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the existence of which was unknown, certainly came at an opportune moment for the advocates of this theory of the transmission of the disease, but although I will grant that foul emanations from choked sewers will undoubtedly produce Vomiting, Diarrhoea, profound depression and even slight fever, I am not prepared to admit that a genuine attack of Enteric Fever can be produced in this man- ner, except in those somewhat exceptional cases in which the blocked drain or sewer contains the excreta of some other typhoid patient. When, however, the sewer does contain the necessary infective material, derived from some antecedent case, I certainly think that the emanations from such sewer are capable of transmitting the disease. Some years ago I suggested the probability of Enteric Fever germs retaining their vitality in a sewage-laden soil, for as long a period even as twelve months, and that such is actually the case has quite recently been experimentally proved by ROBERTSON and SIDNEY MARTIN, so that it may be no easy matter to trace the antecedent case in those instances that are attributable to choked or defective drains or sewers, but that such a case must have occurred is one of the first principles of the germ-theory of disease.
DIPHTHERIA.
Two cases only of Diphtheria were reported during the year, both of the patients being Euro- peans and one of them an imported case. The other was a child in the Italian Convent, but the source of infection could not be traced. A similar case occurred in this Convent just twelve months previously.
PUERPERAL FEVER.
Seven cases of Puerperal Fever were reported during the year, all of them being Chinese. There were, however, 11 deaths registered during the year as attributable to this cause while no less than 29 other deaths are recorded as due to child-birth, and it is probable that not a few of these latter are really deaths from Puerperal Fever.
SCARLET FEVER.
One case of Scarlet Fever was reported in a European living at Kowloon, but beyond the fact that the child was in the habit of frequenting the Docks, no information could be obtained as to the source of infection.
COMMON LODGING-HOUSES.
There are now 1.001 registered common lodging-houses in the Colony as compared with 840 during 1896 and 457 during 1895. These lodging-houses are licensed to accommodate 16,905 persons, but as pointed out in my Report for last year, there must be many more Chinese dwellings which come within the legal definition of common lodging-house seeing that there are more than 100,000 unmarried Chinamen in the Colony.
INTERMENTS.
The following number of interments of Chinese have been recorded during the
Chinese cemeteries of city.....
*
2,376
Plague and Small-pox Cemetery......... 80 Protestant and Roman Catholic cemeteries...... 1,186
year :-
Shau-kiwan Cemetery
Aberdeen
Stanley Shek-Ko Kowloon
}}
13
"
185
99
53
11
272
4,262
The total number of deaths among Chinese during the year was 4,484, so that 222 bodies were removed from the Colony for burial, as compared with 180 during the previous year.
117 permits for the disinterment of human remains, in accordance with the usual Chinese custom, were issued during the year, but in no case is a permit issued until at least seven years have elapsed from the date of death, and disinterment of the bodies of persons that have died from any in- fections disease is, under no circumstances, permitted,
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