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have been 10,013 inspections of ships within that area,
and 263 have been found defective in their sanitary
arrangements. At first, in 1867, the annual proportion
of defective ships amounted to 146, whereas
in the year which has just expired it was only 30—
shewing that when the captains and owners of
vessels become aware of their sanitary supervision,
they take care to have them in tolerably good condition.
That there is great necessity for such
inspection of shipping there can be no doubt, for
over and over again it has been shewn that fever
and scurvy and epidemic diseases are very prevalent
in the vessels which trade with this port, and that
they are referable to defective sanitary arrangements.
And not alone do they affect the floating
population, for they are generally the means whereby
certain forms of zymotic disease are imported into
this country, and when this happens the defects of
our sanitary laws are strikingly exemplified. As an
instance, of this I may refer to the misadventure, if
I may so call it, of the orders in Council of July
and August of last year, when there was a threatened
invasion of cholera. These orders had reference to
the condition and treatment of ships arriving from
infected ports, and the local or nuisance authorities
of the port were intrusted with their execution.
But the Port of London comprises an area with 13
nuisance authorities, whose districts abut on the