legislature any specific cases not covered by the provisions of existing laws which, in its opinion, call for further legislation. Finally, and very materially, the board is provided with funds to sustain the corps of engineers, chemists and inspectors, whose labors are needful to the proper performance of its duties.

The report of the board's proceedings under these heads, submitted to the Legislature in January of this year, shows the excellent work that may be accomplished in this way. Eleven applications from cities and towns for advice concerning water supplies were received; eleven for advice concerning sewerage; two soliciting action to prevent the contamination of particular water supplies; and one from a manufacturer for advice concerning the disposal of drainage from certain works which he purposed establishing. The important question of a water supply for the cities of Boston, Chelsea, and Somerville and the town of Everett, was one of those that came before the board. There are 123 sources of public water supply in the State; but over 200 samples are investigated chemically and biologically every month, the samples being from rivers, ponds and other sources that may be utilized in the future. Experiments are also in progress on methods of sewage-disposal, which will add considerably to our knowledge of the results which may be obtained in that direction.

With the aid of the State, the local authorities in their efforts to obtain and preserve a wholesome water supply would experience no difficulty that could not be overcome by the expenditure of the necessary funds. The twenty-mile limit will, in progress of time, be blotted out, and the waters of the State be sharply divided into those which may be used as sources of domestic supply and those which carry off the waste water. The water supply and sewerage systems of the State of the country-should be as distinct as those of every household, and the sooner this is accomplished the sooner will the rates of sickness and death be decreased among our people.

Your committee, therefore, urge a livelier interest in this important matter on the part of State Boards of Health, an interest which is not satisfied with discussing and subscribing to sanitary views of the subject, but which will leave nothing undone that will tend to invest them with power to act for the preservation of the public health. With all our boards operating, each within its domain, there would be no need of a committee of this association to investigate the subject of water pollution. In concluding, we submit the following resolution:

Resolved, That it is the well considered belief of this association that it is an imperative necessity, especially in the more populous States, that State Legislatures should give their boards of health that financial support which would enable them to act intelligently on all questions pertaining to the public water supplies, investing them at the same time with the supervision of the said supplies, and with

power to preserve these waters from contamination by sewage or other injurious matters.

CHARLES SMART,
S. W. ABBOTT,

G. C. ASHMUN,

W. W. DANIELS,
EDWARD PLAYTER.

The following are simple tests for the purity of drinking water which any one can apply [B. L.]:

Solution of Pot. Permang. for testing water.-Dissolve twelve grains of caustic potash and three grains of permanganate of potash in an ounce of distilled water. Add two or three drops of this solution to a tumbler full of the suspected water. If the color is at once destroyed the water is bad. The amount of the solution necessary to secure a permanent color is a coarse quantitative test.

Hager's Water Test.-Pour one tablespoonful of clear solution of tannin, a heaped teaspoonful of tannin to a gill of rain water, into a tumbler full of the suspected water. If turbidity occurs within five hours the water is good, if turbidity occur within one hour, the water is decidedly unwholesome.

V. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INSTRUCTIONS AND SCHOOL HYGIENE.

The Committee on Public Instructions and School Hygiene would respectfully report that during the past year a manual of school hygiene has been prepared, designated more particularly for the use and information of teachers. The subjects of heating and ventilation, light, habits of study, hours of study, clothing, contagious diseases and others, are presented in clear and forcible language. They have been distributed in large quantities through the teachers' institutes, as well as, directly through the superintendents, and to teachers individually. The constantly increasing demand upon the Secretary for them indicates that they are highly appreciated. The committee has in contemplation the preparation of a second manual on the same subject, intended for superintendents and teachers of schools which will deal also with location, construction, water supply and drainage of school buildings. A form for the use of inspectors of schools has been prepared and it is hoped during the coming year that work will be inaugurated in this direction.

Respectfully submitted.

J. H. MCCLELLAND, M. D.,
Chairman.

VI. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ADULTERATIONS, POISONS, EXPLOSIVES AND OTHER SOURCES OF DANGER TO LIFE AND

LIMB.

Your committee regrets to again find it necessary to report that, owing to lack of funds it has been unable to accomplish any analytical work in this important department of the work of the Board. Respectfully submitted.

PEMBERTON DUDLEY,

Chairman.

VII. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SANITARY LEGISLATION, RULES AND REGULATIONS.

The Committee on Sanitary Legislation, Rules and Regulations respectfully reports that the legislature not having been in session during the past year it has had no occasion for active work at the State Capitol. It has in preparation measures similar to those introduced at the last session for protecting the purity of water supplies, for preventing the pollution of streams and ponds, for creating a thor ough organization of the State for sanitary purposes, for establishing the necessary machinery to render the registration of vital statistics, effective and for obtaining an increased appropriation for the expenses of the Board. It trusts it will have the active coöperation of every member of the Board in the endeavor to obtain these much needed reforms.

Respectfully submitted.

GEORGE G. GROFF,
Chairman.

APPENDIX B.

REPORT OF INSPECTORS.

1. Report on the Improved Drainage System of the Executive Mansion at Harrisburg, by Benjamin Lee, M. D., Secretary.

2. Report on an Inspection at the Norristown Insane Asylum, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

(a.) Communication from Dr. R. H. Chase, Resident Physician.
(b.) Communication from Dr. Alice Bennett, Resident Physician.

(c.) List of cases of Typhoid Fever occurring in the Norristown Insane Asylum.
(d.) Plan showing Sewerage and Drainage at Norristown Insane Asylum.
(e.) Report of Analysis of Water and Melted Ice obtained from the Norris-
town Insane Hospital, by Charles M. Cresson, M. D.

3. Report of Inspection in a case of Small-Pox at Bentleyville, by L. H. Hunter, Inspector.

4. Report of an Inspection at Lebanon, by D. J. McKibbin, M. D., Medical Inspector.

5. Report of an Inspection made at Malvern, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

6. Report of an Inspection made at Chester Heights, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

7. Report of an Inspection at Dallas Borough, by Lewis H. Taylor, M. D., Medical Inspector.

8. Report of an Inspection at West Manyunk, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

9. Report of an Inspection of Camp Ord, Second brigade, National Guard of Pennsylvania, by J. L. Stewart, M. D., Medical Inspector of the Lake District.

10. Report of an Inspection of Camp Phil. Sheridan, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

11. Report of an Inspection at Mt. Carmel, by Wm. Leiser, Jr., M. D., Medical Inspector.

(a.) List of cases of Typhoid Fever at Mt. Carmel.

(b.) Analyses of Water from Mt. Carmel.

12. Report of an Inspection at St. Mary's, Elk county, by Spencer M. Free, M. D., Medical Inspector.

13. Report of an Inspection at Doylestown City, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

14. Report of an Inspection at Tower City, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

15. Report of an Inspection at Tobyhanna Mill, by Charles McIntire, Jr., M. D., Medical Inspector.

16. Report of an Inspection at East Manyunk, by W. B. Atkinson, M. D., Medical Inspector.

17. Report of an Inspection at Carbondale, by Lewis H. Taylor, M. D., Medical Inspector.

18. Report of an Inspection of the Ponds furnishing the Ice Supply of West Chester, by William B. Atkinson, M. D.

I. REPORT ON THE IMPROVED DRAINAGE SYSTEM OF THE EXECUTIVE MANSION AT HARRISBURG.

By BENJAMIN LEE, M. D., Secretary.

One year ago, in consequence of a series of occurrences pointing to unhealthful conditions existing in the official residence of the Governor of the State, a careful inspection of that building and its appurtenances was made by the Secretary, in company with Captain Stackpole, Superintendent of Public Grounds and Buildings, whose courtesy on the occasion it is desired in this place to acknowledge, Dr. Hugh Hamilton, of Harrisburg, Chairman of the Sanitary Committee of the Dauphin County Medical Society, and Messrs. J. Wesley Neil, of Harrisburg, and James G. Bryan, of Philadelphia, plumbers. Serious defects were then noted in the plumbing and drainage system, defects of design rather than of construction or material, which could not but have had a prejudicial effect on the health of the occupants of the mansion. These defects were indicated in a report made to the Board and forwarded to His Excellency, the Governor. Since that time the building has been thoroughly repaired and remodeled, and it is a matter of great satisfaction to be able to report that the objectionable features referred to have all been removed. The brick sewer which then ran directly under the main building has been torn out, and in place of this an eight inch terra cotta pipe has been laid in the adjoining alley on the right, starting at a point somewhat in the rear of the back building. All the stable and yard cesspool sewage, therefore, which formerly passed under the house, is now carried off before reaching it. The kitchen and laundry waste is discharged by means of four-inch iron pipes directly through the lateral wall into the terra cotta drain. The leaders of the roof of the back portion of the main building, the surface drain of the contiguous por tion of the yard and the water-closets, all drain through six-inch iron soil pipes to an eight-inch soil pipe, which passes at once through the wall to join the main drain already described. This continues one hundred feet to the edge of the high bluff forming the river bank, receiving just outside the front side-walk, the rainwater from the two front leaders. All the leaders are trapped outside the house wall. Reaching the river bank, the terra cotta pipe terminates in an eightinch iron pipe, which descends the steep incline of the bank, and is extended out along the bed of the river to a point below low-water mark.

The ventilating pipes all now pass up above the level of the ridge pole of the roof, so that the serious defect in that respect, noted in the previous report, has ceased to exist. It only now remains to give the cellar floors a good coating of cement, which will be done during the summer vacation, to complete the sanitary improvements which the Board suggested.