boats coming from Ostend at one port and not at another. We shall be told, of course, that it is utterly impossible to prevent importation by way of Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven and Southampton, but I assert that when cholera is known to be epidemic in any French, Belgian, German, or other port within six or seven hours' steaming of our south coast, the vessels plying regularly across should carry sanitary officers for the express purpose of finding out if any infectious disease exist among the passengers, and providing for them on arrival, if necessary. Hull, having extensive and continuous steam communication with the north German ports, has always been alive to the importance of this question, and the authorities of the Tyne ports have adopted effective measures as regards the importation of disease from abroad. Liverpool is also now equally cautious as to her ocean-going ships, but with these exceptions I am not aware that at other places any systematic sanitary precautions are taken. Besides the duties above recorded, it is in the province of port sanitary officers to inspect and disinfect the clothing of any deceased seaman that has been sent from abroad, the owners of which have died, or are suspected to have died, of any contagious or infectious disease, and to give a clearance accordingly. Advice should be also given (and will be in most instances gladly followed) as to the sources and storage of drinking water, the condition of * the bilges, and the quarters of the crew. The port sanitary authority is not concerned with the inspection of outward bound emigrants who are under the special supervision of officers appointed by the Board of Trade, but the port authority is presumed to surpervise the condition of all emigrants brought to the port either for disembarkation or transhipment.

The duties of port sanitary authorities, however, by no means end with the examination of ocean-going ships. No less than 14,000 coasting vessels of all kinds enter the Thames year by year, and this class of craft exists at all other British ports, though of course in much smaller numbers. They are, I believe, as constant carriers of disease as ocean-going ships. Their normal sanitary condition is as a rule unsatisfactory in the extreme, their bilges are foul, the accommodation provided for the crew is, in many instances, simply disgraceful, and the supply of water used for drinking purposes is stored with no sort of regard to cleanliness. In most cases the crew are so to speak, on board wages, which arrangement appears to increase irregular, if not needy modes of living afloat. Steam ships carry from 14 to 20, and sailing vessels from 3 to 7 hands, and as these men are commonly engaged for the voyage, their work

is continuous whether in port or at sea. As when in port they usually lay at moorings in tiers of from 3 to 4 deep, any contagious disease existing in one vessel is likely to be carried to another. Typhoid or enteric fever is very prevalent in coasters, and up to the year 1873, more than 60 cases were admitted annually into the Seamens' Hospital at Greenwich. The fact that these small vessels propagate diseases from port to port in the United Kingdom, and perpetuate them, has been abundantly proved at times when epidemics have prevailed in various coasting towns, particularly on our eastern shores. Many of the smaller of these vessels still possess what are called lower forecastles, i.e., small close cabins at the bows, on a level with part of the cargo, with no ingress for air and light, except by means of the hatchway, and so perilously closed in on all sides, that in the event of a collision its inhabitants could not all effect their escape, and might easily be imprisoned by a falling spar or a staved-in bowsprit. Unless the officers of the port sanitary authority insist upon a process of scouring and Îime washing, the lower forecastles of most of our old colliers and other coasters would never be cleaned from year to year; and I cannot describe properly the intense amount of stuffiness and general dirt that has hitherto existed in these holes afloat. They are literally not fit for human habitation, and, though their number is decreasing annually, I think it a duty of the Government to precipitate this very necessary reform, by legislating to the effect that no vessel below a certain registered tonnage classed as a sea-going ship shall berth her crew in a lower forecastle. I base this opinion not on philanthropic but on sanitary grounds. It is the duty of port sanitary officers to board these vessels as they are found in the district; to order the cleaning of the berths, if necessary; to offer suggestions as to ventilation, &c.; to inquire especially into the source of the water supply; and to examine its modes of storage. I am not a skilled analyst, but no such officer is at present required in the port of London. For during the past eighteen months I have examined 120 specimens of drinking water found on board ship, 40 per cent. of which were found to be after the most superficial examination so abominably bad, both as to taste and smell, that an inquiry was naturally instituted into the modes of storage most in vogue. A cask or casks on deck is with small coasters the universal practice, which cask (like the forecastle) is seldom cleaned and then only, as I must suppose, in a perfunctory way. I boarded a very smart Welsh schooner some six weeks ago at the request of one of the inspectors, who asked me to examine the casks on deck and

their contents. I found the water excessively fetid from the presence of sulphuretted-hydrogen, and the casks when unheaded in a most filthy state. But nevertheless although good water was close at hand, a great deal of pressure was required before the master of the 'smart' vessel consented to supply it for the use of his crew. Much bad drinking water is brought in vessels that trade to ports on the northern coast of France, particularly on the banks of the Seine; but most captains are very amenable to hints and cautionary notices on the subject. It is by no means difficult to discover nuisances afloat as well as ashore. Foul cargoes consisting of condemned fish, street sweepings, manure, rotten potatoes, &c., abound on the Thames, and such cargoes when found should be dealt with promptly, either by removal, disinfection, or destruction. The bilges of vessels carrying such cargoes are always very foul, and should be pumped out after the discharge of every cargo.

In large ports the docks form an important item of sanitary administration. There are eight sets of docks in the port of London, and all land as well as water within the walls of the docks is within the jurisdiction of the port sanitary authority. Besides paying a visit to every vessel immediately after hauling into the dock, it is the duty of the officers to see that no stores likely to create a nuisance are warehoused without proper precautions; that the closets and latrines about the docks are kept in good order; and that the water in the dock is changed as often as is required for sanitary purposes. The dock authorities are always very glad to assist in all such matters and to adopt at once all reasonable suggestions, for it is satisfactory to them to know that, in the event of an epidemic, a preventive staff is ready at once to assist them. Amongst other practical reforms, it may be mentioned that in some of the docks all closets on board ship are closed, so that the water may not be fouled or its depth diminished.

It must not be forgotten that creeks discharging into a port are under the sanitary jurisdiction of that port, and require supervision. Small sloops and schooners, sailing and other barges, may all be found in these creeks or tributaries, seven of which discharge into the Thames, viz. :-the Brent, Wandle, Ravensbourne, Lea, Roding, Ingreburn, and Darent; their navigable channels varying from one to three miles in length. It is the duty of the sanitary authority here, as in the main channel, to communicate with the various riparian authorities. in all cases where objectionable outfalls exist, in order that these latter may be closed and diverted into the nearest drain or sewer. It is very desirable that additional powers under

this head should be given to port sanitary authorities in the forthcoming Rivers Pollution Bill, for in the case of the Thames, the hands of the conservators would be thus strengthened against Richmond, Brentford, and other places that pollute this beautiful stream in the upper part of its course. The town of Barking still sends its sewage into the Roding, and most plainly creates a nuisance thereby, within the jurisdiction of the Port of London Sanitary Authority, but as the Metropolitan Board of Works does the same thing at Barking and Crossness, and is protected in so doing by Act of Parliament, the remedy as regards Barking is not very clear.

Many ports are connected more or less directly with navigable canals. The port of London is so connected with the Grand Junction, Regents, and Surrey Canals on the former of which trade, between Brentford and Staffordshire, a vast number of small craft, called monkey barges, some of which are always to be found in the Thames, and as in most cases women and children live on board in an excessively confined space, these barges are likely to be (and indeed are) carriers of epidemic disease as well as merchandise.

I do not intend to trouble the members of the department with a formidable array of statistics, but may mention that during the past two years, the officers of the Port of London Sanitary Authority have visited and inspected 23,550 vessels of all kinds in the docks and on the river, disinfected the effects of 88 sick or deceased seamen, fumigated 22 ships, directed the cleansing of 3,591 dirty forecastles or deck houses, and the removal or destruction of 743 foul cargoes, and have referred or removed 516 sick sailors to hospital; a total of 152 samples. of water have been examined, 30 per cent. of which were found unfit for human consumption, and in 58 cases, slight structural or other changes suggested in order to assist ventilation have been carried into effect.

I have endeavoured to describe as briefly as possible the extensive and important practical duties devolving upon Port Sanitary Authorities, taking as an example the Port of London not only because it is the largest port in the kingdom, but because its geography and commercial relations are exceedingly complex and varied.

The work is for the most part more administrative than scientific. But having regard to the insular position of this country, it must be acknowledged that the duties of port sanitary authorities, if properly performed, should exercise a most beneficial effect on the sanitary welfare of the people.

County Main Sewers necessary in aid of Village and Small Town Drainage. By C. O. BAYLIS, M.D., Medical Officer of Health for West Kent.

IT

T is agreed among competent authorities that a proper drainage is the first and most effective step of all sanitary improvement; first, because the polluted water and putrefying liquids, so largely produced in the dwelling, must be innocuously run off to a sufficient distance to preserve the healthiness of its site; and second, that wherever many dwellings are clustered, a co-operative system, both for mutual safety and economy, is indispensable.

But a proper drainage does more than this, for it also bears away, without further cost, the whole of the solid excrement produced, and thus removes the next great sanitary evil of the day, viz., the storage among dwellings of the excreta of their inhabitants. Nor does this exhaust its utility, for a proper drainage also directly alleviates the sanitary want of a pure water supply by abolishing the cesspools and cesspits which so grievously contaminate the wells and streams by their permeation and overflow.

Such important and comprehensive results of proper drainage demand that all possible obstacles be removed and the utmost facility afforded for its general adoption. In offering my observations on these points, I shall have to distinguish two kinds of works, viz., those which collect and convey the sewage to its first outlets, which I call primary drainage works, and those added for utilisation, purification, or other objects before its passing, directly or indirectly, into the river, which I term supplementary. Now, it is the object of this paper to point out that the first, or primary drainage works, can be achieved in villages and small towns without serious difficulty, but that the second, or supplementary, involve expenses and impediments often beyond their reasonable resources, and that the best remedy is the provision of main sewers in place of supplementary works, to be constructed and maintained by the sanitary authorities.

It is the present obligation of purifying sewage before passing it into the river that renders the second or supplementary works necessary, and these are always relatively expensive, whether the purification be done by filtration, irrigation, or any other effective process.

In the former absence of this obligation, the nearest stream or brook supplied the ready and unforbidden outfall, while the