Dr. J. N. Simpson, dean of the medica! faculty, is ex officio director of the laboratory. The names of the laboratory officials are given on another page. Rules are now being formulated for the government of the laboratory, and these will be printed and issued to the physicians very soon, so that all may know exactly what work is to be done in the interest of the public health and what for the personal interest of the practicing physician. It is probable that for the latter a fee will be required.

The publication of this Bulletin, which will for the present be issued quarterly, is for the purpose of informing the public as to what the Board is doing in the interest of the public health, of publishing information concerning the prevailing diseases, and also from time to time hints as to the preservation of the health of the individual and the community. In this way the Board hopes to be of material benefit to the State and to justify its existence and the expenditure of the money appropriated for its use. The more intelligent our people become concerning matters of private and public health and sanitation the more easy will it be for us to control disease and diminish the death rate. It will not require many cases of sickness and death to entail a burden of expense far beyond the amount appropriated for the use of the State Board of Health. If we can by our efforts educate the people in caring for their health, and by instituting measures for the removal of conditions tending to cause disease and for the control of epidemics, the result will certainly be to influence favorably the morbidity of the State, and therefore to reduce mortality among our people. To this end we shall bend our efforts and hope to justify the expenditure of the appropriation made by our legislature.

Meeting of State Board, Charleston,
August 4, 1913

The State Board of Health convened in Charleston on August 4th, at 10 A. M., in the State House Building. The roll was called and showed the following members present: J. E. Robins, H. M. Rymer, W. J. Davidson, H. A. Brandebury, G. D. Lind, James H. Shipper, J. L. Pyle, J. A. Rusmisell, W. W. Golden, H. A. Barbee and S. L. Jepson. Absent, George P. Daniel.

A ballot for the Presidency was taken and resulted in the election of Dr. W. W. Golden.

Charges of dishonorable conduct against Drs. Silas L. Roberts and A. O. McClelland, employed in the Wheeling offices of the "United Doctors" and "The All Nation Specialists," were presented to the Board, and after being read the Board proceeded to a trial of the accused. After the hearing of the evidence the Board went into

executive session and after some discussion the Board unanimously "Resolved that the licenses of Dr. Silas L. Roberts and Dr. A. O. McClelland be and they are hereby revoked and annulled." Unfortunately for the poor people of Wheeling, on an appeal to the Circuit Court the Board's decision was reversed.

The gradings of the papers of the last examination of applicants for license to practice medicine were submitted to the Board. Fortyfive applicants were admitted to the examination, of which those named below were granted certificates:

Dr. Eustace T. Goff, Smithville, W. Va.; Dr. James F. Easton, Clear Creek, W. Va.; Dr. Waitman T. Smith, Spencer, W. Va.; Dr. Guy Stalnaker, Eden, W. Va.; Dr. James T. Ferrell, Ripley, W. Va.; Dr. Orin B. Lynch, Buckhannon, W. Va.; Dr. Grover C. Morrison, Liverpool, W. Va.; Dr. Esten L. Hazlett, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Dr. Turner A. Moncure, Anawalt, W. Va.; Dr. Laurence A. Petty, Charleston, W. Va.; Dr. Mark D. Good, Paden City, W. Va.; Dr. Robert Pearl Woods, Falling Springs, W. Va.; Dr. Anna G. Roberts, Wellsburg, W. Va.; Dr. Ray M. Bobbitt, Huntington, W. Va.; Dr. Hugh Dunn, Sutton, W. Va.; Dr. Kenna Jackson, Sutton, W. Va.; Dr. Edward M. Riley, Anderson, W. Va.; Dr. Louise F. Richmond, Silver Hill, W. Va.; Dr. Caperton A. Farren, Smott, W. Va.; Dr. James W. Livesay, Leivasy, W. Va.; Dr. William E Myles, Maywood, W. Va.; Dr. Charles L. Mowrer, Baltimore, Md.; Dr. Martin L. Sowers, Bluefield, W. Va.; Dr. Noah E. Steele, Logan, W. Va.; Dr. John F. May, Ethel, W. Va.; Dr. Addington Car Tedford, Plainview, Minn.; Dr. Harry S. Whitacre, Whitacre, Va.; Charles Milton Clark, Yukon, W. Va.; Gerald C. Shuler, Orleans Cross Roads, W. Va.; Homer O. VanTromp, French Creek, W. Va.; Ira M. Fisher, Charleston, W. Va.; Joseph E. Brown, Williamson, W. Va.; Curtis T. Hayden, Floyd, Va.; Isaac M. Austin, Morgantown, W. Va.; Thomas Logan Cooper, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Ten applicants failed to make the required grade of 80 per cent and were therefore rejected.

Certificates under our reciprocity regulations with other State Boards were granted to the following whose papers were found to be satisfactory:

Arthur E. Bays, Miller, W. Va.; Maurice E. Welker, Matewan,. W. Va.; George A. Johnson, Moberly, Mo.; Virgil L. Fisher, Mt. Vernon, Ohio; C. G. Morris, Washington, D. C.; Ray E. Houke, Parkersburg, W. Va.

It was resolved to hold the November meeting of the Board in Parkersburg on the second Monday of the month, the April meeting in Charleston and the July meeting in Elkins.

The following resolution offered by the Secretary was adopted: Resolved, That the local Health Officers be called together at the next two meetings of the Board for the purpose of instruction, the State to be divided into two sections according to convenience of meeting place.

On motion of Dr. Robins the President of the Board was instructed to prepare a program for the Parkersburg meeting in November.

The Hote! Inspector, Mr. A. D. Sees, appeared before the Board and explained the duties of his office. On motion of Dr. Brandebury he was instructed to inquire into the conditions of hotel premises, buildings, culinary departments, the care and character of food and drink, proper change of bed linen, towels in common wash rooms, contagious diseases among employes.

After the auditing of bills the Board adjourned.

What the Board of Health is Doing and is
Planning to Do

By WILLIAM W. GOLDEN, M.D.,

President of the State Board of Health.

(Public address, slightly abbreviated, delivered in the Y. M. C. A. Hall, Parkersburg, W. Va., November 28, 1913.)

Ladies and Gentlemen:-The subject of my address is to tell you briefly of the work of the State Board of Health, and thereby, on the one hand, call your attention to a number of useful things that the Board is doing and is ready to do for you, and, on the other hand, to arouse your interest and co-operation in some of the things that the Board hopes to accomplish in the future.

PAST AND PRESENT.

Very early in its history our State created a board of health and passed laws to protect life and health against conditions favoring the production and dissemination of diseases. It is a fact to be proud of that these laws were never behind those of most other states; in fact, they usually compared favorably with the most enlightened of them. If one turns to earlier editions of our Code he is surprised to find the very comprehensive provisions that they contain in the interest of public health. If the spirit as well as the letter of our public health laws be taken into consideration, the farsighted and comprehensive views of our legislators were most remarkable. But there was one fatal defect in all this legislative wisdom. For about thirty years our Code insisted that the total expenses of the State Board of Health should not exceed fifteen hundred dollars a year. This was barely sufficient to cover the clerical expenses incident to the management of a health department. How did our State get along on such a meagre appropriation? It would not take me long to tell you how it did it. I believe I can do this by

telling you the story of our State's experience with one disease in one year. The disease is typhoid fever and the year is 1910. That is the last year of which we have any vital statistics published. We had 700 deaths from typhoid fever in that year, which means that we had at least 7,000 cases of this disease. The total number of deaths and cases for the same year in the entire United States was 25,000 and 250,000 respectively. The number of cases of typhoid fever in West Virginia, therefore, during the year 1910 constituted very nearly 3 per cent of the total number in the United States, while the population constituted only 12 per cent. In other words, we had two cases of typhoid fever for every one of the average number in the country at large. This illustrates how we got along on an appropriation of fifteen hundred dollars a year for board of health purposes. The wonder is that our State Board of Health was able to accomplish anything at all. What they did accomplish was largely through personal sacrifice of the members, for which we hope the history of our State will give them full credit.

The last Legislature appropriated fifteen thousand dollars a year for board of health purposes. This marks a new era in our public health work. While this sum is still behind what neighboring States are spending for this purpose in proportion to population, it nevertheless enabled the State Board of Health to start a number of undertakings which are already doing good and will do more good as time goes on. I shall only touch upon a few of the more important ones.

HEALTH COMMISSIONER.

The provision that the Secretary of the State Board of Health give his entire time to the service of the State in the capacity of Health Commissioner is perhaps the most useful of all the new provisions and was made possible only through the increased appropriation. The Secretary keeps his eyes and ears wide open to the sanitary conditions and needs of the State and is busy aiding the local health officers all over the State whenever called upon to do so, by mail, wire or personal presence. He is the executive officer of the State Board of Health and as such carries out all its directions, rules and regulations and is custodian of all its books and papers, its instruments and appliances. His office is the headquarters of the State Board of Health, and all inquiries for information should be directed there. Address Dr. S. L. Jepson, Wheeling.

HYGIENIC LABORATORY.

The need for a Hygienic State Laboratory has been pressing for many years. Our few large cities were able to look after the purity of the water and milk supplies by making use of private laboratories for this purpose. As the charges for such work are very considerable, our smaller communities were unable to do so,

and, as you know, by far the larger part of our population is to be found in smaller communities. Only when an alarming epidemic of disease broke out did these communities resort to the aid of a laboratory, and then it proved of small consequence, as the damage was already done. To prevent epidemics of diseases resulting from impure water and milk it is important to regularly keep track of the condition of these articles by means of periodic examinations. The liberal appropriation by the last Legislature supplied this deficiency, and we now have a State Laboratory at Morgantown which every community in the State can make proper use of in its efforts to protect itself against preventable diseases. The laboratory is not merely for testing the purity of food and drink. The laboratory will help to clear up any doubt about cases of sore throat as to whether they are diphtheritic or not. It will aid in establishing the character of a prevailing epidemic of fever, whether it is typhoid, paratyphoid or what. In the case of the poor, or people in moderate circumstances, it will examine free of charge bodily secretions and excretions for the purpose of aiding in the early detection of diseases. It is no longer, for instance, necessary for any one in the State to miss the benefit of an examination of the sputum when suspecting tuberculosis of the respiratory tract. There are many other things which we hope the laboratory will be able to do for our people in the near future which is not practical to dwell upon at present. It is a new institution and it will take a little time to develop its full usefulness. No doubt you are asking yourselves why the laboratory was located at Morgantown. In connection with the biological, medical and chemical departments of its university there are a number of facilities that we can use in our laboratory work without an outlay of money. There is also some technical skill available there that we can utilize at less cost than we would otherwise have to pay. These economic considerations governed us largely in the choice of Morgantown for the present at least, as our funds after al are quite limited. Incidentally the laboratory at Morgantown will prove of some use to the university students. Personally I hope the day will come when in addition to a large central laboratory we will have several smaller ones in different parts of the State for emergency work.

SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION.

No matter how efficient a State Board of Health may be, it can accomplish but little without the co-operation of an active and well informed corps of local health officers. The greatest efficiency will be attained when our counties and towns will employ men specially trained in public health work on salaries sufficient to devote their entire time to this work. Harvard and some other universities are now giving to M.Ds. a two years' course in public health work, leading to the degree of D. P. H. (Doctor of Public Health). Al