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Dr. Te Rangihiroa, Health Officer to the Maoris, Auckland. Greetings. This is my report for the past year. Dwelling-sites. —The Maoris are now quite anxious to build on higher ground. Many have already done this, and those who have not are retarded by poverty. This is one of the most promising signs in sanitary progress that I have seen since my appointment. A few years ago all the villages were in the low-hang country, often damp and wet. Houses and Villages. —Almost all the houses are now made of sawn timber, and the old rush houses are rapidly disappearing. I have condemned all houses of the latter material, for the Maori now no longer knows how to build these houses properly like his ancestors did. The people themselves are abandoning them, so great is their eagerness to possess houses of European build. Those who possess houses of sawn timber have been urged by me to make them comply with all that we were taught at the Inspectors' Conference in Auckland last year, and soon there will be little fault to find. New houses erected, 18; houses condemned, 17; houses destroyed, 34; closets erected, 5. The people are slow to erect privies. They do not oppose such buildings or say they are bad, but they are slow to begin. Several of the Maori houses excel the majority of pakeha houses. Deaths and Disease. —Mortality has been low in the district for the past year, and sickness has also been light. A European spread a report that there were twenty-six cases of typhoid in a Maori village. The doctor found only one sporadic case, which recovered without the disease spreading to any one else. I wish to condemn the action of such thoughtless people who spread false reports and give a bad name to the Maoris. Tohungas. —There are still tohungas in my district, but they do not call large huis and consume quantities of spirits as the tohungas of other parts do, according to reports we read in the papers. These men have no desire to practise, as they are afraid of the Councils, but the people who have ailments often seek them and persuade them to treat them. They do not seek to obtain followers. Registration of Births and Deaths. —Deaths, 6; births, 8. These returns for the year 1907 are incomplete, because the people appointed in the various districts ran out of the printed forms. Condition on the Gumfields. —Many of the houses on the gumfields are very good. In some parts the drinking-water is very bad in' summer. There are many people in this district from Hokianga and Bay of Islands Counties, and their children have been brought with them, thus getting no school. This is an evil. The number of billiard-tables in the Maori camps is becoming small, which is a good sign. Village of Te Kao. —Ten years ago this village was the best in the Mangonui County, having well-built wooden houses, &c. Now it has been practically deserted for the gumfields. Village of Te Hapua. —This is a large growing village, but it becomes a large swamp in the winter, whilst there is no water-supply in the summer. The Government has allotted it as a village-site. The people also are in trouble in pajdng off the survey of their land. Thoughts for the Future.- —(1.) There is nothing which will do so much good to the Maori as strong and sustained effort in carrying out the teachings of the Health Department. (2.) The training of some of our educated Maori girls as nurses would do much good in the days which lie before us. (3.) Another important thing is the individualisation of Maori lands. These things I have mentioned over and over again in my reports. Wishing all prosperity to your kinsman Dr. Pomare and yourself, I remain, &0., R. T. Puhipi, Maori Sanitary Inspector, Mangonui and Hokianga Council Districts. TE WAIKATO SANATORIUM. Department of Public Health, Te Waikato Sanatorium, Cambridge, 30th June, 1908. Memorandum for the Chief Health Officer, Wellington. I have the honour to submit the following report of the work accomplished in Te Waikato Sanatorium during the year ending 31st March, 1908: — The following table shows the number of patients treated at " Te Waikato " for the year ended 31st March, 1908:— Males> Femfl ,es. Total. Number in institution on Ist April, 1907 ... ... 33 23 56 Admitted during year ... ... ... ... 48 32 80 Discharged during year ... ... ... 42 26 68 Died during year ... ... ... ... 12 5 17 Number in institution on 31st March, 1908 ... 27 24 51 Of the patients discharged, 65 left the Sanatorium with more or less marked improvement in the condition of the diseased lungs, together with increased weight and improvement in general condition as compared with their condition on admission. Of this number, 23—12 males and II females —showed in their final examination before discharge no sign of active disease, and were for the most part capable of resuming their former occupations. Twenty-five of the remain-