265

by 3’27 inches and at Whitacre by 2’76 inches. To acertain extent this satisfactory result on the gatheringgrounds whence our water-supply is derived may be con-sidered as a compensation for the past dreary summer.

Medical Inspection of Schools in Worcestershire.If the conditions in Worcestershire are to be taken as an

indication of the terms on which the medical officers engagedfor the inspection of school children will have to work andof the work which they will have to do, then it may beadmitted that the pay will not be over-generous and the workif it is well done will be heavy. The sanitary subcommitteeappointed to report upon the best method of carrying outthe administrative provisions of the Education Act of1907 in Worcestershire recommended that the educationcounty, which contains 251 public elementary schools,should be divided into three districts, in the largest ofwhich the school children would average 18,471 andin the smallest 12,164. The subcommittee was ofthe opinion that a medical inspector should be appointedfor each district and that the work should besupervised by the county medical officer. It proposed thatthe county medical officer’s salary should be increasedby S100 per annum, that one of the inspectors should receive£500 per annum, rising to ;E6CO, and the other two &350,rising to .f:.400, and it suggested that one of the medicalinspectors should be a woman. The report was subjected toa considerable amount of criticism and opposition and it waseventually decided that the education committee shouldrecommend the council to appoint three medical inspectorswho should commence with salaries of .S250, rising to .6300.This does not seem too much for the work to be done, yet thecost to the county will be very considerable and there seemsevery probability that the scheme will have to be enlarged ifsatisfactory results of any substantial character are to be lookedfor. Apparently, according to the reports, the scheme makes noprovision for the fees of specialists, yet numerous cases mustbe met with in which specialists’ opinion will be invaluableand will no doubt have to be obtained. It will be well toexpect that the early estimates of cost for all schemes of thisnature will prove insufficient and to make up our minds toface considerably increased taxation, whilst it is to be hopedthat the results may give a satisfactory return for the

expenditure. Expression was given to fear of increasingexpenditure when the report was presented to the council. Objection was made to the appointment of whole-timeinspectors and the report was referred back to the com-mittee for further consideration. What the committee willdo is not clear, for no reasonable person can expect thatthe work required by the Act can be properly done bydistrict medical officers of health who are already burdenedwith duties.Jan. 21st.

_______________

WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.

Carmarthenshire Water-supply.FOLLOWING the example of the steam coal areas of

Glamorgan it is proposed in the anthracite district ofCarmarthen to go away from the coal district for a supply ofwater. This eventuality was foreshadowed in 1904 when theLocal Government Board refused to sanction a scheme of theLlanelly rural district council for the supply of Burry Port,where there is a population of about 4500, with waterobtained from the coal measures. The local authoritiescannot be accused of being precipitate in the action nowproposed to be taken, for as long ago as 1901 theCarmarthen county council decided to make a representa-tion to the Local Government Board in accordance withthe provisions of Section 299 of the Public Health Act,1875, to the effect that the Llanelly rural district councilhad made default in enforcing the provisions of thatAct.l In the coming session of Parliament there will bepromoted two Bills, each concerned with securing a supply ofwater for the district named. In both proposals the supplyis to be obtained from the head waters of the river Loughor.The larger undertaking, which is estimated to cost .f:95,000,is that of the Burry Port urban district council jointly with

1 THE LANCET, Nov. 2nd, 1901, p. 1231.

the Llanelly rural district council. The second scheme, thecost of which is estimated at £32,000, is being put forward-by the Ammanford urban district council which has under-taken to supply the adjoining rural district of Llandilo.

Cardiff Water-supply.The inhabitants of Cardiff are supplied with water from.

the old red sandstone of the Breconshire Beacons, and in spiteof the increase in the size of the town sufficient provisionhas been made to insure an ample amount both for domesticand municipal purposes. During last year the average dailyconsumption per head was 27 gallons, of which 11 gallons werefor trade and municipal requirements. The revenue fromthe undertaking is not yet sufficient to meet all the chargesand a rate in aid has to be levied. It is anticipated that ina few years the latter will not be necessary. The sum of £9280 is paid yearly for the water supplied to the publicbaths and it has been suggested that when the water in theservice reservoirs is running to waste a sufficiently increasedamount of water should be supplied to the baths to enable.them to be emptied much more frequently than once a weekas is the case at present. The proposal is one which should,meet with favourable consideration.

Cardiff and the Notification of Births Act.

Notwithstanding the fact that the health committee of theCardiff corporation recommended the city council not toadopt the Notification of Births Act, the council after somediscussion decided that the Act should be adopted. In aspecial report upon the incidence of infantile mortality inCardiff which was made by the medical officer of health inJanuary, 1907, Dr. E. Walford urged the employment of quali-fied health visitors or women inspectors to visit the houses ofthe poor in which infants are born. Already one such in-spector was attached to the health department but her-work was hampered owing to the length of time whichusually elapsed between the birth and the time of registration.A scheme of voluntary notification of births by the mid-wives in the town was proposed by Dr. Walford and he sug-gested a fee of ls. being paid to each midwife who notifieda birth within 48 hours of its occurrence. The action of thecorporation in adopting the Notification Act will necessitate-the appointment of another woman inspector, and that thereis sufficient work ready to her hand is evident from the highrate of infantile mortality in some parts of the city. In thethird quarter of the four years 1903-06 the rate in the wholeof Cardiff was 142 per 1000 births, but in one part of thetown it was 178 per 1000, and in another part as high as 18&per 1000.

Proposed Cottage Hospital for Pontypridd.The populous valleys which spread out almost fan-like-

from Pontypridd are very ill-provided with hospital accom-modation. In the Rhondda valleys there is only one suchinstitution situated at Porth and with accommodation for13 patients. In the Aberdare valley there are small hospitals.at Mountain Ash and at Aberdare, while in the Taff valleythere is at Merthyr a well-equipped hospital of 45 beds.

Pontypridd has a population approaching 40,000 persons and-is the centre of an extensive coal mining district so that theneed of a general hospital is apparent. At a public meetingheld in the town on Jan. 15th it was decided that the urbandistrict council should be asked to build a small accident,hospital and to support it out of the general rates of the town.At Barry the rates have been applied in support of a similarinstitution for many years.

Medical Officer of Health for Monmouthshire.At the next meeting of the Monmouthshire county council

a proposal will be made to appoint a medical officer of healthpart of whose duties will be the supervision of the medicalexamination of the children attending the public elementaryschools in the county. The suggested salary is £600 perannum, together with travelling and other expenses. Thearea of the administrative county is 345,000 acres. Aboutthree-fourths of the county is of a rural character and the-remainder includes the thickly populated districts of theeastern and western valleys where coal mining operations.are extensively carried on. The population of the administra-tive county is about 250,000 and there is every probabilitythat the number of persons employed in the collieries of thedistrict will increase in the future.Jan. 21st.