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stantial coffin, while every effort is made by means of lectures, addresses and explanations to induce the native population to participate in the above preventive measures.
All the cases of Plague with one exception occurred among Chinese; the Non-Chinese case being an Indian constable, who died. 252 of the Chinese cases died, so that the case mortality was 94 per cent.; their monthly distribution is shown in Table II.
During the year 65,927 rats were caught or found dead in the City of Victoria and 21,311 in Kowloon, a total of 87,238 as against 77,755 in 1910. Those from the City were examined by the Government Bacteriologist, Dr. Macfarlane, at the Public Mortuary and those in Kowloon by Dr. Pearse, the Assistant Medical Officer of Health, and in his absence during part of the year by Dr. Hartley, with the result that 269 of those from the City and none of those from Kowloon were found to be infected with Plague.
Table III shows the monthly distribution of the Plague-infected rats during the year.
Typhoid Fever.
The number of cases of this disease during the year was 107 compared with 67 during 1910 and 75 in 1909: 28 of the cases were imported, namely 21 Europeans, and 7 Chinese. The cases of European or American nationality numbered 40, while the Chinese cases numbered 50, and 17 cases occurred amongst the other Asiatic races in the Colony. Seven of the European cases (4 British, 2 German and 1 Italian), one Indian and 23 of the Chinese cases died. The case mortality among the European cases was therefore 17.5 per cent.
In most of the cases of Typhoid Fever that occur in this Colony the infection is probably contracted by eating salads of raw vegetables, which have been grown in Chinese market-gardens, where it is customary to water and manure the plants with diluted human excreta—both urine and nightsoil. Residents in the Far East should carefully avoid such articles of food as water-cress, lettuce, etc., in view of this danger of contracting Typhoid Fever, Cholera or Intestinal Parasites, all of which diseases may be conveyed in this manner. Oysters from neighbouring Chinese ports are also occasionally the source of infection.
It will be seen from the above figures that this disease is much less prevalent among the Chinese than among Europeans in this Colony, the ratio of cases to population being in the case of Europeans 37 per 1,000 and in the case of Chinese 0.14 per 1,000. Five of the Chinese cases occurred in children under 5 years of age.