specting cess drains to be "That any order or direction of the sanitary commissioners Orders rerespecting any cesspool, privy, or drain on any premises, shall pools and be strictly complied with by the owner or occupier of the same, observed. and any person refusing or neglecting to comply with such order or direction shall, on conviction as aforesaid, suffer the penalties Penalty for herein before provided for persons neglecting or refusing to keep the streets, roads, and drains clean. refusal. shall Powers re specting duce, and refusal. "That the sanitary commissioners, if they see fit, cause any goods, merchandise, produce, or hides, which they goods, promay be medically advised are injurious to health, to be removed hides. from any building or premises to such place as they may appoint; and any person owning or occupying such building Penalty for or premises who shall neglect or refuse to remove such goods, merchandise, produce, or hides as aforesaid, shall, on conviction before any justice of the peace, forfeit the sum of £10 for the first offence, and £20 for the second offence, and, in default of payment, shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding three months. commis cease by pro "That when the occasion for which the sanitary commis- Powers of sioners have been appointed shall cease, the officer adminis- sioners to tering the government shall, by proclamation, announce the clamation. same, upon which the appointment of the commissioners shall then cease, together with the powers herein given to them. cer's powers streets, &c., times. "That during such time as there may be no epidemic, or Health offno commissioners appointed, the health officer shall have full to keep power, as given to the sanitary commissioners, to cause all clean at all streets, roads, and drains to be kept clean and in proper order by the owners and occupiers of lots; and any person neglecting or refusing to keep the said streets, roads, and drains clean and in proper order, shall, on conviction as aforesaid, suffer the penalties provided for not keeping the same clean and in order. to keep That the health officer shall also cause all filth, broken Health officer bottles, rags, and dirt to be removed from the beach or any beach, &c., “ clean. Health officer to cause removal of rotting and decaying or any wharf by such persons as may be given to assist him by the officer administering the government. "That the health officer shall cause the owner of any vessel, boat, canoe, wood, or any article which shall be rotting and decaying on or in any part of the beach, wharf, street, or road, vessels, wood, to remove the same; and should any person neglect or refuse to comply, such person shall, on conviction before any justice of the peace, forfeit the sum of £5, or be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for the space of one month. article. Proceedings when owners are not known. be purified "Should the sanitary commissioners or the health officer be unable to find any owner to any vessel, boat, canoe, wood, or other article which should be removed, they shall affix a notice on or near the vessel, boat, canoe, wood, or other article, that the same is to be removed; and if no steps shall be taken within three days to remove the same, they shall cause it to be removed at the expense of the colony; and should any owner afterwards be found, he shall, on conviction before any justice, be liable to refund the expense incurred, in addition to any other punishment to which he may be sentenced. Should the vessel, boat, canoe, wood, or other article, be rotting and decaying, the sanitary commissioners or the health officer shall, if no owner can be found, cause the same to be burned or destroyed. "That the owner or occupier of any lot wherein there is a Cesspools to privy or cesspool, shall, once in each month, between the 1st once in each day of June and the 30th of November in each year, cause at tain periods, least one bushel of lime or powdered charcoal to be thrown into the same; and should any person, on information given, Penalty for be convicted before any justice of the peace of neglecting to comply with this provision, such person shall be fined in the sum of 10s., or be imprisoned for the space of one month. Onehalf of the said fine shall be paid to the informer. neglect. Commis sioners' "That any order signed by a sanitary commissioner, or by orders signed the secretary to the commissioners, shall be sufficient and them, or the binding on all parties under this ordinance." by one of secretary, to be binding. This able ordinance was drawn up by Assistant Commissary Blanc (since deceased). causes of the yellow fever. About the beginning of September there was an entire Meteoric change in the meteoric state of the country. The ther- cessation of mometer, which had been constantly high, began steadily to reduce. For the first few days of the month the quantity of rain-fall was plentiful and constant. During the outbreak there was a constant grayish or bluish-gray haze over the town of Bathurst, commencing from Half Die to the burial ground, which was seen from the Cape, and which was not dispersed by the breeze. This heavy cloud was no longer visible, but only a mist, easily dispersed as soon as the sun was up. The wind was still blowing from the malarious swamp, but the atmosphere seemed more bracing and less depressing. For nine successive months, i.e., since December, there had scarcely been any thunder or lightning. In the thunder months of May, June, and July, there was none heard, nor was there any lightning; but now the reserved electricity seemed, as it were, to explode with immense rapidity and force. Every evening and night the lightning, in splendid forms of zig-zag, sheet, and forked, flashed from skies to skies, and then darted on the negatively-electrified ground, accompanied with tremendous roars and explosions of the vast atmospheric Leyden jar. On the night of the 12th instant, at 12 o'clock, there was such a severe thunder-storm, without rain or tornado, that it woke nearly all the inhabitants from their deepest sleep. The heavens seemed to quake in such a way as had not been heard for years. The morbific influence of the marsh was incapable of withstanding the produce of so powerful an agent. The grayish-blue mist, which had for nearly six weeks hung over the town of Bathurst, was dispersed. All the yellow fever cases began rapidly to decline; no new case, even amongst new arrivals, was registered; the Europeans, instead of having the yellow jack, now got mild remittent fever; and the natives, who were laid up in scores with severe bilious remittent, now got the mild intermittent. The number of European inhabitants at the time of the outbreak was thirty, and fifteen fell victims to its deadly grasp. the yellow fever. Cessation of The endemic outbreak of yellow fever, therefore, we might fairly state, died away, principally from the materies morba being destroyed by the products of lightning and thunderstorms, and the draining and flooding effect of heavy rain. Yellow fever and sea voyage In the epidemic of yellow fever in Sierra Leone in 1858 and 1859, there was not one case in the barracks, which, as we have before described, is situated on a great elevation in the centre of the town. This proves how powerfully hygienic is elevation in preventing the spread of malarious disease, and should lead to the occupation of the high lands behind the city. It was the practice during that epidemic to send men who were suffering from yellow fever on a sea voyage by the contract mail steamer; the result proved this practice to be very injurious. In a commencing case, the sea air, with the inconvenience of " on board the ship" under a tropical heat, seems to accelerate the effects of the poison by acting on the liver. From all the accounts I could gather from the captains, there was not a case of recovery amongst those who embarked whilst suffering from the fever. They generally died before or about the fourth or fifth day. Most of them suffered from severe delirium. Of three cases that died on board the " Ethiope" in one of her voyages, two were delirious for a couple of days. before death, and one for twenty-four hours. The black vomit commenced as soon as they were conveyed on board. Towards the ebb of life their lips, teeth, and tongue became blackishblue, and in severe cases there was bleeding from the gums. In some of the cases on board the contract steamers the nervous system was hyperesthetically affected, the lips and muscles quivered convulsively, speaking produced great excitement and exhaustion, the thirst was craving, with ability to drink any quantity of water, but no desire for food, and not much purging. In one case, twelve hours before death, the patient ate an enormous quantity of food. Not one of those who had gone on board after the yellow fever had been contracted, escaped; one died six hours after leaving port. It is, therefore, against every precedent to advise a person labouring under yellow fever in Western Africa to travel by sea; they have better chance of recovery on land; but as soon as they become convalescent, and are able to move about, a sea voyage produces in them a most beneficial result. Exactly the contrary is the case with intermittent and remittent fevers, which begin to decline as soon as the patient enters the vessel. in the rains. During this season of the year Guinea-worm is more pre- Guinea-worm valent on the Gold Coast than at any other time; the cold season seems to be its period of irritation, although it may occur at any other period. This may be explained from the supposition, that during the hot season the temperature of the body is uniform, especially in the exposed lower extremities of the poor, which is the general abode of the worm; but during the rains, the worm, occurring amongst those who go barefooted and expose their feet to wet and cold, and consequent changes in the temperature, feels the change, and if loaded with ova, endeavours to make its escape; it then causes severe inflammation and a blister over the part where it intends to make its exit, and then protrudes through it. asis. Elephantiasis Arabum, also, is very troublesome at this Elephantiseason, and generally commences at this time, especially when it is caused by Guinea-worm. The leg begins gradually to enlarge, with very little or no pain at all, and increases without stopping, through all the seasons, when once it has commenced. This disease is noticed in Dix Cove, Gold Coast. Goitre, or swelling of the thyroid gland, commences also at Goitre. this season of the year in countries where it is endemic. It is greatly favoured by the cold, and commences with a soft, very yielding tumour. In one case that I saw, the whole of the neck was swollen, deglutition was impeded, and much pain and inflammation accompanied it. In the majority of cases it begins very insidiously, and the glands swell gradually without attracting the notice of the patient; then, from being soft and yielding, it becomes hard. There is no hereditary ten |