Isleworth Hospital at Mogden, which is now ready
for the reception of patients suffering from infectious disease, the first
patient having been admitted for scarlet fever on July 28th. The last patient
at the Dockwell Lane Hospital was discharged on September 28th, on which
date this Hospital was taken over by the Joint Hospital Committee with the
intention of reserving it for a Small Pox Hospital should any cases of that
disease arise in either this District or the Borough of Richmond.
Mortuary.
The completion of the Mortuary has satisfied a long-felt want in the
District, and 8 bodies have been taken there since it was opened on the 24th
of June.