The Secretary also called attention to the necessity of changes in, or additions to, the regulations adopted by the Board in relation to glanders in horses, in order to meet various exigencies which experience had shown to be likely at any time to occur. After a deliberate consideration of proposed amendments, the following were adopted as the complete regulations of the Board, in relation to glanders and other contagious and infectious diseases among cattle and other domestic animals: REGULATION I. No person having the care or ownership of any horse or other animal having the disease called glanders or farcy, or suspected of having such disease, (and so stated by any agent of the State Board of Health, or any person practicing veterinary surgery, or engaged in the treatment of diseased animals,) or any person in possession of any animal suspected of having any other disease highly contagious and dangerous to life, shall sell or offer for sale, or permit any such animal to go into or be in any public lane or highway, or expose or keep any such animal within the same building, or within fifty feet of any other animal not so infected, except by permission of some agent of said Board of Health. REG. II. Any person practicing veterinary surgery, or treating diseased horses and other domestic animals, having suspicion that any animal treated or seen by him, has the disease called glanders or farcy, and all other persons having any knowledge or suspicion of any disease or any facts as set forth in the preceding section, shall report the same to some member of the State Board of Health immediately. REG. III. No horse declared by competent authority to be affected with glanders or farcy shall hereafter be allowed to be kept for experiment, except by permission of some member of the State Board of Health; and all persons shall allow any member of the said Board, or any of its officers or agents, free access to, and full permission to examine any animal suspected of having the disease called glanders or farcy. REG. IV. All persons having the care or ownership of any horse or other animal suspected by any member of the State Board of Health, or its authorized agents, of having the disease called glanders, or any contagious or infectious disease dangerous to life, shall surrender possession of, or securely keep, said horse or other animal, in compliance with the orders of either of the members or agents aforesaid, emanating from the office of the said State Board of Health, until the nature of the disease in question has been determined by a veterinary expert. REG. V. A fee or reward of one dollar will be paid to any person giving notice to the Secretary, or any member of the Board or its agents, of a case of glanders not previously reported. A special meeting was held Oct. 23 to hear the report of the Secretary in regard to the occurrence of a contagious or infectious parasitic disease of a fatal character, which had appeared in a herd of cattle in the town of Cumberland. A history of the disease, and circumstances attending, will be given in another place. The action of the Secretary was approved, and it was deemed expedient to appoint cattle appraisers for the Board, who might be called upon when occasion required. The following gentlemen were then appointed appraisers of the Board, to act in any case upon call of the Secretary, where there seemed to be need of the destruction of any animal or animals affected with a contagious disease dangerous to life, or animals liable to convey the disease to other animals not so infected: OBADIAH BROWN... JABEZ W. MOWRY.. ARLON MOWRY.... Providence. Smithfield. . North Smithfield. The Secretary was empowered by vote to fill vacancies or appoint substitutes. A special meeting was also held Dec. 15, at which a review of the work of the Secretary for the closing year was given, and various accounts and bills of expenses incurred were examined, audited and ordered paid. BY-LAWS. No very important change has been made in the By-Laws during the year, and they now stand as follows: SECTION 1. This body shall be known as the Rhode Island State Board of Health. SEC. 2. The officers of the Board shall consist of a Chairman, Secretary and Auditor, to be chosen annually at the meeting in July. SEC. 3. The duties of the Chairman shall be, to preside at the meetings of the Board, to put all votes, to decide questions of order, and to appoint all committees when not otherwise voted by the Board. He shall certify all audited bills to the Governor for payment. SEC. 4. The Secretary shall perform all duties prescribed in the act establishing this Board, shall keep a record of the proceedings, shall do all acts usually incident to the office, and shall notify the members of all regular meetings, and by the advice of the Chairman, shall call all special meetings. The Secretary shall have an office in the city of Providence, which he shall keep open between the hours of eleven A. M. and one o'clock P. M., upon all business days. SEC. 5. The Auditor shall examine all bills and vouchers, and if correct shall certify the same to the Chairman of the Board. SEC. 6. A majority of members shall constitute a quorum to transact business, but any member may adjourn. SEC. 7. The regular meetings of this Board shall be holden at its office in the city of Providence, on the first Wednesday of July, October, January and April, respectively, at such hour as the Board may by vote determine from time to time. In the following pages, from 9 to 148 inclusive, will be found the Report on the registration of births, marriages and deaths in Rhode Island in 1879, as presented the General Assembly in compliance with law; and also a variety of tables showing the different relations of the same events, by comparison during the same years, and during different years, in periods of years of various lengths from 1852 to 1880. |