General Report of the Board.

perience has shown that by a system of burial permits is the only way this can be attained.

This provision of law exists in many of the states, at the present time, and is considered of vital importance to every community.

It is hereby urged on health officers to make a faithful trial of these provisions of law, and it is believed that after once being well understood it will not prove an objectionable task. Let health officers inform the public through local newspapers, or in any other way possible, that it is the duty of parents to report births to the health officer, and as he is visiting different parts of his jurisdiction from time to time make inquiries about births, have blanks with him and fill them out on the spot. This can be done with less trouble than at first supposed, and in time the results will be found more satisfactory than thought possible; in the same manner let him inform undertakers, and others, that a burial permit must be obtained before a body can he buried, and in a short time this will be understood and observed. In other states these provisions of law are strictly observed, and such states have statistics of value, and understand fully their vital conditions.

Let Wisconsin be at the front rank in this important matter as well as in many other things which make us great, prosperous, and intelligent.

The following law was enacted at the last session of the legislature, relative to the transportation of the dead, and should become familiar to all local boards of health, as well as others concerned.

General Report of the Board.

LAW PERTAINING TO THE TRANSPORTATION OF THE DEAD.

CHAPTER 248.

AN ACT to regulate the transportation and burial of bodies of persons dead of contagious diseases.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. The transportation of bodies of persons dead of diphtheria, scarlet fever, small pox, Asiatic cholera (cholerine), leprosy, typhus or ship fever, or yel low fever, is absolutely forbidden. For all sanitary purposes membranous croup must be considered and treated as diphtheria.

SECTION. 2. The bodies of those who have died of anthrax, puerperal fever, typhoid fever, erysipelas, measles, and other contagious, infectious or communicable diseases, must be wrapped in a sheet thoroughly saturated with a strong solution of bi-chloride of mercury in the proportion of one ounce of bi-chloride of mercury to a gallon of water, and incased in an air-tight zinc, tin, copper or lead lined coffin, or in an air-tight iron casket, hermetically sealed, and all enclosed in a strong, tight wooden box; or the body must be prepared for shipment by being wrapped in a sheet and disinfected by a solution of bi-chloride of mercury, as above, and placed in a strong coffin or casket, and said coffin or casket encased in a hermetically sealed (soldered) zinc, copper or tin case, and all enclosed in a strong outside wooden box of material not less than one inch and a half thick.

SECTION 3. In cases of contagious, infectious or communicable diseases, the body must not be accompanied by articles which have been exposed to the infection of the disease. And in addition to a permit from a board of health or proper health authority, station agents will require an affidavit from the shipping undertaker, stating how the body has been prepared and kind of coffin or casket used, which must be in conformity with section 2.

SECTION 4. The bodies of persons dead of diseases that are not contagious, infectious, nor communicable, may be received for transportation to local points in same state, when encased in a sound coffin or metallic case, and enclosed in a strong wooden box, securely fastened so it may be safely handled. But when it is proposed to transport them out of the state (unless the time required for

General Report of the Board.

transportation from the initial point to destination does not exceed eighteen hours), they must be encased in an airtight zinc, tin, copper or lead lined coffin, or casket encased in a (soldered) zinc, copper or tin case, and all enclosed in a strong outside wooden box of material not less than one inch thick. In all cases the outside box must be provided with four iron chest handles.

SECTION 5. Every dead body must be accompanied by a transit permit from a board of health or proper health authority, giving permission for the removal, and showing the name of the deceased, age, place of death, cause of death (whether of a contagious or infectious nature), the point to which it is to be shipped, medical attendant, and. name of undertaker.

SECTION 6. It is intended that no dead body shall be moved which may be the means of spreading disease; therefore, all disinterred bodies dead from any disease or cause, will be treated as infectious and dangerous to the public health, and shall not be accepted for transportation unless said removal has been approved by the State Board of Health, and the consent of the health authority of the locality where the body is disinterred, and the authority. of the locality to which the corpse is consigned, has been first obtained, and the disinterred remains enclosed in a heremetically sealed (soldered) zinc, tin or copper lined coffin, or box encased in a hermetically sealed (soldered), zinc, tin or copper case.

SECTION 7. Local boards of health should refuse to grant a permit where the cause of death is given as "heart failure," unless the physician states that it was not the result of diphtheria.

SECTION 8. In case of disinterment, the permit from the State Board of Health must be attached to the transit permit and delivered to the person in charge of the corpse. If more than one body is shipped at one time, separate permit must be issued for each body.

SECTION 9. Any person or persons, company or corporation, who shall refuse or neglect to comply with any of the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a mis-demeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum of not less than twenty-five dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, for each and every offense, or by confinement in the county jail for a period of not less than thirty nor more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

SECTION 10. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with:

General Report of the Board.

or contravening any of the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

SECTION 11. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and publication.

Approved April 16, 1897.

A law also enacted by the last legislature, relating to the adulteration of foods and drugs, and especially that clause pertaining to poisonous drugs, is of great importance, and the Board will endeavor to see that the part under its jurisdiction will be carefully observed. The text of the law is as follows:

SECTION 1.

No person, by himself, his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of any other person, shall sell, exchange, deliver, or have in his possession, with the intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange, any drug or article of food which is adulterated. within the meaning of this act.

SECTION 2. The term "drug" as used in this act, shall include all medicines for internal or external use, antiseptics, disinfectants and cosmetics. The term food" as used herein, shall include all articles used for food or drink by man, whether simple, mixed or compound.

SECTION 3. An article shall be deemed to be adulterated within the meaning of this act:

(a) In the case of drugs: First, if, when sold under or by a name recognized in the United States Pharmacopoeia, it differs from the standard of strength, quality, or purity laid down in the latest current edition thereof; second, if when sold under or by name not recognized in the Pharmacopoeia, but which is found in the Pharmacopoeia of some other country, the national formulary, or other standard work on materia medica, it differs materially from the standard of strength, quality or purity laid down in the latest current edition of such work; third, if its strength, quality or purity falls below the professed standard under which it is sold.

(b) In the case of food: First, if any substance or substances have been mixed with it, so as to lower or depreciate, or injuriously affect its strength, quality or purity; second, if any inferior or cheaper substance or substances have been substituted wholly or in part for it; third, if any valuable or necessary ingredient has been wholly or in part abstracted from it; fourth, if it is an imitation of or

General Report of the Board.

is sold under the name of another article; fifth, if it consists wholly, or in part, of a deceased, infected, decomposed, putrid, tainted, or rotten animal or vegetable substance or article, whether manufactured or not; sixth, if it is colored, coated, polished or powdered, whereby damage or inferiority is concealed, or if by any means it is made to appear better or of greater value than it really is; seventh, if it contains any added substance or ingredient which is poisonous, injurious, or deleterious to health, or any deleterious substance not a necessary ingredient in its manufacture; provided, that the provisions of this act shall not apply to mixtures or compounds recognized as ordinary articles of food, if the same be distinctly labelled as mixtures or compounds, and from which no necessary ingredient in its preparation is eliminated.

SECTION 4. No person, by himself, his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of any other person, shall: First, pack, can, or preserve fruits, vegetables or other articles of food; second, or sell, exchange, deliver or have in his possession with the intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange, such canned articles after January first, 1898, with the exception of goods bought from foreign countries, unless such articles be distinctly labeled with the grade or quality of the same, together with the name and address of the person, firm or corporation, packing, canning, or preserving the same, or the dealer who sells the same.

SECTION 5. No person, by himself, his servant, or his agent, or by the servant or agent of any other person, shall: First, make or manufacture baking powder or any mixture or compound intended for use as a baking powder; second, or sell, exchange, or deliver, or have in his possession with the intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange such baking powder, or any mixture or compound intended for use as a baking powder, which contains alum in any form or shape, unless the presence of the same be distinctly shown by a label on the outside and face of which is printed with black ink, in legible type, not smaller than brevier heavy gothic caps, the name and residence of the manufacturer and the following words: "This Baking Powder Contains Alum."

SECTION 6. No person, by himself, his servant or agent, or as the servant or agent of any other person, shall sell, exchange, deliver, or have in his possession with the intent to sell or exchange, or expose or offer for sale or exchange, any medicine known as patent or proprietary, or