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Annexe K.
REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT BACTERIOLOGIST.
1.THE BACTERIOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
STAFF.
Dr. HUNTER, the Bacteriologist, has been on long leave during the last 3 months of the year.
The Chinese Staff have given satisfaction. They have had no serious disease result- ing from the nature of their work. Early in the year, however, one man was bitten by a rabid guinea pig, he was at once sent to Shanghai for Pasteur's treatment and has remained free from the disease.
BUILDINGS,
The buildings have been maintained in good repair.
THE PREPARATION OF VACCINE LYMPH.
The steadily increasing importance of this work is shown in Table No. I. There is an increase over any previous year of 4.864 tubes issued and of $978 in the Revenue from tubes soid. Table II shows the free issues of vaccine during 1907. The quality of the lymph has been maintained at a very high standard. The maintenance of a highly active vaccine lymph is the tropics is a matter of great importance and is more difficult than at home. It is stated in books on tropical medicine that the protection against Small-pox produced by vaccination lasts for a comparative short time in the tropics-this is with very little doubt due to the poor quality of the lymph formerly used, vaccine lymph rapidly deteriorates in the tropics if passed through a series of calves. The method of reinforcing its strength by passage through rabbits originally recommended by the French Vaccine Commission of 1903 and used with good results in India and elsewhere has been used here and has given very good results in my hands.
In the early autumn a complaint was made by some Chinese operators that the vaccine supplied to them was not active, and a question was asked in the Sanitary Board about the Results which came to hand later from other vaccinators using the same lymph were quite satisfactory showing that the bad results must have been due either to the operators keeping the lymph carelessly or to faults in their technique.
matter.
THE BACTERIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF WATER SUPPLIES.
The routine examination of the Tytam. Pokfulam and Kowloon services which was started in August, 1906, has been continued regularly each month throughout this year. The water has been at all times of great bacteriological purity. It has been very rare to find more that 50 organisms per cubic centimeter of water. In striking contrast with this is the filthy well water of the Colony. It is an accepted principle in Public Health that when a water service is established all'irregular sources of supply should be closed whenever possible. Table III is a good example of the reason why. It is compiled from work done during the year.
Three samples of water from outside the Colony were examined for Cholera, in no case was the organism found.
THE EXAMINATION OF PATHOLOGICAL MATERIAL SENT FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF MAN.
Table IV shows the work done. There has been an increase in this work compared with what has been done in previous years.
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