15 LON 32 REPORT ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY OF LONDON, FOR THE YEAR 1864—1865. BY H. LETHEBY, M.B., M.A., PH.D., &C., MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR THE CITY OF LONDON, AND PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE COLLEGE OP THE LONDON HOSPITAL. LONDON: M. LOWNDS, PRINTER, FENCHURCH STREET, CITY. 1866. At a Meeting of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, held at the Guildhall of the said City, on Tuesday, January 16th, 1866:— The Medical Officer of Health laid before the Court his Annual Report, which was ordered to be Printed and a Copy to be sent to every Member of this Court, and of the Court of Common Council. JOSEPH DAW, Principal Clerk. CONTENTS. PAGE Births, Deaths, and Marriages in the City in 1865 7 Distribution of the Marriages in the City Unions, and Rate per 1,000 of the Population 8 Ditto of the Births, and Ditto 8 Ditto of the Deaths, and Ditto 9 Death-rate in City according to Age 11 Causes of Death in 1865 12 Sickness Returns in City Unions 13 Remarks on the Apprehended Outbreak of Epidemic Disease in the year 14 As of the Russian Pestilence (Typhus and Remittant Fever) 14 The Epidemic (Cerebro-spinal Meningitis) 17 The Epidemic Cholera in the Mediterranean and in Europe 18 The Appearance of Yellow Fever at Swansea 19 The Cattle Plague in England 20 Origin of the Disease obscure 22-26 First Cases in London 25 Progress of it in the country 26 Mortality from it in London 29 Ditto in all England 30 Danger of Future Importation, and Preventive Measures 31 Nature of the Contagious Matter 33 Mischievous Effects of the Orders in Council 38 Necessary Measures for Checking the Diseases 39 Period of Incubation of the Disease 41 Symptoms of the Disease 42 Mortality of the Disease 42 Methods of Treatment 44 Specific Nature of the Disease 46 Communicability of it to other Ruminants 47 Unfitness of the Flesh for Human Food 49 vi PAGE General Regulations respecting the Sale of Meat 51 In Austria 53 In Bavaria . 57 In Prussia 58 In Switzerland 59 In Italy 63 In Belgium 64 In France 68 In America 69 In City of London 72 Amount of Meat Seized in the City Markets 73 Appearances and Characters of Sound and Unsound Meat 73 Amount of Fish Seized in the City Markets 77 Sanitary Work of the Year 77 Meteorology for the Year 78 APPENDIX. Table I. Enumeration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in 1865. „ II. Annual Enumeration of Births in 1865. „ III. Annual Enumeration of Deaths in 1865. „ IV. Classification of Deaths according to Age. „ v. Classification of Deaths according to Causes. „ VI. Meteorology of the year 1865. „ VII. Account of Sanitary Work in the City in 1865. „ VIII. Account of Meat Seized in the City Markets. „ IX. List of Slaughter-houses in the City. „ X. List of Cow-houses in the City. the SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY OF LONDON. THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH. To the Honourable Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London. Gentlemen, In the course of the year which expired in September last, there were 2,594 births, 2,673 deaths, and 1,602 marriages registered in the City of London. The average numbers for the last ten years are 3,203 for the births, 2,909 for the deaths, and 1,684 for the marriages. In the course of that time the population of the City has declined from a total of 129,922 to 114,472, and the number of inhabited houses from 14,706 to 13,478. 8 The distribution of the marriages was as follows:—515 were in the Eastern Union, 454 were in the Western, and 633 were in the City of London Union, or City proper. Both of the former numbers are below the average for the year; but the latter is somewhat in excess of the average, 609. In the Eastern District of the City the marriages have been at the rate of 12.2 per 1,000 of the population, in the Western 16.9, and in the Central 13.6—the average for the whole City being about 14 per 1,000 of the population. In all England the proportion is about 8.4 per 1,000, and in the whole of the metropolis it is 10.3. The marriages in the City, therefore, have been greatly above the common average, and it is remarkable that the largest proportion has been in the poorest districts, and the smallest in the City proper. As usual, the greatest number of marriages has been in the quarter ending in September. Of the 2,594 births in the City, 1,281 were boys, and 1,313 girls, and they were thus distributed— 1,104 were in the Eastern Division, 712 were in the Western, and 778 were in the Central. These are in the proportion of 26.7 per 1,000 of the inhabitants of the first and second divisions of the City, and only 16.7 of the third—the average for the entire City being 22.6. In former years, the 9 average proportion has been 26.2 per 1,000 of the population, and in the whole of the metropolis, as well as in England generally, the proportion is 33.3 per 1,000. The birth-rate in the City, therefore, is below the average, and it is still declining. The 2,673 deaths in the year comprised 1,373 males, and 1,300 females; and they were registered as follows:— 1,039 in the Eastern Union, 733 in the Western, and 901 in the City proper. These numbers are at the rate of 25.1 per 1,000 of the inhabitants of the first-named union, 27.4 of the second, and nearly 19.4 for the third—the general average for the entire City being 23.3. In the preceding ten years the averages were 26.2 per 1,000 for the Eastern Union, 27.5 for the Western, and 19.7 for the Central—making a total of 23.8 for the whole City. In all England the mortality is at the rate of 22.2 per 1,000 of the population; and in the districts of the chief towns it is 24.1, while in the rural districts it is only 19.9. It is evident, therefore, that the mortality in the Eastern and Western Divisions of the City is excessive, although the general death-rate for the whole City is less than that of the town districts of England, and somewhat less than the average of former years. Looking, however, at the many circumstances which influence the mortality in our large 10 towns, it is manifest that the death-rate alone can never be regarded as a truthful exponent of the sanitary condition of any locality, for where the death-rate is large the proportion of births is also considerable, and the population is generally on the increase. On the other hand, as Mr. Rumsey remarks in one of his essays on State medicine, where the death-rate has been lessened, as the result of improvement in domestic management, and in medical treatment, and owing to the removal or absence of those more virulent agents of destruction which, by sharp and decisive strokes, prematurely sever the thread of life, it often happens that the sickly and infirm period of existence has been prolonged—probably in a greater degree than even life itself; chronic diseases, or, at least, functional disorder have been increased; the vital force is lowered; man's work is arrested; his duties are unperformed; and his objects fail, although he still lives. Weakly diseased children are now mercifully helped, as they never were in olden time, to grow up into weakly ailing adults, who, in their turn, propagate with abnormal fecundity an unsound progeny. So that while we lessen the death-rate of a district, we may be actually increasing the sickness and social infirmities of it. The death-rate alone, therefore, gives no indication of the sanitary wellbeing of a place. It must be conjoined with the birth-rate, the 11 mortality of children, the returns of sickness, the causes of death, and the occupation of the people. As regards the City, however, after a consideration of all these circumstances, there is still a high mortality, but it is the mortality from an overstraining of man's power by industry rather than from a defective sanitary regime. As I remarked to you in my last Annual Report, the chief feature in the City death-rate is the large mortality among men at from 55 to 65 years of age. In former years the mortality at that period of life was only 48 per 1,000 of the living, whereas it is now nearly 60 per 1,000. In all England the death-rate of men at those ages is but 32 per 1,000, and in France it is but 29: and even in the City the death-rate of women at those ages is but 37 per 1,000. It is evident, therefore, that the great strain upon a City life is most felt in the years of declining manhood; and, no doubt, it is the result of the overtaxed energies of commerce. In Table No. IV. of the Appendix, I have classified the deaths in the City according to age, and you will observe that about 36 per cent. of all the deaths were among children of less than five years of age; in the Eastern Union the proportion is rather more than 40 per cent. At from 5 to 20 years of age it is about 7 per cent.; at from 20 to 50 it is about 26 per cent.; at from 50 to 70 it is 12 nearly 22 per cent.; and at 70 and over it is hardly 13 per cent. The chief causes of death were as follows:— phthisis 321, tabes and scrofula 214, hydrocephalus 51, convulsions and teething 138, pneumonia and bronchitis 425, alvine flux, of children 68, and of adults 18, continued fever 106, scarlet-fever 69, small-pox 8, measles 24, whooping-cough, croup, and diphtheria 177, and erysipelas 18, besides 174 from violence, privation, and premature birth. Some of these numbers are slightly in excess of the average, but generally they are much below it. Tabes and scrofula, for example, have risen from 176 to 214, and whooping-cough, croup, and diphtheria from 155 to 177; but phthisis has declined from 360 to 321, hydrocephalus, convulsions, and teething from 243 to 189, diarrhoea from 102 to 86, continued fever from 112 to 106, scarlet-fever from 113 to 69, small-pox from 29 to 8, and measles from 85 to 24: in fact, the decline of zymotic diseases generally has been from a yearly average of 614 to 488. Last year the mortality was high from scarlet-fever and measles, but this year, as you will notice, both of these diseases have fallen below their normal proportion, while the deaths from whooping-cough have risen from 69 to 114. This, indeed, is the only disease of the zymotic class which has exceeded the average. 13 The sickness returns among the poor of the several City Unions have also been below the average; for while the total number of cases attended by the Union medical officers during the year is but 9,473, the average numbers for the last five years is 11,228; but the number of fever cases has risen from an average of 670 to 845; in fact, the general prevalence of fever in the metropolis has led to much public discussion of the circumstances supposed to be concerned in developing it, and very early in the year attention was directed to this matter. It was shown that there are certain districts of London which are constantly supplying patients to the London Fever Hospital; and these are the abodes of wretchedness and filth. It frequently happens, however, that the powers of the law are insufficient to deal with the sanitary evils of these places; for the inhabitants of them are of the very lowest class of society, and they either wickedly abuse, or utterly disregard the attempts which are made to improve their dwellings. Nothing, indeed, can be more disheartening than the unsuccessful and yet constantly repeated efforts to better the condition of these places. We want a despotism to deal with them; for there is not only the disinclination or determined opposition of landlords to all species of sanitary improvement, but there are also the ignorance and mischievous perversity of the tenants; and these 14 are too often the cause of the wretchedly unwholesome state of the tenements. At present these matters are a subject of great anxiety to the sanitary officers of every large City. Excepting, therefore, the unusual prevalance of fevers of the typhoid class, the mortality from which, however, in the City has not been great, the general health of the City during the year has not been unfavourable; but our fears have been aroused on more than one occasion by the seeming advent of epidemic diseases. Early in the year (in March last) our apprehensions were awakened by the accounts which reached us of a new disease in St. Petersburgh. which had caused an alarming mortality. At first, the rumours of it were vague, and its nature was unintelligible; it was described as a kind of plague of peculiar virulence, and was characterised by fever, convulsions, and carbuncles or boils. It was called the Russian pestilence, and was said to have come from the deserts of Siberia, to have crossed the Ural mountains, and to have existed for many months in St. Petersburgh, whence it was advancing over the valley of the Vistula into Western Europe, and was fast approaching our own shores. The most conflicting reports were circulated respecting it. According to some it was a virulent form of Asiatic cholera; according to others it was the true Oriental plague 15 with carbuncles and pestilential buboes; according to others it was malignant inflammation of the spleen; and lastly, it was said to be the black death itself. The public were greatly alarmed, and the Government thought it right not only to issue interrogatories to the Russian Government, but also to send physicians to the haunts of the disease; and then it was found that two different kinds of disease had appeared in an epidemic form in different parts of Europe, and that the fears of the public had united them into one. In the Russian capital there was an epidemic of two or more fevers of the typhoid class; and in Eastern Prussia and the neighbouring states of the confederation a peculiar inflammation of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord appeared in an epidemic form and had been remarkably fatal. It was further ascertained that at St. Petersburgh, where the great mass of the inhabitants are ill-fed, ill-clothed, and ill-lodged, it was not uncommon for typhus and typhoid fevers to break out in a virulent manner in the autumn and spring of the year; but this year, during the months of March and April, when the melting of the ice, and the period of the great Careme (Lent) had brought an unusually large number of vagrant workmen to the capital, the fever appeared in greater virulence; and there was added to them another form of the 16 malady—relapsing fever, which had never before been seen in the city; and the mortality from the three kinds of fever was so great that the epidemic might well be called a pestilence. The origin of the epidemic has been attributed by the Russian medical authorities to the bad hygienic arrangements of the city, and to the unusual aggregation of workmen, 43,000 of whom had resorted to the city in excess of the usual number; added to which there was a scarcity of provisions and all the depressing influences of a changeable climate. So rapidly did the epidemic advance, that from a few cases of sickness per day at the end of August, it numbered at least 500 cases in the hospitals in November; and towards the end of January and beginning of February, after a slight lull in the winter months, there were from 250 to 300 cases per day. Every effort was made by the authorities to check the progress of the epidemic; but although public hospitals were provided, and sanitary measures were adopted, yet six months after the outbreak of the fevers there were not less than 150 cases admitted daily into the public hospitals; and by the 1st of March the total number of cases admitted was 14,722, of which 2,034 had died. About half of these cases were typhus, and the other were relapsing fever. The population of St. Petersburgh is about 500,000; and, therefore, 17 sidering that only the poorer classes were removed to the public hospitals, it is probable that more than 30 per cent., or perhaps one-third of the entire population were smitten with the epidemic, and of these about 14 per cent. died—the mortality of the whole of the city being not less than at the rate of 8 per 1,000 per annum. It is not surprising, therefore, that the reports of the violence of the epidemic should have commanded attention, especially as the season in England was somewhat unhealthy, and there was a manifest tendency to the development of diseases of the typhoid class; but the public mind was soon tranquillised when it was found that the fevers of St. Petersburgh were of a local character, that they were in fact the products of famine and overcrowding, and were the precise counterparts of the fevers which had devastated Ireland in 1847, after the failure of the potato crop. With regard to the other disease which had appeared in an epidemic form in Brunswick, Hesse, Hanover, and Eastern Prussia, it was ascertained that it was an unusual form of cerebrospinal meningitis, and had no connection whatever with the preceding. Like the former, however, it was strictly local in its character, and showed no tendency to expand. It is a rare disease, and consists c 18 of a sudden inflammatory affection of the membranes of the brain and spinal cord, causing extreme pain and violent convulsions; and the mortality from it was so large as to create alarm. The conditions of its existence are not well known, for the malady has only been recognised during the last fifty years. It is probable, however, that it is determined by controllable causes. And with respect to another cause of alarm— I have had to report to you of the existence of cholera in an epidemic form in the towns and villages upon the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and of the fears which were entertained of its appearance in England. But in tracing the origin of the disease among the pilgrims at Mecca, some of whom had come from the infected districts of India, and following it along its unusual course to Alexandria, and thence to Cairo, and across the eastern arm of the Mediterranean to Smyrna, Constantinople, and the villages of the Bosphorus, it did not seem to me probable that it would make a serious advance into Europe until the coming spring. It is true that many places upon the European side of the Mediterranean were visited with some severity by the disease, and that it had even reached the capital of France; but the progress of the malady was so different from its former visitations, that I entertained no fear of its appearing in England 19 during the past year. The coming spring, however, may again show it at Constantinople, or upon the northern shores of the Mediterranean, or even in Paris, and then we may expect to have it sooner or later among us. But to be forewarned is to be forearmed; for its habits are well known. The lesson, indeed, of the recent outbreak is but a repetition of the lessons of the past; for everywhere we perceive that the haunts of cholera are the haunts of wretchedness and filth; and that, like other epidemic diseases, it strikes hardest where there is dirt, and poverty, and ignorance, and fear. It is, therefore, we hope, a controllable disease, and as such we should be prepared to meet it. Again; early in the month of September, there was some cause for public alarm in the circumstance that there was an outbreak of yellow fever at Swansea. It was imported in a ship laden with copper ore from Cuba, and although the disease is rare in this climate, and perhaps never appears when the temperature is below 50 degrees, yet in consequence of the remarkably warm month of September, it showed itself with some force for a little while after the arrival of the infected ship; for 29 persons are said to have been attacked by it in Swansea, and of these 13 died. All of them had been in communication with the infected vessel or the crew, and it appears to be a strong proof of the contagious character of the disease. It is evidence, c 2 20 also, of the fact that at certain seasons of the year, and in certain conditions of the atmosphere, a peculiarly tropical fever may show itself among us; and it indicates the necessity of looking well into the sanitary condition of vessels trading with the tropics; for an outbreak of such a disease in this metropolis during the hot months of summer and autumn might be most serious. But the most remarkable event of the year 1865 has been the prevalence of a frightfully fatal disease among cattle. The malady was first seen in the filthy cowsheds of London, where, if it was not actually generated, it was so intensified that its force became irresistible, for it spread in all directions. Hardly six months have elapsed since it appeared in the metropolis, and yet it has reached the remotest districts of Great Britain, and has travelled into Holland, Belgium, and France. In this country alone not less than 75,000 animals have been attacked by it, and of these about 55,000 have died, or have been killed. So sudden and severe were the earliest manifestations of it that they were attributed to poison; but it was soon discovered, from the rapid multiplication of cases and the spread of them by contagion, that the disease was the fatal murrain from the steppes of Russia. All its names are indicative of its terrible character— it is the rinderpest of the Germans, the typhus contagieux of the French, and the cattle 21 plague of ourselves. Its proper home is in the grassy steppes of Central Asia, where it is a common endemic disease; but so contagious is its nature, that it freely passes to the neighbouring steppes of European Russia, where it becomes still more virulent. From Russia it is ever following the movements of cattle across the frontiers of Poland and Hungary; and if it were not for the restrictions of Austria and Prussia, it would be a frequent visitor to the states of Western Europe. Hitherto when it has appeared in Europe its course has been in the tract of Northern armies, when, from the disturbance of all authority, the barriers erected against its progress have been broken down, and infected cattle have travelled without hindrance for the service of the troops. In this way the disease has frequently visited Prussia, Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France; more rarely it has passed into Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and still more rarely into England; for our insular position was, in the old days of restricted commerce, a nearly perfect protection. It has saved us from the disease for more than a hundred years, notwithstanding that the herds of Western Europe have often been ravaged by it. But this is no longer a safeguard, for the energies and freedom of trade have placed us within easy reach of all parts of the Continent, and for some time past we have been in great danger of importing the disease: in fact, our only protection has been in the vigilance 22 of Austria and Prussia, and in the restrictions offered to the movements of cattle along the only road by which they have hitherto reached us. But this also is no longer of avail, for the shores of the Baltic are now in direct communication with the infected districts of Hungary and Galicia. The origin of the present outbreak is most obscure. There are many who declare that it must have arisen spontaneously, and they point to many remarkable instances where its occurrence could not be traced to contagion. On the other hand, the highest medical authorities in England and on the Continent say that it is a specific disease which can only be propagated by contagion: that nowhere but in the steppes of Asia can it arise spontaneously, and that it has never visited Europe but by contagion. This is so firmly believed in all the countries which border on infected districts, that the severest regulations are in force to prevent the movement of diseased animals; and the practical results of them are, that they can always keep the disorder in check. A remarkable instance of this is given by Mr. Clement, a Belgian veterinary surgeon, residing at Palin, in Hungary. He says that in the summer of 1864 the disease prevailed over several square leagues in the communes around the estate of Palin; but while the cattle belonging to the peasants and small farmers were decimated by the plague, not a single case of it 23 occurred among the large landowners in Palin. This immunity was effected by the strictest isolation, whereas the cattle belonging to the poorer classes were grazed upon the common pasture ground. A like strictness of isolation has saved many of the farms of England; and the regulations which have been adopted for Ireland have as yet protected it from infection. But although it may be conceded that the disease is of a specific origin and has been imported into this country, it is by no means certain how or when it came among us; for those who declare that it came here with a cargo from Revel, in May last, have disregarded a great number of very important facts: indeed, the history of that cargo is almost conclusive proof of its not having been the source of infection. It is now known that that cargo was collected in the middle of May last, from the landed proprietors of Esthonia in the neighbourhood of Revel, where it is declared, on unquestionable authority, that the disease did not exist. The cargo consisted of 321 oxen and 330 sheep, which were carefully examined at the time of exportation by the government inspector, and by several experts who assisted in the selection of the animals. On the 23rd of May they left Revel, in the steam-ship "Tonning," and on the 29th they arrived at Hull, having been six days on the passage. Only one animal was ill during the voyage, and that in 24 so trifling a degree that it was cured by a dose of brandy, for it was well when it landed. On arriving at Hull, the animals were again examined by the two custom-house inspectors, who are duly qualified veterinary surgeons, and they were passed as sound and healthy. The day after their arrival 106 of the oxen were sold and sent to different parts of the country—40 of them to Manchester; and all the sheep were sold for slaughtering. On the 31st of May the remainder of the cargo was sent to London, and they were lodged in lairs adjoining the Metropolitan Cattle Market, where they were examined by Mr. Honck, to whom they were consigned, and 40 of them were sold and forwarded to Gosport, where they were again inspected by a government inspector, both before and after they were slaughtered. On the 1st of June, the rest of the animals, 135 in number, were sent into the market, and there they were seen by the inspector of the market, who is a veterinary surgeon, and by many butchers; at last they were sold in several lots to the butchers of London, all of whom declare that the animals were perfectly sound, and that the meat was unexceptionable. It appears, therefore, that a period of ten days must have elapsed from the shipment of the animals at Revel to the last sale of them in London; and many days must have been spent in the gathering of the cargo together at Revel. During the whole of that time the animals were free from disease, for 25 they were inspected officially no less than seven times, and they were constantly under the observation of salesmen and butchers, who are skilled in the discovery of disease. There is, therefore, not merely no evidence that they were infected, but abundant proof that they were sound and healthy. On the 27th of June, that is twenty-six days after the sale and slaughter of the last of the Revel cargo, the disease was first seen in the cow-shed of Mrs. Nichols, at Islington, and on the following day it was noticed by the same surgeon in the dairy of Mr. Baldwin, at Hackney. On the 1st of July, it was observed at Mr. Dewson's, in Whitechapel, and by the 3rd of July, it had attacked 40 cows in various places, and had killed half of them. Mr. Priestman, the veterinary surgeon who saw these cases, was much puzzled by the novelty of the symptoms, and the suddenness of the attack. At first he attributed them to poison; but on the 4th of July he took the viscera of one of the diseased animals to Professor Simonds, who saw at once that it was not poison, but a new disorder that had been so fatal. For six days he pursued the inquiry, and then he was convinced that it was the rinderpest of Russia. No time was lost in communicating his opinion to the Privy Council; but a fortnight elapsed before anything was done to arrest the progress of the disease, and by that time it had spread in all directions: in fact, on the 14th of 26 July, ten days before the first Order in Council was issued, it had appeared at Islington, Hackney, Whitecbapel, Holborn, Kingsland, Dalston, Somcrs Town, Camden Town, Hendon, and several other places. According to Professor Simonds, it visited a dairy opposite the Royal Veterniary College on the 8th of July, and by the 19th it had killed 20 out of the 21 cows in it. Early in July it was in Norfolk, at the farm of Mr. Leeds, of Whitwell, near Norwich, and soon after it was in Suffolk and Shropshire. About the same time it was among the cattle on the Essex marshes, and in the farms of Surrey, and before the end of the month it had reached the North of England, and was spreading through Scotland. In tracing the history of these early cases, there is nothing whatever to connect them with the Revel cargo; indeed, apart from the fact that the cargo itself was proved to be healthy, and showed no sign of disease ten days after leaving Revel, there is nothing to indicate that any single case of cattle plague occurred in the localities where the animals were sold and slaughtered. Even with respect to London, twenty-six days must have elapsed between the sale of the oxen in the Metropolitan Cattle Market and the first appearance of the disease at Islington. This is too long a period for its incubation, for the time is limited to ten days. It was stated, indeed, at the international congress 27 of veterinary surgeons, at Vienna, in August, by all who were best acquainted with the disease, that there was no known instance of its having been dormant for more than nine days; and, therefore, it was agreed, contrary to the wishes of two English veterinary surgeons, that ten days were sufficient for protective quarantine. Taking all these facts into consideration, as well as the evidence brought before the Royal Commissioners as to the generally healthy state of foreign cattle, there is nothing to connect the present outbreak with the cargo from Revel. It is far more probable that the malady was imported at a later date, for Hungarian and Galician cattle are now brought to us from Hamburg and Rotterdam in considerable numbers almost every week. Both of these countries are in close proximity to the infected steppes of Russia; and the completion of the two great lines of railway which traverse Central and Northern Germany, and connect Hamburg and Rotterdam with both Vienna and Lemberg, have enabled us to obtain without delay these new supplies; and it must not be forgotten that Hungary has this year suffered severely from the plague. Another probable source of the malady is with the cattle imported from Holland. It is stated by 28 Her Majesty's Consul-General at Hamburg, that the disease was at Utrecht, in Holland, in May last. This information is given on the authority of Mr. Schrader, an intelligent veterinary surgeon who is employed by the Hamburg Government to examine cattle and sheep shipped for foreign ports; and he states that in the course of last spring a considerable number of Hungarian cattle were conveyed from Vienna into Holland through Germany, and that the rinderpest had broken out in the neighbourhood of Vienna, particularly in the village of Florisdorf, and had also appeared at Utrecht. Now it is a remarkable fact that nearly all the early outbreaks of the disease were attributed to Dutch cattle; and this was the case not only in London but also in the country. It was 44 Dutch cattle from the Metropolitan Cattle Market, which took the plague into Norfolk as early as the 1st of July. It was 5 Dutch cows from the same market which infected Lord Granville's farm at Child's Hill. It was 14 Dutch cattle from London that carried the disease into Scotland, by way of Kelso; and so remarkable is this circumstance of Dutch cattle having been the common agents of infection, that Professor Simonds is compelled to explain it, by saying that Dutch cattle are more liable to the disease, after exposure to contagion, than other beasts; but there is no proof of this; nor is it likely that our farmers would call all foreign cattle by the name of Dutch cattle. The fair inference 29 is that the disease came from Holland, where it existed in the month of May last, although it broke out with greater violence at a later period, when a number of Dutch beasts were returned from our market. But, let it have come to us whence it may, it evidently found the cattle of this country in a fit state to receive it, and no doubt it gained strength in the unnatural condition of the cows in the London dairies; for there it has been remarkably fatal. Out of a total of about 16.000 cows in the 1,300 sheds of London, there have been about 7,300 attacked, and of these about 3,300 have died, and 3,100 have been killed. According to the return of the East London Cowkeeper's Association in November last, there had been 1,185 cows destroyed out of a total of 4,873, and 2,749 had been sold at a large sacrifice. These numbers show that about 20 per cent, of all the cows kept in London have actually died from the disease, and nearly the same proportion have been killed. There has, thei-efore, been a total destruction of about 40 per cent, of all the cows in London; and perhaps not less than 50 per cent, have been sold for slaughter, either to avoid the disease, or with the first symptoms of it in them. In all England the returns from the veterinary department of the Privy Council Office to the end of December were as follows:— Result of reported cases of Rinderpest in England from the commencement of the Disease in June to the end of December 1865. Census Divisions. Attacked. Died. Killed. Recovered. Remaining. 1 Metropolitan Police District 7238 3263 3103 284 588 2 South-Eastern Counties 4602 2521 1460 379 242 3 South Midland Counties 6720 4026 1487 367 840 4 Eastern Counties 6306 3086 2365 406 449 5 South-Western Counties 714 376 178 59 101 6 West-Midland Counties 1853 1018 425 154 256 7 North-Midland Counties 2393 1442 435 136 380 8 North-Western Counties 6669 4114 440 441 1674 9 Yorkshire 10891 6612 731 1297 2251 10 Northern Counties 1578 719 518 132 209 11 Monmouthshire and Wales 2287 1565 93 218 411 12 Scotland 22298 12749 2696 3172 3681 Total 73549 41491 13931 7045 11082 31 So that of the 73,549 cases attacked, 41,491 have died, and 13,931 have been killed, the recoveries having been about 10 per cent. The extent of its future progress can hardly be estimated, for with the present mode of dealing with the disease, it may remain with us for years. At the last visitation in 1745, it stayed in the country for twelve years, and it destroyed at least 200,000 animals, 160,000 of which died, and the rest were killed. The prospect before us, therefore, is not encouraging, and it is high time we should review the knowledge we have gained, and apply it to the future. In doing this we perceive, in the first place, that it is an imported disease ; for although the actual time and circumstance of its importations cannot be clearly discerned, yet it is manifestly a foreign distemper of specific origin, and spreading only by contagion. That it is the rinderpest of the steppes of Russia appears also to be beyond doubt; and seeing how nearly we are brought into communication with the infected districts of Eastern Europe, it is evident that we are in constant danger of a similar visitation, and that the utmost vigilance should be exercised at our places of import. It is a serious question whether those places should not be strictly defined, and the number of them reduced 32 to one or two, so that a sufficient staff of skilful inspectors may have the supervision of all imported animals. It is likewise a matter for consideration whether all steppe cattle, or cattle from suspected districts, should not be subjected to quarantine, or slaughtered at the place of importation. As far as London is concerned, there would be no difficulty in effecting this; in fact, it would be more convenient to slaughter them at the Avharves where they are landed, than at the private slaughter-houses to which they must be driven after passing the market. If this regulation were adopted, a better class of transport vessels would 110 doubt be called for, so that the cattle might reach us in good condition, fit for slaughter; and then the dead meat, instead of the living animals, would be sent to the City markets. Secondly—We have noticed that the disease is frightfully contagions. The nature of the infectious matter is not yet discovered, but it is, to use the words of the Royal Commissioners, subtle, volatile, and prolific in the highest degree. It is present in a most virulent form in all the excretions from the diseased animal. It may travel with the hides, hoofs, horns, intestines, offal, and flesh of the dead beast, as well as with the clothing of man and animals. Like the materia morbi of other contagious diseases, it is perhaps, what Dr. Beale lias 33 named living germinal matter, not a gas or vapour, or dead organic thing, but a living germ, so minute, that its particles are probably less than the one hundred thousandth of an inch in diameter; and these particles, or even but one of them, entering the system of an animal already in a fit state to receive and nourish them, will grow and multiply to an enormous extent. The progress of their development, and their effects on the animal body, constitute the disease; and the struggle of nature is to discharge them quickly and entirely from the system. These living germs may get into some animals whose systems are not in a proper state to receive them, or whose vital powers are sufficiently vigorous to repel them, and then no ill effects are manifested, but when, as is the case with other specific fevers, the powers of nature are reduced by depressing agencies, or by unnatural modes of life, or when the system is unduly charged with the material on which the germs are nourished, the consequences may be serious. How long these germs are capable of retaining vitality after their removal from the body is somewhat doubtful; but it would seem that their infectious or reproductive power is lost after about nine or ten days, and it is generally thought that they are killed and rendered harmless by drying; for in all countries where the disease lias been studied, it is considered that the dry horns and hides of infected animals may be d 34 safely sent in to commerce. If this be so, the power of the contagions matter is less persistant than that of small-pox and other such specific diseases; but, like it, it is destroyed by a temperature of 212 degrees of Fahrenheit, or by the steam of boiling water. Looking, therefore, at the probable nature of this matter and its vital qualities, we perceive not only how the disease has been propagated, but also how it may be arrested. A single infected animal placed in a public market, or permitted to travel along the highway, may be the means of unlimited contagion. Something like this has happened with the present outbreak, for all the earlier cases of the disease were referred to the Metropolitan Cattle Market, which doubtless has been the focus of infection. How far the Orders in Council have assisted in this is a matter for serious consideration. As I have already said, the disease had made great advances, for it had been in the country nearly a month, before anything was done by the Government to arrest it. The first case was seen on the 27th of June, and the first Order in Council was issued on the 25th of July, a fortnight after official warning was given by Professor JSimonds. The effect of that Order was so to alarm the cowkeepers of London, that, fearful of loss by disease, they forced their infected animals into the public 35 kets ; and eighteen days afterwards, when the next Order appeared, the mischief was still further increased by the power which was given to inspectors to visit the dairies of London, and thus to spread the malady by carrying it from infected into healthy localities. Nay, more, it was ordered that all animals dying of the disease, or slaughtered on account of it, should be buried, if practicable, on the premises where they had died or had been killed; but as this was not practicable in the densely populated districts of London, the animals were conveyed to the nearest slaughter-house or knacker's yard, where they were disposed of without any precautions whatever, and where the dung, which is the most infectious product, was cast upon the common heap and used as manure. It is hardly possible to conceive a more certain means of propagating the disease ; and the practice is so reprehensible that it is not surprising it should be a subject of public comment. Dr. Fiirstenberg, a professor in the Royal Academy of Eldena, said in a communication to the limes of the 26th of September last, that to his astonishment there were knackers close to the high road to the Metropolitan Cattle Market, to which dead animals are brought in an open cart, emitting discharges in all directions. I have dissected some within a few yards of such a road, and what has astonished me more than all was, the animals had died at the Royal Veterinary College, and been d 2 36 removed to the horse-slaughterer's, without being opened, in small carts which could not adequately contain them. In the City of London there are slaughter-houses where all the diseased animals of the neighbourhood are killed, and so reckless was the practice of disposing of the dung and offal, that having no power to check it, I felt it my duty to draw your attention to it, and to report on the necessity for the appointment of proper places for the destruction of diseased cattle, where the flesh and offal might be thoroughly disinfected. That report was communicated to the Privy Council, but the only result of it was a letter asking for information as to the localities best suited for the purpose, and for a description of the process, I would recommend for disinfection. This information was at once offered, but to this moment there has been no practical use of it; and the dead and dying animals are still disposed of at the knackers' yards and public slaughter-houses. The process of disinfection which the veterinary department of the Privy Council has recommended, when the carcass cannot be buried, is so singularly unsuitable, and withal so ineffectual, that I hope it has not often been practised. The letter describing it, is dated October last, and it contains the following instructions for the inspectors:—"If there be no convenient place for burial in the immediate neighbourhood, and if the carcass 37 has, therefore, to be removed from the premises, you are to cause the carcass to be thoroughly disinfected with a mixture of 4 lbs of chloride of lime, mixed thoroughly with three pailfuls of water The carcass is to be thoroughly mopped over with the above mixture—a portion being poured into the mouth and nostrils, which are then to be plugged with tow wet with the mixture ; a portion of the mixture should also be injected into the rectum and vagina, which are then to be plugged in a similar manner;" after which the animal may be disposed of in any way that the inspectors think fit. It is hardly necessary to say that the process is not only not likely to be followed, but that if it were, it would not touch the real agents of infection; in fact, nothing short of the dissection of the animal, and the exposure of all parts of it—bones, flesh, and offal—to a temperature of 212 degrees or thereabout, will effectually destroy contagious matter. Such exposure is easily accomplished, and in the manufacture of artificial manure, &c., is daily practised by putting the dissected carcass into an iron chamber and exposing it to the action of high-pressure steam. In this way the whole of the animal is thoroughly disinfected ; and the products of the operation are valuable, for the fat, the bones, the flesh, and even the manure are all of use. If it be necessary to save the horns, hoofs, and skin for their own 38 ticular purposes, they could be easily disinfected by means of a solution of chloride of lime. All these operations might be performed in certain places set apart for the purpose ; and with proper precautions they need not be an annoyance to the neighbourhood. All the subsequent Orders in Council, even to the Consolidated Order of the 22nd of September, are but repetitions or extensions of the first—giving power to inspectors throughout the country to visit healthy as well as infected localities, and incontinently to dispose of any man's cattle. Cases are on record where some of these inspectors—ignorant alike of the general diseases of cattle as of this special malady—have recklessly condemned even healthy animals, as well as animals suffering from a trifling ailment; and all this has been done without a prospect of compensation. It is easy, therefore, to understand how injuriously these Orders in Council have operated; for they have so alarmed the farmers and cowkeepers, that rather than run the risk of loss by death or by the equally decisive acts of the inspectors, they have hurried off their cattle to the nearest market for sale directly they have shown a sign of disease. It is not possible to estimate the mischief which has been done in this manner; but looking at the 39 effects of it in this City, and the way in which the Metropolitan Cattle Market has been made the focus of contagion, it is evident that the consequences have been most serious. As many as 200 diseased bullocks have been exposed for sale at one time in the City market, mixing with from 6,000 to 7,000 beasts, besides from 30,000 to 40,000 sheep, and many hundreds of calves and pigs. That which was required at the very beginning of the outbreak was the most decisive and effectual means of arresting contagion. Regulations should have been made for the slaughtering of all animals that came to the public markets; and encouragement should have been given to the sending of dead meat, instead of live cattle, to the metropolis. The highways should have been strictly guarded against the movements of infected beasts, and all the vessels and trucks employed in the transport of cattle should have been thoroughly disinfected directly after their use. In brief, all traffic in live stock should have been stopped; all diseased animals should have been isolated; and all infected sites and vehicles disinfected. The application of rules for these purposes should have been general and not partial. It should have been considered that they had reference to the whole country, and not to any particular place; and the execution of them should 40 have rested either with the Government or with the highest local authorities. There should also have been no discretionary powers for their obeyance, but they should have been universal as well as simple, practical, and decisive. Without doubt a good deal of inconvenience would have resulted from such measures, but the inconvenience would have been of short duration, and it would have been a trifling matter in comparison with the loss already sustained; in fact, it is A ery probable that this inconvenience must yet be encountered before the disease will be eradicated. Already the farmers are beginning to perceive that their interests are involved in the adoption of some such decisive measures, and ere long they may ask most earnestly for it. This, therefore, is the experience we have gained of the subtle, sure, and far-reaching character of the contagion, of the way in which it is multiplied by the disease, and of the means which must be used for its extinction. Thirdly—As regards the symptoms and duration of the malady, it is not necessary to enter into much detail; but there are two questions of great practical importance, namely, the period of its incubation, and the very first reliable signs of its existence. Both of these questions are still open to inquiry; and it is to be regretted that they have not long since been finally settled. We surely have had 41 enough of the disease to be able to say more nearly than that six or seven days, or twelve or fourteen, or even twenty-one, may elapse between the time of infection and the first coming on of discoverable symptoms. On the continent, where the disease lias been studied from time immemorial, it is thought that the longest period of incubation is nine days, and that a quarantine of ten days is absolutely safe. This, indeed, is the time allowed between Austria and Prussia on one side, and Russia and the Danubian Principalities on the other. If, therefore, we are to be hereafter subject to the danger of importing infected cattle from Hungary and Galicia, it is necessary that the question of the incubation of the disease should be satisfactorily settled ; for we must either adopt the practice of slaughtering all suspected cattle at the place of importation, or they must be subjected to a sufficiently safe quarantine. In fact, whatever may be the views of cattle salesmen in respect of such regulations, one or other of them must assuredly be adopted if we are to be kept safe from future infection. It is, therefore, very necessary that the maximum period of incubation in this country should be satisfactorily settled; for if, for the sake of safety, an unreasonably long time is required, it will either stop the trade in foreign cattle, or lead to nefarious practices. This is the great reason why in Austria and Prussia the time 42 of quarantine has been reduced from twenty-one days to ten. And, then, with respect to the first reliable symptoms of the distemper, it would seem that great practical knowledge is required for their discovery, for at first there is only the general look of malaise; but soon the coat is staring, the eye dull, the gait unsteady, the horns and extremities are cold, and there is frequent shivering; besides which there is loss of appetite, rumination ceases, and with milch cows there is a failure of milk. Not long after this, more characteristic symptoms appear—the breathing is quick and moaning, the animal stands with a drooping head, the eyes are blood shot and suffused with tears, the mouth is sore in patches,and the vulva is red and congested. Then come the most positive signs of it in the copious discharge from the eyes and nose, and in the diarrhoea and dysenteric purging. All these symptoms may follow each other quickly —within a single day, but most commonly they require from two to three days for their manifestation. In some cases of great malignity the animals have died in from twelve to fourteen hours after the commencement of the attack, but generally the disease is protracted to the fifth or sixth day, and occasionally to the eighth and ninth. Four tidy—With respect to the mortality of the 43 disease. This, unfortunately, cannot be accurately determined, for the practice of indiscriminate slaughter has destroyed the data for a positive opinion. In some places, however, where the nature of the disease was not recognised, and the animals were let alone, the mortality was only 50 per cent. This was so in the outbreak among the Dutch cattle at Mr. Leed's farm, in Norfolk, where out of twenty-six cows that were attacked, thirteen recovered. During the first two months of the visitation of the disease in Holland, 3,319 animals were infected, and of these 1,169 died, and 674 were slaughtered. This is at the rate of 55 per cent. In 1862 the number of cattle attacked by the plague in the Austrian dominions was 296,000, of which 152,000 died. This is only about 51 per cent. Again, in the year 1863 the disease invaded Galicia and overran the whole kingdom of Hungary and its dependencies: 14 per cent, of the cattle took the disease, but the average mortality in Hungary was not above 65 per cent. In Russia, also, during the year 1864, 159,476 cattle were attacked, and 104,714 died or were killed. This also is only at the rate of 66 per cent ; but in London, where the mortality has been great, and the slaughter still greater, the loss has been raised to 87 per cent.; while in all England the deaths have been only 56 per cent., and the total loss but 75 per cent. 44 This brings us to the fifth question, as to whether the disease is amenable to treatment; and here we may say that although there is no actual cure for the malady, any more than there is for small-pox or any contagious fever, yet there are means of assisting nature in the progress of the disease, and of supporting the vital powers. These are the expectant measures of rational medicine. They only operate as defensive agents against the weakening influences of the disease, and thus, as Dr. Watson expresses it, they may turn the hesitating scale, and give the victory to nature. Experience also teaches us that these measures are best applied in the early stages of the disorder, when the system has not been much weakened by the attack. Again, we are taught by the history of all epidemics, that although the early attacks are terribly fatal—for the disease selects those which are most susceptible of its influence—yet gradually the force is abated, and it becomes more and more amenable to treatment. It would seem, too, that in every succeeding visitation the virulence of these epidemic disorders is considerably lessened. These are the facts which lead to the conclusion that the disease should be treated medically. The Edinburgh Committee, after much consideration of the subject, have not only condemned the present practice of indiscriminate slaughter, but have advised that the disease 45 should be treated, with a view to cure ; for they say that in its early stage it is certainly under control, and even when the symptoms are alarmingly serious, the case is not to be regarded as hopeless. The practice which has been found most successful is that of supporting the vital powers, and favouring the elimination of the poison—a warm stable, with good ventilation, and nourishing drinks, are the first among the palliative remedies. Dry foods are especially to be avoided, for after death the first stomach is always found to be gorged with them. The stimulants which are used are diluted alcoholic drinks, and the preparations of ether and ammonia. In addition to this, the action of the skin should be promoted by warmth, by brisk rubbing, and by the use of mild diaphoretics. It is further observed, that as the bowels in the early stage of the disorder are somewhat constipated, a gentle laxative, as sulphur or linseed oil, may be advantageously given ; and for the subsequent diarrhoea, the best remedy is chalk and opium. Lastly, when the animal shows a desire for food, it should be cautiously fed on easily digestible substances, as boiled carrots, or turnips, or meal. These are the suggestions of rational medicine; and they may be well called expectant remedies, for they do not aim at a specific cure, but merely at the support of nature. 46 Sixthly—We have to inquire whether we are really acquainted with the true nature of the disorder. Hasty opinions have already been formed of it, and we have been told that it is a sort of enteric fever; but the absence of the chief characteristics of that disease, as we see it in daily practice, has led us to doubt this statement. The common course of typhoid, or enteric fever, in the human subject, is insidious and lingering ; and the malady can hardly be called contagious, for it rarely or never appears as an epidemic, but, on the contrary, its habits are local, and they are determined by certain conditions of filth; besides which, the post-mortem appearances are always characteristic of a diseased condition of the glands of the small intestines. Nor is the malady like typhus, for although it is highly infectious, and is accompanied with a conjested state of the conjunctiva, yet it differs from that disease in the profuse diarrhoea, which is never seen in typhus. Some have thought that it is a virulent form of influenza ; others that it is a catarrhal, or mucous fever; while very recently Dr. Murchison, who lias carefully studied the disease, and examined it by the light of his great knowledge of specific»fevers, considers that it presents the strongest analogy to small-pox. It is always accompanied with an eruption upon the skin, and this eruption is either like the pustules of small-pox or the vesicles of cow-pox. The two 47 diseases have a further resemblance in their general symptoms and anatomical lesions ; they are also like each other in the period of incubation, and in their extreme contagiousness. If this identity should be fully established, it opens up to us an entirely new view of the disorder, and indicates the possibility of mitigating its effect, or even of eradicating it altogether. As small-pox in the human subject is made less severe by vaccination, so also it may be possible to induce a milder form of the cattle plague by passing it through the system of another animal. Already this idea has occurred to the veterinary surgeons of the continent, and it has to some extent been put into practice in those districts where the disease is endemic. Professor Jessen, of Dorpat, is of opinion, and has even recommended, that all the cattle of the steppe districts should be inoculated with a mild form of the virus, and be cured of the disease before they are exported. The same opinion has been expressed by Professor Untesberger, and others. M. Garlach, the distinguished professor of veterinary science in Hanover, has actually proposed that all the cattle of this country should be inoculated, as a means of shortening the duration of the epidemic; for although, he says, experience shows that in many cases as many animals die which have taken the disease by inoculation as those which have taken it by contagion, yet it is 48 generally much milder, and the proportion is never greater. The effect of this, he says, is to accelerate the progress of the disease, so that a district through which it would take a quarter of a year, or perhaps half a year, to travel, would receive the disease completely in eight days, and the loss would not be greater, but generally much less. But this recommendation requires very serious consideration; for at present, although inoculation is not dangerous to the native cattle of the steppes, it is highly so to the cattle of Eastern Europe. Professor Jessen himself tried it on the large stock of the Grand Duchess Helena, and it destroyed 90 per cent, of them. It would seem, therefore, that we must first try to lessen the virulence of the poison, so that it may be used with comparative safety ; and, judging from the experience we have had of the effects of vaccine, it is possible that the virus of the cattle plague may be made an equally mild and certain prophylactic by passing it through the system of another sort of animal, or even through the systems of many animals of the same species. The probability of this is enhanced by the fact that the disease appears to be communicable to other kinds of ruminants. In Austria and Hungary it has often attacked sheep. The same has been observed in Italy; and Professor Gerlach says that in Sardinia it has been known to attack goats. 49 Even in this country, it is surmised that the disease which broke out among the lambs in Mr. Harvey's farm, at Crown Point, and in other places in Norfolk and Essex, was no other than the rinderpest, caught from infected cattle grazing upon the same pasture. I have been informed, also, that a similar malady has appeared among the deer in several parts of the country, and especially in Suffolk. If this be so, it is evident that the malady is communicable to other ruminants—indeed Professor Gerlach states, in his evidence before the Royal Commissioners, that he has put this to proof, for when he was at Schiedam, he obtained permission to inoculate some sheep, and he observed that they all took it mildly. He further states that cattle will again receive the disease from sheep by inoculation, but it is not yet ascertained whether it is thus made milder or not. As far, however, as all these investigations have gone, they indicate a possibility of so modifying the action of the virus as to deprive it of its deadly character. The last point for consideration is, whether the flesh of the diseased animal is unfit for human food. In deciding this question we have first to look at the fact that the disease arises from a specific poison, and that this poison is largely reproduced in the bodies of infected animals, and that the chief manifestation of the disease is an acute fever. E 50 At first sight it would therefore seem that the flesh of animals in such a condition must be unwholesome, and that if it did not immediately prove injurious to health, it might do so after a continued use of it. As far back as the years 1514 and 1599, when the disease was in Italy, the Council of Venice forbad the use of beef and veal, on account of the danger from eating it; and last year, when the malady was at Cobourg, some people died from the effects of the diseased flesh. It is said, too, that dogs have been made ill by it in Russia; and that pigs have refused to drink the milk from infected cows. But on the other hand, it is very positively declared by good authorities, that the meat is not at any time injurious to health. Professor Briicke, of Vienna, has stated that two years ago, when the cattle plague was in Bohemia, the authorities, according to their practice, had the diseased animals slaughtered and buried; but as fast as they were thus disposed of, the populace dug them up and ate them, and no injury to health resulted from it. The writings of Parent du Chatelet, Michel L6vy, Tardieu, Chevallier, and others, abound with examples of the apparent innocuousness of such meat; and it is very probable that in the early stage of the disorder, before the more decided symptoms of fever have shown themselves, the flesh may not be unfit for human food; but I think it would be very dangerous to 51 permit the unrestricted sale of such meat in all stages of the disease. In fact, notwithstanding all the experience and authority alluded to, it is still the practice on the continent to forbid the use of such meat; and the most stringent measures are adopted to prevent the sale of it: indeed, the regulations which are in force for the sale of butchers' meat generally are far more severe and precise than with us. Here there are no special rules for the condemnation of bad meat, but merely a general provision that the medical officer of health, or the inspector of slaughter-houses, or the inspector of nuisances may at all reasonable times inspect and examine any animal, carcass, meat, poultry, game, flesh, fish, &c., exposed for sale, or deposited in any place for the purpose of sale, or in preparation for sale, or intended for the food of man, and in case it appears to the medical officer or inspector to be diseased, or unsound, or unwholesome, or unfit for the food of man, it shall be lawful for him to seize the same, and for a Justice to order it to be destroyed. In this regulation there is no particular description of the kind of food which is unwholesome, or of the circumstances which render it so, and therefore much is left to the descretion of the officer who examines the food, as to whether it is unsound or not. The practice in the City of London is to condemn the flesh of animals infected with certain parasites, and of e 2 52 animals suffering from fever or other acute inflammatory affections, or from lingering disease, as well as of animals that have died from natural causes, and all meat in a high state of putrefaction, and meat tainted with physic. Some such a practice as this is followed all over the world; indeed, very early in the history of legislation it was found necessary to make rules for the preservation of the public health from the effects of unsound meat. The regulations of the Jews for the slaughtering of animals, and for the examination of the flesh, are of pre-historic date. They are partly founded on the written law of Moses, as set forth in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and partly on very ancient tradition. They refer, not only to the conditions which render the meat wholesome or unwholesome, but also to the mode of slaughter, the place of slaughter, and to the qualifications of the persons who perform it. The chief circumstance which indicates that the meat is unwholesome is the presence of disease in the lungs, as tubercles, abscesses, ulcers, consolidations, or adhesions; and no animal is permitted to be used as food that has died from accident or disease. The duty of examining the meat is confided to a responsible officer, who is called the Searcher, and who is bound by religious obligations to see that all the 53 rules and regulations of the Dinim or law are faithfully observed, and no meat is allowed to be used for food which has not been marked with the proper seal. In ancient Rome the practice of examining the meat in the public markets before it was sold was constantly observed, and the butchers were often fined for selling meat that had not been inspected by the overseers. At the present time the regulations which are in force on the Continent are, for the most part, very stringent, and it may be interesting to review them. AUSTRIA. A system of cattle and meat inspection has long been in force in Austria, to insure that none but healthy cattle shall be slaughtered, and none but sound meat sold. Regulations on this subject, in modern times, were passed in Lower Austria in June 1838, and October 1850; in Upper Austria, June 1830, and October 1831; in Steiermark in December 1776; in Illyria in May 1820, and August 1822; in Corinthia in March 1841; in Bohemia in May 1770, and December 1810; in Moravia in November 1827; in Gallacia in June 1802; in the 54 tian Provinces in August 1817, in March 1821, and in December, 1832; in Dalmatia in March 1827; in Siebenbürgen in June 1851, &c., &c. According to these regulations, a sufficient number of cattle and meat inspectors are appointed in every place, and bound by oath to the faithful execution of their duties. These persons have to examine into the state of the animal's health, as well as the good condition of the slaughtered beast. They must be present at the slaughtering, and at the taking off the skin, as well as at the opening of the carcass ; and they must possess ample knowledge of the appearances of unsound and of healthy meat. Any person trading in fresh meat, or selling meat in any way, prepared or cooked, who purchases cattle not duly inspected according to regulation, shall, for the first offence, in addition to forfeiting the meat or the money received for its sale, be fined from 25 to 200 florins; for the second offence the fine shall be doubled; and for the third offence he shall be deprived of his license, and be declared iucapable of ever again exercising an occupation of the kind. The meat of animals suffering from inflammation 55 of the spleen, or from the cattle murrain, or which have been bitten by a mad dog, or any other mad animal, as well as the flesh of measly pigs, must not, on any account, be exposed for sale. Inspectors generally, indeed, must only permit the slaughter of healthy beasts. It will of course be understood, however, that fractured limbs, and other external injuries, form no obstacle to slaughtering. It is also prohibited to sell the meat of animals near the time of bringing forth their young, as well as of all very young animals, especially of calves under three weeks old, or weighing less than 40 lbs. The regulation of the 8th of January, 1789, contains a detailed description of the various cattle diseases which either render meat entirely or partially unsound, or which offer no obstacle to its healthy use. If the animal be suspected of an illness, the infallible tokens of which may reasonably be expected to appear on slaughtering, the owner may request to have it slaughtered in the presence of the inspector, on his own responsibility; and, provided the animal proves sound, the inspector has then to furnish the owner with the certificate. 56 If on inspection, at or before slaughtering, an animal shows evident unsoundness, or if the owner decline to take the slaughter of a doubtful beast on his own responsibility, the inspector has to give notice of the fact, to prevent its being slaughtered in secret, and the meat used as food. The certificate received from the inspector authorises the sale of fresh meat only, within a certain period, consisting of three days after the certificate is issued, during the months of May, June, July, and August; and four days during other months. If meat, or slaughtered cattle, be sent for sale from other places, the local tribunals and meat inspectors have to see that the seller can show the inspection certificate from the place of slaughtering, according to the above regulations. Especial care is also taken that the flesh of animals dying from natural causes as well as putrid meat, shall not be sold for food. The better to attain the object of cattle and meat inspection, all meat hawking and secret slaughtering, are entirely prohibited. Public flayers are strictly forbidden to keep or feed pigs; they must neither deliver carrion to 57 menageries nor use it for pig feeding. They are likewise interdicted from smoking tongues. BAVARIA. In every circuit there is to be elected by the local police, officials for the inspection of cattle and meat; and, where veterinary surgeons are to be found, they are to be elected by preference, and they are to have the supervision of the sub-inspectors. The inspectors have the examination of all animals before they are slaughtered, and of the carcases when they are killed. All animals destined for human food, as oxen, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses, whether in towns, boroughs, or villages, must be examined in a living state, and after they are slaughtered; and for this purpose notice must be given to the inspector twelve hours before the slaughtering of any animal. The inspector not only decides whether the animal is sound, and the meat good for food, but he also determines the class to which it belongs, there being three classes of food, differing in value. When the meat of a diseased animal is unfit for 58 food, it rests with the inspector or veterinary surgeon to decide whether it shall be wholly destroyed, or whether certain parts of it, as the fat, skin, and bones, can be used for technical purposes. In all cases of difficulty or dispute, the subinspectors refer the matter to the veterinary surgeon, who decides definitively. The sub-inspectors have also the duty of looking after the condition of the markets and public slaughter-houses. PRUSSIA (BERLIN). In every market, whether for the sale of cattle or meat, there is a police official, charged with the direction of the market in all matters relating to the sale of sound meat or cattle. The stall where the officer is to be found is distinguished by a flag. It is the duty of this official to examine everything in the market for sale as food, and to seize and confiscate all unsound food; and to report the offender to the police agents, who summon him before the magistrates to answer to the charge against him. At every cattle market there is an experienced 59 veterinary surgeon, who inspects the cattle sent there for sale. In Berlin, as in the whole of Prussia, there exists what are called slaughterers' districts, where there is a slaughterer appointed to seize and destroy all animals in a diseased condition. The skin of these animals is the perquisite of the slaughterer, and the other parts are buried. If the owner of a diseased animal gives notice to the slaughterer that he wishes to have the animal slaughtered, and to keep the skin, he gives the slaughterer compensation. All the results of inspection and slaughtering are properly entered in a book, and no meat can be sold except by persons who are licensed to deal in it. SWITZERLAND (BERNE). All slaughtering must take place in the public slaughter-houses or in licensed places. Cases of urgency excepted, it is not allowed to kill an animal until the appointed inspector has examined it; and, in case of accident, when the animal must be immediately killed, and before the inspector can come to see it, the slaughtering must 60 be in the presence of two respectable witnesses; but the animal must not be cut up until the inspector arrives. No meat is to be sold until it has been examined by the inspector and certified to. In case of dispute between the inspector and the owner of the meat, the latter can demand the assistance of two experts, taken, if possible, from among the licensed veterinary surgeons, who are to decide definitively whether the animal can be killed, and whether the meat can be sold, and in what condition. It is forbidden to kill animals of less than 14 days old. It is also forbidden to kill animals which have been overdriven, before they have time to rest themselves and recover. It is forbidden to sell putrid meat. The hawking of meat is forbidden, and so also is the sending of meat from one commune to another, except with the consent of the police. The inspectors are to take care that the greatest cleanliness is observed in the slaughter-houses, in the butchers' shops, and in the scalding and pork shops. 61 They are to take care that no diseased meat is sold, salted, or smoked, or made into sausages. They are to note the condition of the animal before slaughtering, and of the carcass after slaughtering; and rules are given for the principal matters to be noted. The following are the diseases which render the meat of an animal more or less unfit for food:— A.—Among Epizootic and Contagious Diseases. Carbuncle. The cattle plague. Gangrenous pneumonia. The hoof disease among horned cattle, sheep, and pigs. Erysipelatous fever among all species of animals. Glanders among horses (horse flesh is eaten). Dysentery. Parasytic diseases of horned cattle. Hydrophobia among all species of animals. B.—Among Sporadic Maladies. All species of dropsy. All inflammations which result in gangrene. 62 All cancerous and foul ulcers. All tubercular softenings of the lungs and liver. False leprosy of horned cattle. True leprosy of pigs, and cutaneous erysipelas. Blennorrhœa of the vagina of cows. Jaundice. Poisoning of every kind. Consumption in general. Nevertheless, if, after having destroyed the parts affected by the disease, the other parts are sound and wholesome, they can be sold in the following cases, after having been examined and carefully considered by two licensed veterinary surgeons:— Gangrenous peripneumonia. Softening of the lungs and liver. Slight inflammations. False leprosy. Blennorrhea of cows. In cases of extraordinary symptoms of disease, the inspector, if he is not a licensed veterinary surgeon, is to take the opinion and advice of a licensed veterinary surgeon. The execution of the ordinances relating to this matter rests with the Prefet of Police. 63 ITALY (FLORENCE). It is forbidden to sell, to furnish, or to make any use whatever of meat prepared, raw or cooked, of animals, as the ox, sheep, goat, and pig, which have died, or have been killed in a state of disease. They shall be buried immediately. No animal can be killed for food without having been first examined by the municipal verterinary surgeon, who resides in the public slaughter-house; and his decision is to be in accordance with certain rules made for the purpose. Due notice must be given to the verterinary surgeon of an intention to slaughter an animal. Meat is divided into three classes, namely— Class 1. Meat of the first quality, from animals in a perfectly healthy condition. Class 2. Meat of animals not in a sound or normal condition, but fit for food. Class 3. Meat not fit for food, as from animals in a high state of disease. It is the duty of the inspector to mark each of the first two classes of meat with a particular 64 seal; all putrid meat, as well as the meat of the third class is confiscated and buried. The milk of animals suffering from disease especially from foot-and-mouth disease is forbidden to be sold; and so also is milk showing signs of containing pus. All slaughtering must be carried on in the public slaughter-houses; and it is forbidden to send a slaughtered animal into the city without the carcass being entire with the skin upon it and the viscera in it, and it must be conveyed to the public slaughter-house for inspection. In all cases of infectious disease among cattle the animals must be killed, and their carcasses buried, and the waggons utensils, &c., used in such cases must be thoroughly washed and disinfected. BELGIUM (BRUSSELS). It is forbidden to slaughter anywhere but in the public slaughter-houses. There is attached to every public slaughter-house an inspector in chief, a veterinary surgeon, two 65 expert or skilled inspectors and a number of other free inspectors. The inspector in chief has not only the general control and management of the slaughter-houses, but he, as well as the expert inspectors, is charged with the examination of the animals entering the slaughter-houses, and also with the examination of the meat before it goes out. The veterinary surgeon is required "to attend at the slaughter-houses on market days, and to assist the inspectors in the examination of the cattle; he is also especially appealed to whenever there is any doubt or difference of opinion among the inspectors as regards the condition of the cattle or of the meat. The veterinary surgeon reports to the college of bourgomasters, and sheriffs, whenever there is epizootic disease, and also on any facts relating to the public health. All beasts destined to be killed are first visited by the expert inspectors; and those animals which are known or suspected to be tainted with disease, and to be unfit for food, are put into the pound, in order that they may be disposed of in accordance with the rules relating thereto. After slaughtering and skinning the animals, f 66 they are examined internally by the inspectors, so as to ensure the proper state of the meat; and the viscera removed from the bodies of the animals must be so preserved as not to leave a doubt to which animal it belongs. All diseased meat, or meat suspected to be diseased, is provisionally seized, and placed in a special locality. It is dressed by the inspectors, and a report is drawn up stating the reason for its seizure, and its condition and quantity. This report is immediately sent to the Commissary of Police. The meat sent from the slaughter-houses must not be cut up in less than quarters All meat seized by the inspectors is buried if it is not claimed in 24 hours; and when it is claimed it is again examined by one of the expert inspectors of the abattoir and two free inspectors, and the meat is either given up or buried according to the decision of the majority of the three experts. The charges of this examination are paid by the owner if the meat is unfit for food, and by the city if it is not unfit. When the slaughterer, or his assistants, finds 67 during the killing or dressing of an animal, any signs of disease, he must give immediate information to one of the inspectors; and whenever he finds a foetus in the animal, he is also to give notice to the inspector, who buries it; for it is forbidden to sell or appropriate a fœtus for food, the skin only being given up to the owner. There are also regulations as to the time of killing, the mode of scalding pigs, of dressing the tripe, melting the fat, removing the offal, &c. &c. And, with regard to the management of the cattle market, it is ordered that before the opening of the market the animals shall be examined by the veterinary surgeon attached to the abattoir. In those cases where the veterinary surgeon considers the animal so diseased that it should be killed, and there is no opposition on the part of the owner, it is killed immediately; but where the owner contests the opinion of the surgeon, he can claim the intervention of the veterinary surgeon of his own selection. If the two surgeons are of a different opinion, a third is called in—the inspector in chief, who decides definitively. The cost of these examinations is to be borne by the party in the wrong. f 2 68 FRANCE (PARIS). By a decree of the 9th of February 1810, it was resolved to remove all the private slaughter-houses from Paris, and to conduct the business of slaughtering animals in five public slaughterhouses ; namely, three on the right bank of the Seine, and two on the left, but they were not opened to the butchers of Paris until the month of September 1818. From that time to the present there have been many regulations concerning this matter, and all these have been co-ordinated in the grand ordonnance of the 25th of March 1830. This ordonnance is composed of 301 articles, and it embraces the discipline and commerce of the abattoirs and boucheries of Paris ; it is, indeed, a complete code of laws relating to this subject, and is always adopted as the regulations to be applied to new abattoirs in any part of France. These regulations are so nearly like the regulations already described as in force at Brussels, that thev need not be reproduced. The summary of the regulations in force in the chief towns and cities of the continent is,— 1. That all markets are under strict supervision. 69 2. That cattle sent to the public markets, and to the public slaughter-houses, are carefully examined by the inspectors or officers appointed for that purpose. 3. That diseased cattle are carefully kept from healthy cattle, and are either destroyed or disposed of in such a way as to prevent their communicating disease to other cattle, or their being sold for human food. 4. That in all large cities the slaughtering of animals is either conducted in public slaughterhouses, or is so regulated as to ensure the condemnation of diseased meat. 5. That to guard the public against the mischief which arises from the use or consumption of unwholesome meat, the animals destined for food are examined, not only before they are killed, but also afterwards. AMERICA (NEW YORK). In the City of New York there are very stringent regulations for the inspection and management of slaughter-houses, butchers' shops, and public markets. In the first place, no one is permitted to carry on the business of a butcher, or to slaughter 70 animals, or to deal in meat, without being licensed; and not only are the public markets under the control of the city inspectors, but every place for the sale of meat is appointed by the sanitary authorities Among the regulations which are in force for the government of these affairs are the following:— It is not lawful to kill or dress any fresh meat of any description in any market or place licensed as aforesaid or occupied for the sale of meat; but all killing and dressing must be done in the licensed slaughter-houses. No butcher or . other person shall sell, or offer, or expose for sale in any of the public markets, or in any part of the City of New York, any unwholesome or stale articles of provisions, or any flesh of any animal dead by accident or disease, or known or suspected to be diseased at the killing of the same. No person shall bring into any market, or the limits thereof, or offer or expose for sale, any blown, plaited, raised, or stuffed meat, or any meagre or back shad, within the City of New York The general supervision of these matters is under the direction of the city inspector (as health officer) 71 and the superintendent of sanitary inspection, and the superintendent of markets, whose officers regularly visit and inspect all slaughter-houses, meat shops, butchers' shops, poultry and fish stands, stores, or other places kept for the sale, or exposure for sale, of any kind of meat, poultry, fish, or any articles of provision or food, in any place in the city; and they seize and remove any and all unsound, unhealthy, putrid, or unwholesome, veal, beef, pork, fish, poultry, or other article of food; and take all measures for the detection and prevention of the sale of all such unsound, unwholesome articles of food, and secure a strict enforcement of the laws and ordinances relative thereto; and they make full reports of the same to the superintendent. There are also regulations for the cleansing of the markets and slaughter-houses, and for the removal of blood, offal, and garbage from the latter directly after slaughtering, and for the disposal of all such matters, as well as diseased and unwholesome food by the city contractor. The violation of any of these regulations is punished by heavy penalties. It would seem, therefore, that in almost every part of the world the regulations for the sale of meat, the inspection of cattle, and the management 72 of markets and slaughter-houses, are far more stringent and precise than in this metropolis; and it is to be hoped that the experience gained by the present outbreak of disease will lead to reformation in most of these particulars. As far as the City of London is concerned, there is a pressing necessity for the removal of all the slaughter-houses; for, as I have recently reported to you, they are situated in crowded localities, where they are not only in themselves a nuisance, but where they also encourage offensive trades—as bone boiling, fat melting, and gut spinning. There are fifty-eight of these slaughter-houses in the City, and they receive about 5,400 sheep, 1,800 beasts, 420 pigs, and 400 calves every week. All these animals must be driven through the crowded streets, and the dung, and blood, and offal must afterwards be carried away. The annoyance from this is a frequent subject of complaint, but you have little or no power to deal with it. Outside the walls of the City the annoyance is still greater, for there the slaughterhouses are but rarely inspected. Often, indeed, they are filthy in the extreme, and no restriction is put on the slaughter and sale of diseased animals; in fact, most of the unwholesome meat that is sold in London is furnished from those places. Within the City there is a daily inspection of all the markets and slaughter-houses, and much improper 73 meat is in this maimer discovered and condemned; but it in no way represents the amount of diseased and unwholesome meat that finds its way into the other markets. Within the last five years, as you will see from Table No. VIII., your officers have condemned 946,944 lbs., or rather more than 420 tons of diseased and putrid meat. It consisted of 4,289 sheep, 1,445 pigs, 272 calves, 6,074 quarters of beef, and 11,424 joints of meat, besides 1,917 head of game, and 13,748 head of poultry. Last year the amount of meat condemned in the City markets was 247,827 lbs., and of this 124,614 lbs. were diseased, and 27,393 lbs. were from animals that had died from natural causes. A large proportion of this was condemned during the last quarter, and it consisted for the most part of meat from animals affected with the plague. The appearance of the meat is so remarkable that it is easily distinguished by the inspectors—it is not only wet and sodden, but it is also dark coloured, and looks like the flesh of an animal that has died with the blood in it. The characters by which unsound meat is recognised are the following:— Good meat is neither of a pale pinkish colour nor of a deep purple tint. The former is indicative of disease, and the latter is a sign that the animal has died from natural causes. 74 Good meat has also a marbled appearance from the ramifications of little veins of intercellular fat; and the fat, especially of the internal organs, is hard and suety, and is never wet; whereas that of diseased meat is soft and watery, often like jelly or sodden parchment. Again, the touch or feel of healthy meat is firm and elastic, and it hardly moistens the fingers; whereas that of diseased meat is soft and wet— in fact, it is often so wet that serum runs from it, and then it is technically called wet. Good meat has but little odour, and this is not disagreeable; whereas diseased meat smells faint and cadaverous, and it often has the odour of medicine. This is best observed by cutting it, and smelling the knife, or by pouring a little warm water upon the chopped meat. Good meat will bear cooking without shrinking, and without losing very much in weight; but bad meat shrivels up, and it often boils to pieces. All these effects are due to the presence of a large proportion of serum in the meat, and to the relatively large amount of intercellular or gelatinous 75 tissue; for the fat and true muscular substance are to a greater or less extent deficient. If, therefore, a hundred grains of the lean or muscular part of good meat are cut up and dried at a temperature of boiling salt and water (224 degrees Fahrenheit), they lose only from 69 to 74 grains of their weight; but if diseased meat is thus treated, it loses from 75 to 80 per cent, of its weight. I find that the average loss of weight with sound and good beef is 72.3 per cent., and of mutton 71.5 per cent., whereas the average loss of diseased beef is 76.1 per cent., and of diseased mutton 78.2 per cent. Even if it be dried at a higher temperature, as at 266 degrees Fahrenheit, when all the moisture is expelled, and when good meat loses from 7-1 to 80 per cent, of its weight, the proportions of loss in bad meat is equally great. Other characters, of a more refined nature will also serve to distinguish good from bad meat. The juice or serosity of sound flesh is slightly acid, and it contains an excess of potash salts, chiefly the phosphate; whereas diseased meat, from being infiltrated with the serum of blood, is often alkaline, and the salts of soda, especially chloride and phosphate abound in it. 76 Lastly, when good meat is examined under the microscope, the fibre is clean and well defined, and free from infusorial creatures; but that of diseased meat is sodden, as if it had been soaked in water, and the transverse markings are indistinct and far apart; besides which, there are often minute organisms like infusorial bodies. These are very perceptible in the flesh of animals affected with the cattle plague, and Dr. Beale has described them as entozoa like objects. They differ altogether from the parasites which constitute the trichina disease, and the measles of pork. How far the use of diseased meat affects the human constitution is unknown. In those cases where certain parasitic diseases exist in animals, there is no doubt of its injurious nature; for the tape-worm, the trichina, and certain hydated or encysted growths are unquestionably produced by it. Experience also points to the fact, that carbuncle, and common boils, are, in some degree, referable to the use of the flesh of animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia; and occasionally we witness the most serious diarrhoea and prostration of the vital powers after eating diseased meat. It is, therefore, safest to forbid its use; and it is at all times best to guard against the possibility of injury, by having meat well cooked. It should be so 77 cooked that the very centre of the joint should be exposed for some time to the temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The instructions of Liebig, in this particular, are hardly safe; for, although a temperatue below that of boiling water may coagulate albumen, and develop the flavours of cooked meat, it may not ensure the destruction of dangerous parasites. It is, therefore, better to have the meat a little over-cooked than otherwise. The number of fish condemned in the City markets has been considerable—no less than 613,730 fish of different descriptions have been seized in Billingsgate Market by the officers of the Fishmongers' Company during the year. They consisted of 211,700 whiting, 123,050 dabs, 104,420 gurnets, 67,776 smelts, 58,836 herrings, 38,586 haddock, 34,703 plaice, 10,571 thornbacks, 1,093 soles, 570 cod, and about 22,000 others; besides 2,507 lobsters and crabs, 12,802 bushels of shrimps, 494 bushels of mussels, periwinkles, and whelks. 42 bushels of sprats, and 372 barrels, kits, tins, and cases of pickled salmon, caplins, and cod's tongues. All of which were destroyed as being unfit for human food. As regards the sanitary work of the year, you perceive from Table VII. of the Appendix, that 11,008 inspections have been made of the 78 poorer houses of the City, and of these 3,368 have been visits to the common lodging houses. These inspections have resulted in the issuing of 2,331 orders for sanitary improvement, all of which are detailed in the table referred to; and the landlords of 59 houses have been summoned before the justices during the year for neglecting to perform the sanitary work required of them, and they have either completed the work before the time of hearing the summonses, and have been charged with the costs thereof, or they have been fined. There have been also 23 convictions at the justice room and at the Old Bailey, of persons who have sent unwholesome meat to the City markets for sale as human food, and the penalties have ranged from £5 and costs, to twelve months' imprisonment and a fine of £50. Lastly, the Meteorology of the year, from observations at Guildhall, are recorded in Table No. VI. of the Appendix; and it will be observed that the temperature of the several months of the year has been remarkably variable; even in the autumn of last year, which was the most equable of all the quarters, the range of temperature in each of the three months was 17 to 28 degrees of Fahrenheit—the mean temperature of October being 52 degrees, of November 44 degrees, and of December 41 degrees; but the close of the year 79 was marked by severe cold, for the thermometer fell to 24.6 degrees. This was continued to the end of the next quarter—the mean temperature of each of the winter months being about 38 degrees; and the winter was prolonged to the end of March, there being snow storms as late as Lady-day: in fact it was the coldest March on record, excepting that of 1845. In April the weather suddenly changed, and from being the coldest season it was was all at once the warmest. The thermometer rose to 72 6 degrees, and the mean temperature was 52 degrees—that of March being 37.5 degrees; but the month ended with cold and wet, which continued to the middle of May. Then came a higher temperature, and this lasted with little variation throughout the months of June and July. In June the thermometer rose to 77.5 degrees, and in July to 82 degrees; but August was a wet and cold month, although September was the driest and hottest on record. These fluctuations of temperature were accompanied with like variations of rain-fall. October and December of 1864 were comparatively dry months, but November was rather wet, and so also was January, for the total fall of rain and snow in the month was more than 3 inches; in February it was nearly 2 inches, but from February to Maythere was not much rain—the total fall in the two 80 months being but 1.3 of an inch. Early in May the showers were abundant—amounting to 3 inches, and so they were also at the beginning and at the end of June. The total rain-fall of July was rather more than 2.5 inches, while that of August was 5.25 inches, whereas in September there was less than half an inch. As might be expected, the humidity of the atmosphere has been very variable ranging from 67 to 92 degrees of saturation. And lastly I may say that the river has shown no signs of putrefactive decomposition, notwithstanding that in September the temperature was high, and the rain-fall less than usual. I remain, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, HENRY LETHEBY. Guildhall, January, 1866. APPENDIX. No. I.—Enumeration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in each of the City Unions for the Year ending September 1865, and a Comparison with the Averages of the last Ten Years. Quarters ending. East London Union. West London Union. City of London Union. Entire City. Births. Deaths. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Marriages. December 1864 309 244 138 206 215 122 182 232 140 697 691 400 Average of 10 Years 333 289 149 182 189 149 269 261 147 784 739 445 March 186.5 283 268 116 184 197 90 203 264 145 670 729 351 Average of 10 Years 371 315 121 209 220 112 284 295 143 864 830 376 June 1865 287 286 128 172 173 108 207 207 169 666 666 405 Average of 10 Years . . 345 267 132 202 184 133 255 242 151 802 693 416 September 1865 225 241 133 15O 148 134 186 198 179 561 587 446 Average of 10 Years 322 257 138 182 168 141 249 222 168 753 647 447 Sum of the 4 Quarters 1104 1039 515 712 733 454 778 901 633 2594 2673 1602 Average of 10 Years 1371 1128 640 775 761 535 1057 1020 609 3203 2909 1684 G 2 No. II.—Annual Enumeration of Births for the Year ending September 1865. Births in the Four Quarters. Total. East London Union. West London Union. City or London Union. Saint Botolph. Cripplegate. Total. North. South. Total. s. w. N. w. South. 8. E. N. E. Total. Quarter ending Dec. 1864 M. F. 352 345 M. F. 90 76 M. F. 71 72 M. F. 161 148 M. F. 41 39 M. F. 60 66 M. F. 101 105 M. F. 30 24 M. F. 13 14 M. F. 10 12 M. F. 17 19 M. F. 20 23 M. F. 90 92 697 166 143 309 80 126 206 54 27 22 36 43 182 Quarter ending March I860 332 338 71 71 72 69 143 140 43 39 53 49 96 88 20 17 13 21 18 19 19 19 23 34 93 110 670 142 141 283 82 102 184 37 34 37 38 57 203 Quarter ending June 1865 316 350 77 75 59 76 136 151 40 36 46 50 86 86 19 15 19 13 20 26 12 19 34 30 104 103 666 152 135 287 76 96 172 34 32 46 31 64 207 Quarter ending Sept. 1865 281 280 62 63 45 55 107 118 34 36 48 32 82 68 18 20 19 11 11 15 18 23 26 25 92 94 561 125 100 225 70 80 150 38 30 26 41 51 186 Sum of the Four Quarters 1281 1313 300 285 247 272 547 557 158 160 207 197 365 347 87 76 64 59 59 72 66 80 103 112 379 399 2594 585 519 1104 308 404 712 163 123 131 146 215 778 Annual Average of the 1647 1556 368 343 334 326 702 669 180 179 213 203 393 382 97 102 84 78 119 106 105 88 147 132 552 505 last ten years 3203 711 660 1371 359 416 775 199 162 224 193 279 1057 No. III.—Annual Enumeration of Deaths for the Year ending September 1865. Deaths in the Four Quarters. Total. East London Union. West London Union. City of London Union. Saint Bololph. Cripple»ate. Workhouse. North. South. Workhouse. S. w. N. W. South. S. E. N. E. Workbouse.[/ ###] Quarter ending Dec. 1864 M. F. 375 316 M. F. 54 54 M. F. 47 61 M. F. 17 11 M. F. 44 26 M. F. 62 54 M. F. 17 12 M. F. 14 16 M. F. 15 10 M. F. 21 8 M. F. 27 13 M. F. M. F. 36 26 21 25 691 108 108 28 70 116 29 30 25 29 40 62 46 Quarter ending March 1865 374 355 59 50 52 63 19 25 36 21 54 51 18 17 14 16 17 19 22 29 18 20 34 16 31 28 729 109 115 44 57 105 35 30 36 51 38 50 59 Quarter ending June 1865 329 337 42 53 61 73 24 33 34 28 46 37 17 11 12 17 13 18 22 17 18 11 24 17 16 22 666 95 134 57 62 83 28 29 31 39 29 41 38 Quarter ending Sept. 1865 295 292 60 56 44 55 12 14 16 19 41 42 14 16 19 17 9 6 17 16 24 11 27 21 12 19 587 116 99 26 35 83 30 36 15 33 35 48 31 Sum of the Four Quarters 1373 1300 215 213 204 252 72 83 130 94 203 184 66 56 59 66 54 53 82 70 87 55 121 80 80 94 2673 428 456 155 224 387 122 125 107 152 142 201 174 Annual Average of the ) last Ten years 1517 1392 251 241 259 246 66 65 138 121 185 171 82 61 82 73 79 66 98 83 98 73 107 110 72 79 2909 492 505 131 259 359 143 155 145 181 171 217 151 No. IV.—Classification of Deaths in the City Unions according to Age, for the Year ending September 1865, and a Comparison with the Averages of the last Ten Years. City Districts. Total. 0 to 5. 5 to 10. 10 to 15. 15 to 20. 20 to 30. 30 to 40. 40 to 50. 50 to 60. 60 to 70. 70 and over. East London Union, 1865 1039 425 46 17 16 52 69 103 79 104 128 Average of Ten Years 1128 505 48 15 21 61 76 88 93 105 116 West London Union, 1865 733 276 16 14 19 39 61 66 80 90 72 Average of Ten Years 761 297 30 10 16 51 62 68 74 77 76 City of London Union, 1865 901 254 25 15 26 58 68 84 106 126 139 Average of Ten Years 1020 331 39 21 24 58 72 98 104 124 149 Entire City, 1865 2673 955 87 46 61 149 198 253 266 320 339 Average of Ten Years 2909 1133 117 46 61 170 210 254 271 306 341 No. V Classification of Deaths according to Causes, during the Year 1865 and a Comparison with the Averages of the last Ten Years. City Districts and Population in 1861. Violence, Privation, Premature Birth, and Poison. Tubercular Diseases. Convulsions and Teething. Zymotic Diseases. Pneumonia, Bronchitis, and Asthma. Others, chiefly chronic. Total. Phthisis. Tabes and Scrofula. Hydrocepha lus. Alvine Adults. Flux. Children. Con. tinned Fever. ScarletFever. Smallpox. Measles. WhoopingCough Croup, & Diphtheria. Erysipelas. East London Union (Population 41,282) 1865. 49 135 91 25 49 8 40 40 27 5 11 89 7 161 302 1039 Average 49 133 74 35 69 14 34 47 52 13 37 66 7 206 292 1128 WesstLondonUnion (Population 26,739) 1865. 49 79 69 15 43' 4 17 35 21 0 6 41 8 130 216 733 Average 45 101 54 22 36 8 18 33 25 ' 24 36 6 132 214 761 City of London Union (Population 46,451) 1865. 76 107 54 11 46 6 11 31 21 3 7 47 3 134 344 901 Average 64 126 48 22 59 10 18 32 36 9 24 53 5 163 351 1020 Entire City (Population 114,472) 1865. 174 321 214 51 138 18 68 106 69 8 24 177 18 425 862 2673 Average 158 360 176 79 164 32 70 112 113 29 85 155 18 501 857 2909 No. VI.—Meteorology of the City of London for each Month in the Year ending in September 1865, from, Observations made at the Engineer s Office, Guildhall, under the direction of Mr. Haywood. MONTHS. 1864-65. Barometer. Dry Thermometer. Wet Thermometer or Hygrometer. Rain Gauges. Mean Pressure. Highest Pressure. Lowest Pressure. Mean Temperature. Highest Temperature. Lowest Temperature. Mean Daily Kange. Mean Temperature. Dew Point. Degree of Humidity, Weight of vapour iu cubic foot, of air. Vapour required to saturate ditto. ! Total Fall. Greatest Fall. Lowest Fall. Wet Bulb. Dry Bulb. On Roof. On Grnd. On Roof. On Grnd. On Roof. On Grnd. Inches. Indies. Inches. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg". Deg Dee. Grns. Grns. In?. Ins. Ins. Ins. Ins. Ins. October 29.787 30. 374 29. 092 52.0 61.0 43.6 9.1 48.9 52.0 45.9 80 3.5 0.9 0 .93 0.85 0.32 0 .31 0.02 O.O1 November 29.732 30.516 28.770 44.1 54.5 33.7 9.7 42.3 44.1 39.6 84 2.8 0.5 21.5 22.4 0.99 1.00 0.01 0.02 December 29. 958 30.588 29.510 41.0 53.0 24.6 6.2 39.9 41.0 38.7 92 2.7 0.3 0.55 0.58 0.27 0.27 0.02 0.02 January 29.340 30.376 28.596 38.7 51.0 26.7 6.8 37.6 38.7 37.2 92 2.5 0.3 3.05 3.29 0.75 0.75 o.01 0.01 February 29.823 30.588 28.897 3.78 50.6 24.0 7.0 37. 0 37.8 35.6 91 2.4 0.3 1.66 1.93 0.38 0.39 0.03 0.03 March 29.063 30.332 29.216 37.5 51.6 2.70 8.6 35.1 37.5 31.5 80 2 .1 0 .6 0.89 0 96 0.13 0.14 0.02 0.02 April 30 .009 30.346 29.878 52.0 72.6 39.4 16.2 48.4 52.0 44.9 77 3.4 10 0.40 0.45 0.09 0.11 0.03 0.03 May 29.857 30388 29.534 56.5 73.7 39.3 15.0 51.8 56.5 47.4 70 3.7 l.5 3.20 3.35 0.75 0.77 0.02 0.02 June 30.142 30.552 29.324 60.5 77.5 47.5 14.0 55.2 60.5 50.6 70 4.1 1.8 1.58 1.64 0.78 0.81 0.03 0.04 July 29.703 30.398 29.700 64 .3 82.0 53.4 14. 0 58.5 64.3 54.0 67 4.5 2.1 2.64 2.69 1.07 1.07 0.02 0.02 August 29.873 30.324 29.528 59.7 72.0 48.5 12 .2 55.3 59.7 51.6 73 4.2 1.5 5.12 5.27 1.35 1.36 0 .01 0.01 September 30.176 30.500 29.954 63.9 81.0 50.0 13.8 59.3 63.9 55.8 74 4.9 1.6 0.34 0.42 0.20 0.28 0.01 0.01 Barometer.—The highest readings were on October 11, November 7, December 24, January 7, February 10, March 3, April 6, May 20, June 8, July 26, August 26. September 23. The lowest readings were on October 22, November 14, December 24, January 14, February 1, March 6, April 3, May 10, June 30, July 1, August 23, September 8. Temperature.—The highest were on October 2, November 17, December 5, January 10, February 28, March 31, April 23, May 22, June 23, July 15, August 10, September 8. The lowest were on October 3, November 11, December 19, January 30, February 15, March 21, April 3, May 2, June 12, July 12, August 3, September 23. Rain.—The greatest fall on October 22, November 24, December 1, January 13. February 17, March 2, April 6, May 11, June 2, July 7, August 24, September 21. The least fall on October 28, November 28, December 22, January 24, February 18, March 11, April 19, May 6, June 3, July 13, August 19, September 22. Electricity.—Positive generally throughout the year. WILLIAM HAYWOOD. No. VII.—Account of the Sanitary Work performed in the City during the Year 1865. Quarters Ending. HOUSES GENERALLY. LODGING HOUSES. PARTICULARS OF THE ORDERS ISSUED. Inspections. Orders Issued. Inspections. Orders Issued. Cleansing and Limewhitiug. Removal of Dust, Ac. Amending Water Supply. Removing Cesspools. Amending Sinks and Drains. Removing Waste Water. Cleansing and Repairing Privies Abating Smoke. Abating Overcrowding. Cleansing and Re-paving Cow-houses. Cleansing and Re-paving Slaughter-houses. December 1864 2167 359 802 79 146 15 125 1 126 2 124 0 5 1 1 March 1865 2166 338 933 99 122 8 89 2 118 5 173 l 0 0 i June 1865 1949 801 857 189 802 26 126 7 144 8 310 0 2 4 0 September 1865 1358 409 776 57 345 17 42 1 53 6 118 0 1 2 o Entire Year 7640 1907 3368 424 1415 66 382 11 441 21 725 1 8 7 2 Total General Inspections in 1865 , 7640; Orders Issued. 1907. Lodging House Inspections, 3368; Orders Issued, 424. Average of Five Years 6305; ,, ,, 2829. ,, ,, 3021; ,, ,, 295. No. VIII.—Account of the Meat, Game, and Poultry Condemned in the City Markets, as unfit for Human Food, during the last Five Years (1861 to 1860) Years ending September. WHY CONDEMNED AND |WHERE CONDEMNED. NEWGATE MARKET. II ALDGATE MARKET. LEADENHALL MARKET. Total. Dead. Diseased. Putrid. Total. Bead. Diseased. Putrid. Total. Dead. Diseased. Putrid. Total. Dead. Diseased. Putrid. Total. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 1861 25843 65467 12056 103366 2323 7115 1885 11323 5453 18516 2800 26769 33619 91098 16741 141458 1862 9513 57544 13579 80636 2424 9032 879 12335 2007 12103 2965 17075 13944 78679 17423 110046 1863 15780 86280 52493 154553 1458 6446 2851 10765 3086 21394 20717 45197 20324 114120 76061 210505 1864 33846 77327 73686 184859 4054 8919 828 13801 5597 10533 14390 30520 43497 96779 88904 229180 1865 19669 91444 77981 189094 5547 22384 3517 31448 2177 10786 14322 27285 27393 124614 95820 247827 Total in 5 years. 104651 378062 229795 712508 15806 53896 9960 79662 18320 73332 65194 146846 48777 505290 384949 939016 KIND OF MEAT CONDEMNED. Years. Sheep. Calves. Pigs. Qrs. Beef. Joints. Sheep. Calves. Pigs. Qrs. Beef. Joints. Sheep. Calves. Pigs. Qrs. Beef. Joints. Sheep. Calves. Pigs. Qrs. Beef. Joints. 1861 728 27 73 718 373 46 5 22 78 68 316 10 45 101 203 1089 42 140 897 644 1862 402 31 97 539 592 48 — 10 86 46 92 3 42 98 128 642 34 149 723 766 1863 591 50 198 971 1735 37 3 24 53 318 242 28 57 124 390 870 81 279 1148 2943 1864 776 42 322 1097 1888 34 3 49 83 52 166 11 75 110 773 975 66 446 1290 2713 1865 637 44 308 1628 3052 53 10 40 264 70 101 6 79 96 944 791 59 427 1988 406C Total in 5 years. 3134 194 998 4953 7640 218 21 145 664. 554 915 57 298 629 2938 4267 272 1441 6040 11132 Besides which, there were 7928 lbs of Meat seized in the shops and slaughter.houses. It consisted of 22 Sheep 5 Pigs, 34 Quarters of Beef, and 291 Joints and Pieces of Meat;—1431 lbs. were diseased, 2513 lbs. were putrid, and 3984 lbs. were from animals that had died from natural causes. There have also been condemned on account of putridity—202 Quarters and Haunches of Venison, 1917 Head of Game, and 13743 Head of Poultry and Rabbits. No. IX.—List of Slaughter-houses in the City of London. East District. West District. No. 44, Aldgate High Street No. 28, Bread Street Hill 45, „ „ 70, Fetter Lane 46, „ „ 11, Bear Alley, Farringdon 48, „ „ Street 51, „ „ 25, Newgate Market 52, „ „ 26, 53, ,, „ 27, „ 55, „ „ 28, ,, 56, „ „ 30, 57, „ „ 10, Rose Street 58, „ „ 169, Aldersgate Street 59, ,, ,, 82, ,, 60, „ „ 3, Fore Street 62, ,, „ 117,,, 66, „ „ Paved Passage 67, „ „ No. 4, Hosier Lane 68, „ . „ 4, Warwick Lane 68, „ „ 6, 68, „ „ 34, „ 68, „ „ 10, 69, „ „ 1 11, 70, „ „ * | 12, 73, „ „ 6, Newgate Market 74, „ „ 9, „ 75, „ 10, Harrow Alley 11, „ No. 53, Minories 63, 57, Great Tower Street Beehive Passage, Lime Street No. 5, Sun Street 154, Bishopsgate Street Gun Yard, Norton Folgate Total 58. No. X List of Cow-houses in the City of London, and Number of Cows kept. East District. West District. Name of Owners. Situation. No. of Cows. Name of Owners. Situation. No. of Cows. George Barnes Dowgate Hill John Evans Milton Street 6 Mrs. Evans Widegate Street 8 John Lambell Fore Street Benjamin Smith Garden Court Thomas Goodman Charles Street John Andrew ” ” Henry Elmes Bridgewater Gardens 2 Mr. Bartholomew Goodman's Yard Minories Thomas Jones Bartholomew Close 2 Thomas Davis St. James' Place John Stephenson Whitefriars 0 James Pullen & Son Albion Place, London Wall 1 William Phillips New Street Hill Josh. Roberts Half Moon Mews hannah Smith Shoe Lane Thomas Tattam Halft Moon Street John Baynon Oxford Arms Passage Marv Nelmes George Yard, Aldgate 2 No. of Cow-houses .. 10 No. of Cows 43 No. of Cow-houses .... 9 No. of Cows... 19 Total Cow-houses 19 Total No. of Cows 62 The number of Cows in the City at the time of the outbreak of the Cattle Plague in June last was 203, and last year it was 244. The number affected with the disease has been 129, of which 120 have been killed, 3 have died, and 6 have recovered. The earliest case of the disease was in Oxford Arms Passage, on the 4th of September last.