H.—3J

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Elephantiasis. The illustrations given herewith were taken from what I believe to be the only case of this disease that has ever been seen in New Zealand. The patient applied for some place where he could be treated, and until that time none of the Health officers had any knowledge of the existence of the case. After some difficulty we were able to arrange for his reception with Mother Mary Joseph—that ideal helper of the poor and the sick. When we bear in mind that there has not been found in New Zealand any of the mosquito families which are credited with transferring the filaria, our surprise at meeting with this case can be easily imagined. The patient had been a sailor, but had resided in the Dominion for about fifteen years. He was not able to give any clear history of the duration of his ailment, but, as he had been for some considerable time in the southern parts of America, there is little doubt but that he had been inoculated there. Food and Drugs. Already good has resulted from the passing of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act of last year. Some regulations have been gazetted, and others are in preparation. In regard to these, I wish to acknowledge the help which Drs. Maclaurin and Makgill have rendered. In the setting-up of standards we are availing ourselves not only of the work which has been done in this direction in other countries, but we have received great help from manufacturers, indentors, and merchants throughout the Dominion. To Dr. Norris, President of the Board of Health for Victoria, we owe special thanks for sending us the regulations and standards set up by his Board. Patent Medicines. I am glad to say that the amendment to the Postal Act which was passed recently still continues to offer an effectual bar against the gentlemen for whom it was intended, and in no wise interferes with traders in honest medicaments. As I said before, our Press is now one of the cleanest from a quack-medicine point of view. The only offenders are some of the small country papers. They, too, will soon drop them, when the advertiser ceases to pay, as assuredly he will when he finds that his mail-matter will not be carried through the post. I beg to record my thanks to Mr. R. H. W. Bligh, of the White Cross Mission, for the great help he has rendered us in this crusade against quackery in its most dangerous and despicable form, and also to Mr. D. Robertson, General Secretary to the Post Office, without whose care and interest in the matter nothing could have been done. Medical Inspection op School-children. I would again most respectfully, urge that the scheme of inspection outlined by me should be undertaken either in whole or in part. I need not repeat the arguments used by the medical and teaching professions when this important matter was discussed at the Dunedin meeting of the Medical Association. Since then the Imperial Parliament has made such an inspection compulsory, and appointed a special staff of highly trained medical men to carry out the work. It ill behoves New Zealand to linger thus behind those countries which we are wont to regard as slow and old-fashioned. The pamphlet written by Dr. Ogston has been of great service, and school-teachers all over have asked for copies. In some districts the medical men have generously offered to undertake an inspection free of charge. While these examinations will be of the very greatest value, more concentrated work will be necessary if we are to secure that the child who is required to attend our schools is in a fit physical condition to receive the best at the hands of his teachers. An, accurate yearly assessment of the health of our school-children would give future historians, physiologists, and economists much valuable data. Reporting on this matter last year I said, — medical inspection of schools. By the authority of the Hon. J. McGowan (then Acting Minister of Public Health), I submitted the suggested system of inspection to the Education Department, and all the Education Boards, School Inspectors, school-teachers, the medical, and the dental professions. In every instance the scheme was approved. As I have pointed out, to establish such supervision was to follow in the footsteps of most of the older countries. It was no fresh experiment, but an absolute necessity, if we were to pay that regard to child-health which it is our duty to do. The private schools in England and Scotland have long done more than is suggested should be done under the proposed system. The colleges in New Zealand carry it out. As far back as 1860 Germany instituted these examinations, and they obtain in Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the United States. Our most recent ally, Japan, has more Medical Inspectors of Schools than the whole of the Old World put together—6,soo. I have had many conversation's with the various Inspectors serving under the Education Boards, and in every instance I have found them fully alive to the importance of the sanitation of