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Thanks to an enlightened Police Magistrate, who has the power to order post-mortem examina- tions to be made, a fairly reliable statement of causes of deaths can at last be supplied to the public. For years the cry of "No post mortem has been dinned into one's ears by people who did not know the great issue at stake, but fortunately now the mere word "Plague" is sufficient to stop the croakings of those whose only fear was hurting (?) Chinese prejudices. On this point I may say that during my stay in Hongkong I have never heard a complaint about a sectio cadaveris after the friends are told that the Magistrate has ordered such sectio to be inade. It is the old story; when a few Chinese wish to push some scheme of their own, they will always be able to raise some popular battle cry, such as cutting up pregnant uteri instead of buboes, etc. as happened in 1894. It is to be hoped for the sake of the Colony that no more attention will be paid to these in future. In 1898 over 1,100 sectiones cadaveris in Chinese have been made by Drs. BELL, THOMSON, and myself at the Mortuary alone, and not one word has been heard about them.

A large number of these were made with the tacit consent of relatives without the necessary inter- vention of a Police Magistrate.

The importance of knowing the cause of death is now much more acknowledge and seen by the Chinese than by Europeans; to a Chinese a doubtful case means disinfection and cleansing of his house, and he prefers to have his relatives examined on the off chance of their not having Plague, to having himself and his house thoroughly cleaned up.

During the year 1,314 human bodies were received at the Mortuary, and of these 610 died (diagnosed) of Plague, almost entirely between February and July. Of the 1,314 bodies received, 16 were those of Europeans, 5 of l'ortuguese, 4 of Indians, 3 semi-decomposed dogs, 2 Japanese, and the remainder Chinese.

Of the 610 plague bodies received, the addresses of 277 were known. The remainder were picked up in the harbour, streets, hill-sides, and out-of-the-way places. During the plague period 114 bodies were received so decomposed that the cause of death could not be accurately ascertained. It is need- less to say that commonsense points to many of these having died of plague, as during the rest of the year only 13 decomposed bodies were received. The importance of these figures will be seen, when treating of plague later on. The diagnosis of all plague cases was confirmed by bacteriological exa- minations where there was the slightest doubt.

Of the 74 deaths from small-pox 66% were those of children below 5 years of age, of which most were below 3 whilst there were only 3 adults received who had died of the disease. Conclusions will be drawn in writing of infectious disease. There has been soine talk in late years about Typhoid, and occasionally scares have been caused. It has been the policy-at least of Dr. THOMSON and myself-to open every body we possibly could, with the permission of the Magistrate, and we only found 3 cases of Typhoid Fever (all in children) out of the large number we examined. To my mind, this only points out it may occur in Hongkong, but to say Typhoid is prevalent is to mis-state the case.

In the tables which follow, the figures speak for themselves. Under the heading of "Still-born" are included fœtuses, those born dead, and those dying evidently within a few hours of birth. 96 is a pretty large number for Hongkong; probably a lot more were never heard of. A majority of these cases were returned “ want of attention at birth.” Malnutrition is responsible for 31 deaths, principally those of very tender years, and it will be seen that the care of the young in Hongkong is not much to talk about from a favourable point of view. 43 deaths from drowning is also a large order, most of of them occurring before the typhoon season had set in. The deaths from diarrhea (79) almost all occurred in young children, the result of gastro-enteritis-another proof of the absence of care for the young in Hongkong.

The following tables have been drawn up in very simple form, as it is really in the province of the Medical Officer of Health to report on the total death statistics of the Colony. During the year the method of keeping the records has been improved and next year a better set of tables will prob- ably be the result. Of the poisoning cases, 12 were due to opium, 1 to arsenic, and 2 to irritants not discovered.

As regards accommodation in the Mortuary, additional tables had to be provided during the plague epidemic, as the number hitherto in use was quite inadequate.

The water supply was hopelessly insufficient at different times of the year, and the stench was often unbearable on this account.

The caretaker has greatly improved the appearance of the Mortuary by some careful gardening. This man is known amongst his friends by the sobriquet of The Butcher," and he has done all his duties in a most satisfactory manner.

Month.

Table of Bodies received in each Month of the Year.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April. May. June. July. Ang. Sept. Oct.

Nov. Dec.

Total,

65

96

161 260 315 108

58

58

39

366

56

47

51