desirable that the definition of the word 'nuisance,' in the Nuisances Removal Acts, should be so extended as to cover the case of a district which is left without proper con-. structions and arrangements for wholesome cleanliness.

66

Thirdly, with regard to these elementary necessities of health, I venture to submit that the time has now arrived when it ought not any longer to be discretional in a place, whether the place shall be kept filthily or not. Powers sufficient for the local protection of the public health having first been universally conferred, it next, I submit, ought universally to be an obligation on the local authorities that those powers be exercised in good faith, and with reasonable vigor and intelligence. Though perhaps not of strict legal necessity, yet for convenience of common interpretation it seems desirable that the language of the law, besides making it a power, should also name it a duty, of local authorities to proceed for the removal of nuisances to which their attention is drawn ; that thus, obviously to every one, any extreme sanitary neglect in a district should be an evil for which the Court of Queen's Bench, with its ordinary machinery of mandamus, could apply a remedy. And I would suggest that this remedy should in fitting cases be obtainable, either on the complaint of an aggrieved person, or on the motion of some appointed public complainant.

"Fourthly, if the above-suggested changes were made, it would, in connexion with them, be desirable that facilities should be given for the creation of special nuisances removal districts, by some such process as that which now creates districts under the Local Government Act. Particularly as regards large and heterogeneous unions (such as now often are single sanitary jurisdictions) it would be much for the convenience of the Boards of Guardians, that the Secretary of State should, on the motion of the guardians or otherwise, be able to divide the area into separate nuisances removal districts, whereof each would then be governed, for sanitary purposes, by an elected board of its own.

"It would be superfluous for me here to specify the many minor amendments which, in addition to the above-suggested changes, are, in my opinion, needful for converting our

present Nuisances Removal Acts into that which doubtless the Legislature intends them to be an efficient sanitary law for all common purposes of the country. But as further points, where, in my opinion, amendment is particularly required, I may name the following :-(1) the absence of special provisions for the regulation of such work-places as are not under the Factory Law; (2) the want of precision and efficiency in the law relative to overcrowded dwellings; (3) the absence of provision, generally in the country, against the construction of houses unfit for healthy habitation; (4) the absence of reasonable restriction, summarily enforceable, on the frequentage of public places by persons suffering from dangerous infectious diseases; and (5) the absence of convenient local jurisdiction over the sanitary state of ships coming into relation with populous places. Partly with reference to some of the above points, and partly with reference to others which I do not here separately mention, I append (No. 10) a memorandum with which, at my request, the medical officers of health of the Metropolis have favoured me, stating where, in their experience, the health-statutes have been shown to require amendment. And I beg to refer to that memorandum, as representing the largest experience which can be quoted with regard to the present insufficiencies of the law for the purposes of large urban populations.

In furtherance of an important object proposed by their lordships, in 1862-the object of getting due knowledge as to the states of disease by which animal food is rendered unfit for human consumption, and with particular reference to certain recent advances of scientific experience in some branches of the subject, my lords in 1864 ordered inquiry to be made as to the prevalence of parasitic disease (and especially of the so-called trichina spiralis) in the meat of the London markets, and as to the danger which such disease implies of infection of the human consumer. Dr. Thudichum was employed on this inquiry, and has furnished a report on the subject in all its relations.

"It may be convenient that I quote here from my fifth report the passages in which two years ago I submitted to their lordships my then information on the practical bearings of

the parasitic diseases of animals which are used for food. Having spoken (first) of the contagious fevers of stock, and (secondly) of the so-called anthracic and anthracoid diseases of stock, I continued thus :

666

'Thirdly, there are the parasitic diseases of stock-diseases, which consist in the colonization of the living animal's body by lower animal forms, larval or mature, subsisting at its expense. Such are the following diseases;-the so-called "measles" of the pig, in which disease the cysticercus cellulose (larva of the solium tapeworm) is found more or less abundantly diffused through the muscular system, and perhaps in other parts, of the animal;-the analogous disease of horned cattle, due to the larva of the t. mediocanellata;—the various, chiefly visceral, diseases of stock which depend on larvæ of the tania marginata and t. echinococcus ;-the brain disease, "gid" or sturdy," which is due to a larva, mostly of the t. canurus;—the rot of sheep, due to swarms of adult and oviparous fluke-worms (distoma) in the liver;-the lung-disease which, especially in calves and lambs, is produced by different kinds of strongulus;—the easily-overlooked but highly important diseases of swine, which consists in an infestation of their muscular system by the minute immature forms of the trichina. . .

this

may

"As regards meat which is infested with parasites, we know with absolute certainty that become a source of human disease. Every tapeworm, found existing in human bowels, was once a cysticercus, or other hydatid, nested either in the living muscle or in some other living texture of an animal which is used for food. Tapeworm unfortunately is not a very rare human affection; though how it comes to pass that we, not very rarely, get to swallow alive those cystic brute-parasites which are larvæ of the intestinal tapeworm, is somewhat difficult to explain. A mouthful of fresh "measly" pork, eaten raw, would of course explain such an occurrence. But the cysticercus cannot outlive being cooked; and as the form of cured ham, bacon and sausage is the only form in which uncooked pork is even scantily an article of diet among us, it seems probable that cysticerci may outlive some or all of the processes by which meat is commonly cured, and may thus get swallowed alive by persons who eat uncooked sausage, ham, or bacon.

666

'This, however, is not our only concern with the tænial order of brute-parasites. Dogs and other animals which get opportunities of eating the raw offal of slaughter-houses are constantly swallowing live larvæ which afterwards become mature tapeworms within them. The mature tapeworm, holding fast by its head to the mucous membrane of its host's intestine, sheds from its other end the successive eggbearing joints which it developes there; and wherever the tapeworm lodging animal passes, these fertile fragments get dropped in all directions with excrement, and lead of course to a wide and dangerous dispersion of eggs. Often the eggs must find their way into sources of drinking water, or on to various low-growing vegetables or fruits which are apt to be consumed in an uncooked state by man; and if, with any such vehicle, man swallows a live tapeworm egg, he immediately has the egg hatched within him, and now in his turn suffers from the larval form of the parasite. Fresh from its egg, the young sexless animal, which he has swallowed, burrows through the wall of his stomach or intestine, and, having thence migrated to some more or less distant part of his body, grows there, destructively, to its full larval development as a cystic entozoon ;perhaps to show itself one of the sporadic locally sterile cysticerci which are commonest in man's muscle, cellular membrane, eye and brain; or perhaps (and this oftenest in man's liver) to prove itself the pill-box hydatid or echinococcus, and to illustrate one of the most striking stories of so-called "alternate generation," by breeding almost unlimitedly from its own larval substance, as by buds, new cysts which repeat the form and inherit the fertility of their strange sexless parent.*

"It is in Iceland that the saddest experience exists as to the above-described alternate generations' of the tapeworm. There the diseases which are due to the various stages of various kinds of tapeworm prevail to an enormous extent among both men and cattle. Dr. Arthur Leared (who has recently investigated this subject in Iceland, and has kindly permitted me to read the English manuscript of an essay which he has published in Icelandic on the result of his inquiry) says, on the authority of Dr. Hjaltelin, of Reykjavik, that a fifth part of the human mortality in Iceland is caused by hydatid disease. And how great is the influence which the dog exerts as an intermediary in propagating such disease cannot be better illustrated than by the fact of Dr. Leared's having suggested, as one of his two measures for preventing the human hydatid disease, that all the dogs of the island should be medically treated for tapeworm."

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Tapeworms are not the only injurious parasites which man may receive from the animals which he eats. Quite recently it has been discovered that a microscopical thread-worm, the so-called trichina spiralis, brings, perhaps not very rarely, the muscular flesh of swine into a state in which a small quantity of it, eaten raw, will suffice to destroy life ;-viz., that the sexless larval trichina, which may be counted by hundreds in any small mass of the diseased muscle, will acquire their sexual development directly they reach alive the stomach of the muscle-eating animal; that, unlike the tapeworm (which commonly sends forth its eggs to hatch somewhere outside the body wherein it dwells) each trichina will breed swarms of young within the intestinal canal of its host; and that these innumerable young, migrating from the animal's intestinal canal to all parts of its muscular system, will create an amount of irritation which often is sufficient to kill. This result has been witnessed, not only among various lower animals whereon the experiment has been abundantly tried, but also quite indisputably in man. And the danger to man is even greater than I have yet said. For pork, in order to be capable of carrying live trichinalarvæ into the stomach, needs not to be abso

*

"See especially in Virchow's Archiv., vol. 18, papers by the editor and by Prof. Zenker of Dresden. Prof. Zenker incidentally mentions, that among 136 post-mortem examinations which he made during eight months of the year 1855, he found four subjects evidently affected with trichina. He gives in detail the case of a farm girl who died under his observation in 1860, killed by triching. She had a month before been taking part with the other farm-servants in a particular pig-sticking and in the consequent processes, and had probably (according to what is said to be a not very unusual practice) taken an occasional pinch of the sausage-meat which she had to chop. She soon fell ill, and died in five weeks. Her bowels contained swarms of adult trichinæ, and the voluntary muscles throughout her entire body were colonized by myriads of larvæ. It appeared on inquiry that other persons who took part in slaughtering the same pig also suffered, and that, though none died, two were bedridden for weeks. Microscopical examination of products which were remaining of the slaughtered pig-ham, sausages, and black pudding-showed in them innumerable dead trichinæ. [While the present report is being printed, a contemporary number of Virchow's Archiv., (vol. 27, p. 421) contains a paper by Dr. C. Tüngel of Hamburg, giving particulars of a case in which certainly one death was caused, and perhaps also a second death, as well as some not fatal illness, by the consumption of trichinous pork on board ship. Of the two deaths, one occurred on the 24th, the other on the 27th day after that on which the pig was slaughtered, and the consumption of its flesh begun.-July, 1863."]

lutely raw. Professor Leuchart, a distinguished experimenter on this subject, has found trichinameat retaining much of its dangerous qualities even when it had to some considerable extent undergone both pickling and smoking.'

"During the two years which have elapsed since the presentation of my fifth report, progress has, in many respects, been made in knowledge of animal parasites, and especially a mass of most important experience has been collected with regard to the trichina spiralis. This microscopical threadworm has suddenly been shown to be of unsuspected importance to man. Happily not yet in England, but in several instances in Germany, the consumption of trichinous pork has been found at the root of local epidemics which of old would doubtless have been confounded with fever. It was by the alarming significance of one particular occurrence of that kind in Germany in the autumn of 1863, that my Lords were induced to order the present special inquiry. In the little town of Hettstädt in Prussian Saxony, the utilization of one trichinous pig (chiefly in festive celebration of the battle of Leipzig) had led to an epidemic of human trichiniasis wherein there were at least 158 sufferers, and no fewer than 28 deaths; and not even the Schleswig-Holstein excitement of last year prevented Germany, high and low, from recognizing almost tumultuously that the physiology of the trichina spiralis was a question of great importance to the nation. How important, may be judged from those pages of Dr. Thudichum's report which tell of the Hettstädt epidemic, or by reficetion on the fact that doubts were currently expressed whether the use of so staple an article of diet as pork ought not to be absolutely discontinued. The importance of the subject is likely to be less in England than in Germany, because in England that consumption of uncooked or imperfectly cooked pork which favours the ingestion of live trichinæ is vastly less frequent than in Germany; and moreover up to the present time trichinous swine do not seem to be of frequent occurrence in England. Still, in face of the circumstances to which I have referred, no apology will be needed for the very considerable extension which it has been thought desirable Dr. Thudichum should give to those parts of his reports which relate to a parasite so dangerous and so easily overlooked.

Indeed, altogether, it has seemed expedient so to treat the whole subject of the parasitic diseases of stock, that the report may be referred to-and especially for medical purposes, as a monograph on that subject, and of course predominantly on its less familiar parts. It is with this view that the physiology of each parasite mentioned in the report has been discussed there at some little length; and that, in regard of trichiniasis-a subject almost new to this country, masses of detail are given (both from German experience, and from Dr. Thudichum's own observations) to illustrate the habits of the parasite, and especially the laws of its reproduction and migration, and the circumstances under which man is likely to be infected by it, and the symptoms which result from its presence in the human body, and the ways in which trichiniasis may be distinguished from the diseases which it most nearly resembles."

MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, AND DEATHS. Table of the Number of Marriages, Births, and Deaths registered in England in the year

1864.

During the year 1864, in a population of 20,066,224 there were 180,263 marriages, 739,763 births, and 495,520 deaths. The births included 377,590 males, and 362,170 females. The deaths 253,882 males, and 241,638 females. The marriages were registered in the different quarters of the year as follows:-March, 37,948; June, 44,596; September, 44,650, and December, 53,069. The births as follows:-March, 192,926; June, 188,641; September, 180,752; December, 177,444. The deaths as follows:-March, 143,030; June, 116,899; September, 112,133; December, 123,458. In the different divisions of England, the marriages, births, and deaths were registered as follows:

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.

General Return for the Year ending 11th day of October, 1864, of all matters Judicial and Financial, within the Bankruptcy Act, 1861. THERE were in all 7,224 adjudications of bankruptcy. Of these 595 were on petition of a creditor; 5,260 on petition of a debtor; 904 by registrars of the prison; 456 on petitions in forma pauperis; and 9 on judgment debtor summons. Of the 7,224 adjudications, 2,311 were in the London district court; 1,537 in the county district courts, viz. :--Birmingham district, 365; Bristol, 162; Exeter, 96; Leeds, 321; Liverpool, 266; Manchester, 234; and

Newcastle, 93; and 3,376 in the county courts. In 2,972 adjudications, the debts of the bankrupt exceeded 3007.; in 4,252 adjudications they did not exceed 300l. During the year there were 5,335 certificates granted, 316 certificates suspended, and 80 refused. The total amount of gross produce realized from the several bankrupts' estates was 677,5361.0s. 7d., of which the amount realized by creditors' assignees was 350,3021. Ss. 4d., and by official assignees 327,233l. 12s. 3d. In 1,586 cases, a dividend was made, and in 5,324 cases there was no dividend. In 848 cases the dividend was under 2s. 6d.; in 381 it was 2s. 6d., and under 5s.; in 192, it was 5s., and under 7s. 6d. ;

it was 10s., and under 15s. ; in 25, it was 15s., and under 20s. ; in 37 cases it was 20s. There were in the year 3,604 trust deeds registered, of which 2,208 were deeds of assignment; 1,348, deeds of composition; and 48, deeds of inspectorship, for which the amount of stamp duty was 9,505l., and the gross value of estates and effects represented was 3,802,000l. At the master's office there were 6,148 bills taxed, involving a gross amount of expenditure of 87,0647. 1s. 3d., but 8,1187. 10s. 8d. was the amount struck off on taxation. There were in all 58 appeals from judgments, of which 18 were affirmed, 14 reversed, 1 varied, and 25 pending: 40 appeals under trust deeds, of which 8 were affirmed, 1 reversed, and 1 pending; and 2 from county courts judgments, of which 1 was varied, and 1 was pending. The messengers received in all 34,496l. 15s. 2d. in fees, and paid to disbursement and assistance, including salaries, 26,1217. 16s. 6·1., leaving a surplus of 8,8741. 18s. 74. The sum of 16,3681. was received for deposits, and the sum of 10,4851. 2s. 4d. of deposits was returned. The net amount of registrar's fees was 10,6787. 19s. 5d., and of high bailiff's fees was 5,6071. 5s. 10d. The revenue and expenditure of the court of bankruptcy showed the following items:-The payments were-salaries, 84,3591.; compensations, 14,7961.; retiring annuities, 12,4701.; expenses in courts and offices, 12,7941.; fees to county courts registrars, 6,2831.; solicitors for pauper prisoners, 4,8981.; bank remuneration, 1,595.; expense of visiting gaols two years, 1,1727.; which, with other expenses, made a total of 140,8941., besides an investment in consols of 25,000l., making a total of 165,8947. 2s. 7d. The receipts comprised 26,7311. from the commissioners of inland revenue; 45,2301. dividends on stock; 27,8961. from the official assignees for surplus remuneration fees; 17,2617. for messengers' surplus fees; 37,1027. from the paymaster-general, for compensation and retiring annuities for two years, which, with other receipts, made a total of 176,8157. 17s. 9d. On the 11th October, 1864, the following balances were held:-In the general account -28,3031. stock; 59,000l. exchequer bills; 26,4267. cash. In the bankruptcy fund account -stock, 1,852,4021. In the chief registrars'

claimed dividend account-cash, 2,6247.; stock, 57,7261. 12s. The purposes of the 26th seetion-cash, 3,0401. ; exchequer bills, 110,300.; stock, 16,430. Provisional assignees' indemnity fund account-cash, 1,130l. The total payments for salaries of registrars, chief clerks, official assignees, and other officers, amounted in the year to 84,3591. 10s. 5d. The London commissioners have a salary of 2,000l. each; the country commissioners, 1,8001. The London registrars from 1,000l. to 1,200.; the official salaries from 1,000l. to 1,500. The compensations to late country commissioners amounted to 1,47961.; the retiring annuities to 12,470l.

PAPERS RELATING TO BOOTAN.

THE following precis of the relations with Bootan was prepared by Mr. Under-Secretary Aitchison, dated May 19th, 1864.

The districts of Bootan between the hills and the British frontier are known as the Doars, and take their names from the different passes which lead through the hills into Bootan. Besides the Kooreapara Doar, formerly governed by the Twang Rajah, who was immediately dependent on Lassa, there are in all eighteen Doars, eleven on the Bengal frontier, and seven on the frontier of Assam. Over the Bengal Doars, which extend from the Teesta, on the eastern boundary of Sikkim, to the Moras, the Bootias have for long years held sovereign dominion; and previous to the annexation of Assam by the British Government during the first Burmese war, the Bootias had also wrested four of the Assam Doars from the native Government, while the other three were held on a sort of joint tenure by the Bootias and Assamese. How long this state of things had existed is not precisely known. The Bootias paid tribute to the Assam Government for the Doars, and after the annexation of Assam the tribute was paid to the British Government, who also continued the system of joint occupation of the three Doars of Kooreapara, Booree Gooma, and Kulling, holding them for four months every year, and making them over to Bootan for the other eight months. From the report of the agent to the GovernorGeneral on the north-east frontier, dated 12th