CONTENTS. Anthrax as an occupational disease, by Wm. H. Rand, M. D. A new method of computing accident rates.. A study of welfare work............ Conciliation work of the Department of Labor, May 16 to June 15, 1916.... Federal employment work of the Department of Labor... Proceedings of the American Association of Public Employment Offices... Union scale of wages and hours of labor, May 1, 1915.. Wages and hours of labor in the cotton, woolen, and silk industries.. Austria.. Canada.. Denmark.. France.. Germany (Berlin). Great Britain.. Italy.... Netherlands. Norway.. Sweden. Switzerland (Zurich)...... Employment in foreign countries: France.. Germany... Great Britain..... Tuberculosis among industrial workers... Page. 1-5 6-17 18-23 23, 24 24-33 34, 35 36-39 39-46 46, 47 47-50 50-62 62-70 70-74 74-76 76-78 78-80 80-92 82, 83 83 84 84, 85 85,86 86, 87 87,88 88 89 89-91 91, 92 92, 93 93-95 95, 96 Scandinavian countries.. 96-98 98-100 Lighting for factories, mills, and other work places.. 101-107 Recent reports relating to workmen's compensation and industrial accidents: Metal-mine accidents in the United States during 1915.. Court decisions on power of State industrial commissions to issue orders..... 136-147 III Principles of labor legislation.. Publications of the National Child Labor Committee.... Conditions prevailing in the coal mining industry in Great Britain. Public employment offices in Queensland, Australia.. Immigration, April, 1916...... Official reports relating to labor: United States.... Foreign countries. Official periodical publications relating to labor.. Page. 147-149 149-151 151-153 154, 155 155, 156 157-161 161-164 165-168 169-171 In man anthrax is almost exclusively of occupational origin. The newspapers occasionally chronicle the occurrence of the infection in workmen employed in tanneries or as packers, handlers and dressers of imported bides and hair, wool sorters, or as farm laborers. It is certain, however, that but a small percentage of the cases ever come to the knowledge of the general public. In the Journal of the American Medical Association of December 4, 1915, a news item casually refers to "another death from anthrax," reported from Endicott, N. Y., the city bacteriologist of Binghamton confirming the diagnosis. This victim had been employed in an Endicott tannery, where, it is presumed, he became infected. No comment is made on this fatality, either editorially or by the correspondent sending the communication. In all such cases specific data ought to be obtainable. Where did the hides come from? Had they been inspected by a State or Federal officer? Had they been subjected to any (and what) process of sterilization? If so, was the disinfection inadequate? Who was at fault in the matter? What penalty attaches to negligence in observing sanitary regulations as to anthrax? Are any prophylactic measures enforced by State or local boards of health for the protection of the workmen exposed to this contagion? These are some of the questions that demand full answer. In some of the States anthrax is a reportable disease and should be made such by law everywhere. Probably no part of the country is exempt from the disease. The Bulletin of the Maine State Board of Health for January, 1916, reports, "In Maine cases of human anthrax have occasionally occurred among those who have handled hides which have come from places where this disease is prevalent." At the annual meeting of the Delaware State Medical Society at Wilmington, October 11 and 12, 1915, Dr. John Palmer, jr., reported that, within the last eight years he had attended over 42 cases of anthrax affecting the cutaneous and cellular tissues. In the subsequent discussion, Dr. Bastian remarked that on account of the many morocco factories in Wilmington anthrax is much more common than in other parts of the country. There is no indication in Dr. Palmer's report that any effort has been made to trace the infection to its source. But when one physician treats upwards of 40 cases of malignant pustule in the ordinary course of his practice within a period of eight years, it is evident that the local prevalence of the disease calls for sanitary intervention. Many cases of anthrax have been found among workers in hides in New York City and among the workers in skins in Gloversville, N. Y. The sporadic and exceptional occurrence of the infection, however, has obscured its importance as an occupational disease. The Bulletin of the New York State Industrial Commission for March, 1916, records the fact that since March, 1915, 11 cases of anthrax have been reported in the second inspection district and 11 in the metropolitan district. Of the number in the second district, 7 were tannery employees, 3 were farmers, and 1 a school boy; of the 11 infected, 4 died of anthrax. The metropolitan cases are to be made the subject of a special report and subsequently a general report embracing all the cases in the State will be submitted. In Massachusetts, where occupational anthrax is subject to compensation under the workmen's compensation law, 6 cases, 2 of which were fatal, were reported during the year ending June 30, 1914. Of these, 3 were in tanneries (1 fatal) and 3 in water transportation (1 fatal). In the biennial report of the Texas State Board of Health from September 1, 1912, to August 31, 1914, there were reported "14 human cases" of anthrax infection, with 3 deaths. Among animals 11,746 cases were reported, with 9,328 deaths. The epidemic appeared in 26 counties, while in 1913 there were only 17 infected counties. The board of health has sought to enlighten the people as to the danger of infection, and at the same time to check its extension by the distribution of anthrax vaccine. The conclusion announced by the board is that the extensive epidemics of anthrax in west Texas "are largely due to the horsefly, which carries the infection from the sick to the well." In several European countries anthrax has long been classed as a reportable disease. It is noteworthy that wherever the law requires the infection to be reported there is always an apparent increase in the incidence of the disease in the early years of reporting. In Germany, for example, such a law became operative January 1, 1910. 1 Jour. Am. Med. Assn., Nov. 6, 1915, pp. 1670, 1671. |