[CIRCULAR.] 
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, 
Boston, April 24, 1872. 
To Boards of Health of Cities and Towns of Massachusetts. 
The following copy of the recent law relating to Small-pox is forwarded for general information : — 
Chapter 189. 
AN ACT RELATING TO SMALL-POX. 
Be it enacted, etc., as follows : 
Sect. 1. Section fifty-one of the twenty-sixth chapter of the General Statutes is hereby amended, 
by inserting after the word forty-six, the following : — so far as they confer authority for the removal of 
patients from their homes, except in case of persons residing in boarding-houses, hotels, or where two or 
more families occupy the same dwelling, and in all other cases where, in the opinion of the Board of 
Health and the attending physician, the case cannot be properly isolated. 
Sect. 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. 
Approved April 12, 1872 
Very Respectfully, 
Your Obedient Servant, 
GEORGE DERBY, M.D., 
Secretary of the State Board of Health.