Excerpt from California Public Health Report, 1884

To his Excellency George Stoneman, Governor of the State of California:

The State Board of Health respectfully present for your consideration. and that of the Legislature, their eighth annual report.

Although several subjects of special interest, and which as such, are at the present time occupying the attention of sanitarians, have been compelled, in consequence of sickness of the Secretary of this Board, to he omitted, it is noped that the general interest and practical usefulness of this report, as compared with others of the series, will be found to be fully sustained by the valuable contributions contained in the supplement. The subjects they contain are of a practical character, and thus serve to fulfill one of the most important purposes of a State Board of Health, to wit: the dissemination of useful information among the people. We desire, especially, to direct your attention, and through you that of the Legislature, to several subjects urgently referred to by the Permanent Secretary in his report to this Board. One of these, the procurement of a quarantine station in the harbor of San Francisco, we have abundant evidence to know, commands your warmest sympathy, and in view of the deep interest you have taken in the subject, it is scarcely necessary to do more than allude to it in this place. The State Board of Health regard this subject as one of the very first importance. With epidemic contagious disease already knocking at our doors, and in view of the reasonable expectations for the future, it is due to the credit of the State, and an intelligent appreciation of the real purpose of legislation, that decisive action should be taken upon this subject at the present session.

Another subject, the necessity of which the experience of the past two years has amply demonstrated, is the appropriation of a moderate sum for the purpose of preventing the introduction of infectious and contagious diseases into the State by inland communication. The history of the efforts of the Board in this direction, and the difficulties under which they have labored, if fully and graphically related, would form the subject of an interesting review. Commencing in the Winter of 1880, without any means whatever appropriable for the purpose, we succeeded, it is believed, by a somewhat rigid quarantine, in excluding smallpox from the State by inland communication. Nearly two years ago the Legislature, recognizing the importance of the subject, appropriated a special fund of $500 to aid in the protection of the State by quarantine inspection. The subsequent appearance of yellow fever in the State of Sonora and other parts of Mexico in 1883, and again during the present year, 1884, and the probable recurrence of the disease in Mexico for some vears to come, will demand the utmost vigilance on the part of the Board of Health.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.