REPORTS AND PAPERS. APPENDIX A. ORGANIZATIO I. CONSTITUTING ACT. AN ACT to prevent the introduction of infectious or contagious diseases into the United States, and to establish a National Board of Health. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there shall be established a National Board of Health to consist of seven members, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, not more than one of whom shall be appointed from any one State, whose compensation, during the time when actually engaged in the performance of their duties under this act, shall be ten dollars per diem each and reasonable expenses, and of one medical officer of the Army, one medical officer of the Navy, one medical officer of the Marine Hospital Service, and one officer from the Department of Justice, to be detailed by the Secretaries of the several departments and the Attorney-General, respectively, and the officers so detailed shall receive no compensation. Said board shall meet in Washington within thirty days after the passage of this act, and in Washington or elsewhere from time to time upon notice from the president of the board, who is to be chosen by the members thereof, or upon its own adjournments, and shall frame all rules and regulations authorized or required by this. act, and shall make or cause to be made such special examinations and investigations at any place or places within the United States, or at foreign ports, as they may deem best, to aid in the execution of this act and the promotion of its objects. SEC. 2. The duties of the National Board of Health shall be to obtain information upon all matters affecting the public health, to advise the several departments of the government, the executives of the several States, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, on all questions submitted by them, or whenever in the opinion of the board such advice may tend to the preservation and improvement of the publie health. SEC. 3. That the Board of Health, with the assistance of the Academy of Science, which is hereby requested and directed to co-operate with them for that purpose, shall report to Congress at its next session a full statement of its transactions, together with a plan for a national public health organization, which plan shall be prepared after consultation with the principal sanitary organizations and the sanitarians of the several States of the United States, special attention being given to the subject of quarantine, both maritime and inland, and especially as to regulations which should be established between State or local systems of quarantine and a national quarantine system. SEC. 4. The sum of fifty thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to pay the salaries and expenses of said board and carry out the purposes of this act. Approved, March 3, 1879. II. 1st. The officers of the National Board of Health shall consist of a president, vicepresident, and secretary. 2d. There shall be an executive committee, composed of the president, vice-president, secretary, and two other members. 3d. The officers of the board and the other members of the executive committee shall be elected by ballot at the first annual meeting in each year. 4th. The duties of the president shall be 1st. To preside at all meetings of the board and of the executive committee. 2d. To call meetings as provided in the act creating the board. 3d. To make requisitions upon the Secretary of the Treasury for such sums as may be directed by the board. 5th. The duties of the vice-president shall be to take the place and perform the duties of the president when absent. 6th. The duties of the secretary shall be to keep the records and conduct the correspondence of the board and of the executive committee, to certify to the correctness of all vouchers for expenditures, and to perform such other duties as the board or executive committee may from time to time direct, and he shall be the custodian of all papers, books, and other property of the board. 7th. The duties of the executive committee shall be to carry into effect the directions of the board, and to act for it during the intervals of its sessions, reporting such action to the next meeting. 8th. No purchases shall be made or expenditures incurred except by order of the board or of the executive committee, and the executive committee shall not have power to incur any indebtedness beyond the amount of the funds authorized by the board, to be drawn by the president, and placed to the credit of the board with the disbursing clerk of the Treasury Department. 9th. All bills for salaries and expenses shall be duly certified by a member of the board, and audited and approved by the secretary of the board, who shall keep an accurate record of such vouchers and approvals. III. RULES. RULE 1. In the election of officers the nomination shall be by informal ballot. RULE 2. The standing committees of the board shall be as follows, each to be composed of three members, to be named by the president, with the exception of that on epidemic and contagious diseases, which shall consist of five members: 1st. On rules and interpretations of the constituting act and by-laws. 2]. On finance and accounts. 3d. On epidemic and contagious diseases, including quarantine. 4th. On adulterations and deteriorations of food and drugs. 5th. On registration and vital statistics. 6th. On State, municipal, and local sanitary legislation. 7th. On the diseases of domestic animals. RULE 3. The regular meetings of the board shall be semi-annual, in May and October of each year, the precise date and place to be fixed by the executive committee. RULE 4. The President shall call a meeting of the board whenever five members make in writing, or by telegraph, a joint request to him to that effect. RULE 5. The executive committee shall be considered to be in permanent session, and in the interval of the regular meetings any three members, of whom the secretary shall be one, shall constitute a quorum, and be authorized to transact any business, provided there be a concurrent vote. In case of disagreements the secretary shall be required to report the fact to the absent members and solicit an expression of their wishes as to the call of a formal meeting of the whole committee, or as to taking a vote by correspondence. 3. On epidemics and contagious diseases: 1. S. M. Bemiss. 2. R. W. Mitchell. 5. H. I. Bowditch. 4. On adulteration and deterioration of food and drugs: 1. H. A. Johnson. 2. T. S. Verdi. 3. H. I. Bowditch. 5. On registration and vital statistics: 1. S. Smith. 2. R. W. Mitchell. 3. H. A. Johnson. 6. On State and municipal and local sanitary legislation: 1. H. I. Bowditch. 2. S. M. Bemiss. 3. S. Smith. 7. On diseases of domestic animals: 1. J. L. Cabell. 2. T. S. Verdi. 3. P. H. Bailhache. EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES. APRIL 2, 1879. Ordered, That the discussions and deliberations of the board shall be considered confidential so far as regards the public press, or any source through which they may be likely to reach the public press, except when authorized by the board and communicated through the proper officers. The committee appointed to report to the National Board of Health in regard to the question as to whether Senate bill No. 55, as amended and passed by the Senate on the 1st instant, should be recommended for passage by the House, reported as fellows: First. All attempts at disinfecting vessels and cargoes by artificially-produced cold, must in the present state of our knowledge be regarded as experimental, since there is no satisfactory evidence in existence as to whether the application of a temperature as low as zero in a ship for a comparatively short period of time, that is, for a few hours, will destroy or render perfectly harmless the yellow-fever poison. Second. From what is known of the effects of naturally occurring low temperatures upon this disease, we are of the opinion that the experiment should be tried. So far as regards the proper methods of constructing such a vessel, or the machinery to be placed in it for this purpose, or as regards the proper and reasonable cost of such vessel or the description of machinery, the National Board of Health has no special knowledge. Third. It would be necessary for the board to obtain testimony from naval constructors and from engineers upon these points. It is eminently proper for the Board of Health in its discretion to advise that a thorough trial be made with artificially produced cold as a disinfectant for vessels infected with yellow fever, and to superintend and direct such trials of any given apparatus, but it would be in our judgment preferable that the ultimate selection of the particular form of vessel or machinery to be used for this purpose should be made by the Secretary of the Navy in accordance with the recommendation which he would obtain from the bureaus of his depart ment. Fourth. If the Senate bill should pass the House in its present shape, it would be expedient for the board to request of the Secretary of the Navy the decision above referred to. All of which is respectfully submitted. J. S. BILLINGS. S. M. BEMISS. T. J. TURNER. APRIL 3, 1879. Ordered, That Dr. R. W. Mitchell, of Memphis, Tenn., be appointed a special committee to prepare a plan of organization for relief in the case of an epidemic of yellow fever in an inland town or city, to include the organization of medical relief and of nurses. Dr. Mitchell to consult with such persons as he may see proper, and to report the plans to the board for publication after its completion to the satisfaction of the board. APRIL 4, 1879. Ordered, That the executive committee be, and it is hereby, instructed to employ a commission of experts to make thorough investigations into the causes, conditions, and circumstances influencing the existence and spread of yellow fever in such foreign places as shall be indicated in specific instructions hereafter issued. Ordered, That the selection of the experts and other employés necessary to construct these commissions shall rest with the executive committee. Ordered, That this commission shall be required to make a full and faithful report of all investigations instituted, and observations made, at as early a date as shall be consistent to a satisfactory completion of duties assigned them. Ordered, That the executive committee provide the funds necessary for compensation of persons employed, and the payment of all reasonable expenses, and the president is hereby directed to make requisition upon the Secretary of the Treasury for the funds necessary for this purpose; and the executive committee shall also procure such letters from the Secretary of State as may be necessary to secure a courteous reception and the co-operation of the authorities at the places ordered to be assisted. APRIL 5, 1879. Ordered, That each member of the board be requested to keep the executive committee fully informed of all matters connected with the work of the board under his cognizance, and of any matters which may be of interest, and that the chairmen of the several standing committees be requested to conduct the correspondence relative to the business of their committees so far as convenient, and in cases when necessary delay will not injure the business, through the central office, letters being transmitted through the office for memorandum and record, and to be forwarded from this point. THE NATIONAL BOARD OF HEALTH, PRESTON H. BAILHACHE, M. D., U. S. M. H. S.2407 Maryland avenue, Baltimore, Md. JOHN S. BILLINGS, M. D., U. S. A THOMAS J. TURNER, M. D., U. S. N. .558 St. Charles st., New Orleans, La. .84 Gay street, Georgetown, D. C. .113 Boylston street, Boston, Mass. University of Virginia, Va. 4 Sixteenth street, Chicago, Ill. .34 Madison street, Memphis, Tenn. ..1119 K street, Washington, D. C. .57 West Forty-second st., New York. 1227 M street, Washington, D. C. .815 Fourteenth street, N. W., Washington, D. C. OFFICERS. JAMES L. CABELL, LL. D., & c JOHN S. BILLINGS, Surgeon United States Army. THOMAS J. TURNER, Medical Director United States Navy THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Dr. JAMES L. CABELL. Dr. JOHN S. BILLINGS. Dr. THOMAS J. TURNER. Dr. STEPHEN SMITH. Dr. PRESTON H. BAILHACHE. President. .. Secretary. |