TABLE 49.-SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SUITS INSTITUTED FOR VIOLATION OF THE ACT TO PREVENT THE SALE OF ADULTERATED FOOD AND DRUGS, TOGETHER WITH THE DATE OF ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE

CASE, FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31; 1907-(Continued).

TABLE 49.-SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SUITS INSTITUTED FOR VIOLATION OF THE ACT TO PREVENT THE SALE OF ADULTERATED FOOD AND DRUGS, TOGETHER WITH THE DATE OF ANALYSIS OF SAMPLE AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE

CASE, FOR THE YEAR ENDING OCTOBER 31, 1907-(Continued).

Creameries. The number of licensed creameries in the State is 133; of this number, twenty-two were originally occupied as dwellings, but only two are now occupied in this manner. Licenses have been refused in the case of five of these establishments because the owners or lessees have failed to meet the requirements of the law. Suits have been begun for violation of section 1 of chapter 139 of the laws of 1906, as follows: George H. Scott, Baptistown; Buzby & Miller, Woodstown; William Richman, Salem. Further on in this report is a statement of conditions which exist on creamery premises. Numerous establishments for the sale of milk in cities and the larger towns not only sell milk by the pint and quart, but also dispose of it in can lots, and the question whether these places are included in the definition contained in section 6 of the act approved April 20th, 1906, has not yet been judicially decided. These depots are usually located in thickly built-up portions of the city, often in stores in tenements, and if the act above referred to is operative in the case of these places they would be required to remove their places

of business to other buildings. Inasmuch as the sale of milk in these establishments can be controlled by ordinances made by local boards of health, unsanitary conditions which have been observed on these premises by the inspectors of this board have been brought to the attention of the local board having jurisdiction in the locality.

Inspection of Streams. The terms of the opinion of the Court of Appeals in the case of the State board of health v. the borough of Vineland, which was rendered in June, 1907, do not affect the operations of the board except where plans for the discharge of sewage into streams has been approved by the State sewerage commission. The text of the opinion is published further on in this report. By the advice of the Attorney-General, the inspection of streams by the board was discontinued upon the announcement of the decree of Vice Chancellor Leaming, but the work was resumed after the filing of the decision of the Court of Appeals, and since that time investigations have been regularly made concerning the purity of public water-supplies.

Notices have been sent drawing attention to one hundred and forty sources of pollution, and suits have been ordered in all cases where the parties responsible for maintaining the nuisance failed to take action to remove the sources of contamination. A detailed statement of the pollutions detected is included in this report.

Sanitary Inspection Service. At the meeting of the State sanitary examiners held in December, 1906, eleven applicants for license to serve as health officer and twenty to serve as sanitary inspectors were examined, and at the meeting held in June, 1907, twenty-six were examined, three for health officer's license and twenty-three for that of inspector. Of the total number, ten were licensed. The quality of the local sanitary service in New Jersey has greatly improved in consequence of the work already accomplished under the provisions of the act of 1903, and it is upon the service of the officials appointed under the restrictions contained. in this act that dependence is mainly placed for further improvement in the local sanitary administration in New Jersey, but before the best attainable service can be procured, higher salaries and long tenure of office must be offered. Sanitary inspectors should not only be tested for fitness by examination, but a thorough and comprehensive course of instruction should be provided, and

health officers should be chosen only from among a class of highly educated and especially prepared individuals.

Local Sanitary Administration.-Questions are still arising concerning the duty of the local board of health and the responsibility of the householder in cases where disinfection of dwellings is to be performed to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Disinfection, if it is to serve any useful purpose, must be skillfully applied, and therefore it should always be conducted by or under the personal supervision of a trained employe of the local sanitary authority, and never left to the unaided efforts of persons who are unacquainted with the purpose of each step in the process. Moreover, inasmuch as this procedure is employed, in almost all instances, for the protection of the public and not for the benefit of the householder, it should be performed at public expense and by a representative of the local health department. Ordinances governing this matter should hold the householder responsible for prompt. notification of the proper officials when the infectious patient has recovered or has been removed, and the householder should be penalized if he permits persons who are not needed as attendants to enter or leave the infected dwelling before it has been treated and released by the health officer, but he cannot be relied upon to possess that degree of knowledge of the measures which are to be depended upon for germicidal effects, and of which it must be admitted many of the employes of health boards are still innocent. Therefore it is inadvisable for any sanitary authority to shirk its duty if disinfection is to be done, and preparation for this work should be made by every local health board. At least one inspector should be instructed and drilled1 in the various procedures which are essential to the purification of infected articles and which are appropriate for the rational application of the knowledge thus far gained concerning the avenues through which infection is spread. There is reason to hope that in course of time the enforcement of

1 In Prussia during 1905 about sixty-four official nine-day courses of lectures on practical disinfection were given at seventeen different points; 533 persons attended the lectures and 533 passed the examinations and received certificates as officially tested disinfectors. Besides the above courses a number of three-day courses were held for nurses, and about 200 nurses were thus trained for the disinfecting service, especially for continuous bedside disinfection, while the licensed disinfectors were trained especially for the terminal disinfection. Every three years the licensees must submit to further tests, and take another course of lectures at the end of six years. Jour. A. M. A., April 20th, 1907.

the act requiring that all sanitary inspectors and health officers who are hereafter appointed shall be tested for fitness, will bring to the service of every sanitary district a well informed and capable agent who can be trusted to employ disinfection whenever it can reasonably be expected to destroy the organisms which may reproduce disease, and who will also be wise enough to refrain from needless efforts in this direction.

The ventilation of public buildings, especially churches and public halls, is worthy of much more attention than it receives at the hands of local health officers. Serious difficulty is encountered by architects in efforts to prescribe adequate provision for the admission into these structures of a sufficient supply of properly warmed fresh air in cold weather, and janitors are inclined to close the air exits during the warming-up period, often forgetting to open them after the audience has assembled. But many of these buildings are in need of radical changes in the provisions which have been made for the admission of pure air and the discharge of that which has been breathed, and inspections for determining these questions should be assigned to competent persons, preferably architects, especially employed for this service. Uniformity in the practice of local boards of health concerning the closing of schools, churches and public assemblies for the purpose of restricting the spread of infectious diseases has not yet been secured, and ill-advised action in this particular has been taken in several localities during the past year. Possibly conditions may sometimes exist which will justify the closing of public schools, but such occasions are at least extremely rare. School buildings and all of their contents can be freed from the infection of diphtheria every day during an outbreak of this disease, and probably the same fact applies to scarlet fever, and the cost of this work should not deter school authorities from causing it to be done. Daily medical inspection of the teachers and pupils during the prevalence of diphtheria and scarlet fever will promptly weed out the infected individuals, and with these precautions, school attendance may be rendered safer for the children than unrestricted contact in the streets. Infectious Diseases of Animals.-The State has been free from anthrax during the past year, no case of that disease having occurred since August, 1906. Similar exemptions have occurred in other years, and this fortunate escape from the losses which attend