ut&WS AND REGULATIONS 
RELATING TO 
PUBLIC HEilLl IN THE DISTRICT OF COLOMBIA 
IN FORCE 
JANUARY 13, 1898, 
BEING 
APPENDIX D, REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER FOR 1897. 
WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1808. LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
RELATING TO 
PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
IN FORCE 
JA.ISTU ARY 13, 1898, 
BEING 
APPENDIX D, REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER FOR 1897. 
WASHINGTON: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1898. Appendix D. 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO PUBLIC HEALTH. 
The following laws and regulations have, in the issue of this report, been com- 
pared with the official copies thereof. Wherever, therefore, a discrepancy exists 
between them and between the corresponding laws and regulations as they have 
appeared in previous reports, the text below may be accepted as correct. 
ACTS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AFFECTING THE 
HEALTH DEPARTMENT. 
Chap. OYIII.—AN ACT prescribing the duties of certain officers for the District of Columbia, 
* and fixing their compensation. 
Sec. 13. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the coroner to 
hold an inquest over any person found dead in the District of Columbia, when 
the manner and cause of death shall not be already known as accidental or in 
the course of nature. No coroner’s jury shall receive any fee or compensation for 
services as such, and said coroner is hereby authorized and empowered to issue 
his certificate to the auditor for the payment of such expenses as may be neces- 
sary for the interment of any person over whom he has held an inquest and whose 
body is not claimed by friends or relatives: Provided, That the amount of such 
expenses shall not exceed the sum of ten dollars. He shall make a monthly report 
to the board of health of the number of inquests held by him during the month 
last past before said report, with a full description, as far as may be, of the age and 
sex of persons, color and nationality, the cause and mode of their death, and such 
other particulars as may be necessary to their identification, in case of strangers 
and unknown persons. He shall also, immediately after holding any inquest, 
deposit in some bank in the city of Washington, subject to the order of the gov- 
ernor, all moneys, and all other property and other effects with the property clerk 
of the police department, which shall be found upon the person of those over whom 
he shall hold inquest, as hereinbefore provided. He shall receive a salary of two 
thousand dollars per annum, and give bond, to be approved by the governor, in 
the sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of his 
duties. 
Approved August 28,1871. 
EXCERPTS FROM WEBB’S DIGEST OF THE LAWS OF THE CORPORATION OF 
WASHINGTON, RELATING TO PUBLIC HEALTH. 
Sec. 1 (page 5). It is not lawful for butchers or other persons to keep beef cattle 
or other animals intended for slaughter within seventy-five feet of any dwelling 
house, withouf the consent of both the occupant and owner of said dwelling; and it 
shall be the duty of the police officers to notify persons so offending to immediately 
remove such animals, and if the person or persons so notified shall refuse or neglect 
to obey within twenty-four hours thereafter, they shall be subject to a fine of five 
dollars, and a fine of twenty dollars for each day the said cattle are suffered to 
remain, and any police officer refusing or willfully neglecting to perform the duty 
prescribed shall be punished by a fine of five dollars, and shall be dismissed from 
office, said fines to be collected and applied as other fines under this corporation. 
Sec. 2 (page 44). It shall be unlawful for any person to store, put, or place bones 
which shall have been purchased or bartered, in any house, storeroom, stable, build- 
ing, or place, within two hundred feet of any dwelling house, other than the dwell- 
ing house of the person storing such bones, under a penalty of five dollars for each REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
83 
and every day that the same shall be stored, put, or placed as aforesaid; and it shall 
be unlawful for any person, or persons, to store old rags which shall have been pur- 
chased or bartered, in any house, storeroom, stable, building, or place, within fifty 
feet of any dwelling house, other than the dwelling house of the person storing 
such rags, and the entire stock of old rags, so collected and stored, shall be removed 
from the premises, or shipped at least once in every fifteen days; and any person 
or persons storing old rags, or refusing or neglecting to remove the same, in accord- 
ance with these provisions, shall be liable to a fine of five dollars for every day that 
they shall so offend. 
Sec. 1 (page 50). It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to erect any 
whitesmith or blacksmith shop within thirty feet of any dwelling house inside of 
the limits of the corporation, or within that distance of any dwelling house to 
extend any whitesmith or blacksmith shop now erected, under a penalty of not less 
than two nor more than five dollars for every day such erection or extension shall 
remain after notice shall be given by the mayor for the removal thereof, to be col- 
lected and applied as other fines. 
Secs. 1 and 2 (pages 119 and 120). It shall not be lawful for any person or per- 
sons to keep, provide for, or maintain within the limits of the city of Washington, 
a cow yard, pen, or stable for dairy or other purposes, nearer than two hundred 
feet to any dwelling house other than the dwelling house of the owner or keeper 
of such yard, pen, or stable, under a penalty of not less than one nor more than five 
dollars for each day’s offense so continued; to be prosecuted and recovered as other 
fines and penalties due the corporation are prosecuted and recovered: Provided, 
hoivever, That nothing herein contained shall apply to persons who keep but two 
cows for their own immediate use; and this section shall be so construed as to per- 
mit the selling of milk by persons who keep one or two cows. 
Sec. 2. The owner or keeper of any cow yard, pen, or stable, or other place where 
cows are kept, within the limits of the city of Washington, shall daily remove the 
filth from and keep clean such yard, pen, stable, or other place, under a penalty of 
not less than one nor more than five dollars for each and every offense, to be 
recovered as other fines are. 
Sec. 8 (page 214). It shall be the duty, of each and every person occupying a 
dwelling house or store, or any other kind of building, to have the paved footwalk 
and gutter in front of his, her, or their premises cleaned daily from the first of 
May to the first of December, by collecting the dirt from such gutter into piles, to 
be removed under the direction of the commissioners of improvements so soon as 
possible after it has been collected; and any person or persons who shall fail or 
refuse to have the paved footwalk or gutter in front of his, her, or their premises 
cleaned as hereinbefore provided, shall be subject to a fine of not more than five 
nor less than one dollar for each and every offense. 
Sec. 9 (page 214). If any person or persons shall cast, place, or lay, or cause to be 
cast, placed, or laid any rubbish, oyster shells, shavings, or offal, or refuse substance 
of any kind whatsoever of his, her, or their trade, occupati on, or business; or any coal, 
firewood, ashes, barrels, hogsheads, or casks of any kind; boxes, foul water, dye 
water, or offal from soap and candle or other manufactories; filth, stable manure, or 
any offensive substance or obstruction in any street, avenue, open space, public res- 
ervation, alley, or open lot, or so that the same may run into any improved street, 
avenue, public reservation, alley, open space, or open lot, or in the gutters of any 
such street, avenue, public reservation, open space, or open lot, or on any pave- 
ment, and shall not remove the same on the day on which the same shall have been 
so placed as aforesaid—every person so offending or directing, or ordering the same 
to be done, shall forfeit and pay not less than one nor more than five dollars, and 
the further sum of five dollars for each and every day the same shall be suffered to 
remain, except the article of firewood, which may remain forty-eight hours and no 
longer on such street or avenue, not including the pavement thereof: Provided, 
That it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons engaged in erecting or 
repairing a building to occupy with the materials used in making such building, 
or repairing the inside half of the breadth of the footway and one-third part of the 
breadth of the carriageway, and no more, in front of any lot on which the building 
is being erected or repaired; said materials to be placed in such position and so 
arranged as may be approved of by the commissioners of improvements, under a 
penalty of not less than five nor more than ten dollars for each offense; and a fur- 
ther penalty of a like sum for every day the same may be suffered to remain; to be 
recovered from the owner of the property, or the contractor for the erection or 
repairs of the building; and all materials and rubbish shall be removed by the con- 
tractor or owner of the property within five days after said building shall be 
completed. 
Sec. 1 (page 316). It shall be unlawful for any owner or owners to occupy, rent, 
or cause to be rented any dwelling houses or tenements without providing for each 84 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
and every dwelling house or tenement a suitable privy for the use of the occupant 
of such dwelling house or tenement; and if any owner or agent shall neglect or 
refuse to provide such privy, he shall forfeit and pay a fine of five dollars for each 
and every week of such neglect or refusal; and it shall be unlawful for any person 
or persons to make any excavation under any privy within the city, under a penalty 
not exceeding ten dollars for each offense. 
Sec. 5 (page 358). In all cases where a drain shall be made from any lot, house, 
or other property into a public sewer constructed by this corporation, there shall 
be a good and sufficient copper or cast-iron strainer inside of the basement or cellar 
wall of the property so drained, to prevent any vegetable matter or filth in a solid 
state from passing into the sewer; and such cellar or basement shall at all times 
be subject to the inspection of such person as may be authorized by the mayor or 
corporation to examine the same; and if at any time the strainer shall be found 
worn out or choked with filth, or if the drain itself shall be choked with filth, the 
owner or occupier of the premises, either or both of them, shall be fined not less 
than five dollars nor more than ten dollars for the first offence, and not less than 
ten dollars nor more than twenty dollars for the second or any subsequent offence, 
and five dollars for every twenty-four hours during which the strainer or drain 
shall remain out of repair or be choked up; the said fines to be recovered as other 
fines of this corporation are recovered. 
ACTS OF CONGRESS RELATING TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA. 
Extract from An Act to provide a government for the District of Columbia. 
There shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, a board of health for said District, to consist of 
five persons, whose duty it shall be to declare what shall be deemed nuisances 
injurious to health, and to provide for the removal thereof; to make and enforce 
regulations to prevent domestic animals from running at large in the cities of 
Washington and Georgetown; to prevent the sale of unwholesome food in said 
cities; and to perform such other duties as shall be imposed upon said board by the 
legislative assembly. 
Approved February 21, 1871. 
[R. S. D. C., Sec. 72.] 
DUTY OF POLICE TO ASSIST HEALTH OFFICER, WHEN REQUIRED. 
[B. S. D. C., Sec. 380.] 
The board of health, or proper health officer, of the District shall have power to 
call upon any of the police force, to a number not exceeding six, to aid upon any 
necessary emergency in enforcing the powers and duties conferred upon their office 
by law; and it shall be the duty of any such number of police so called upon to 
obey such call, but such service shall not continue longer than twenty-four hours. 
Extract from An Act providing a permanent form of government for the District of Columbia. 
[2 Sup. E. S., 179.] 
That in lieu of the board of health now authorized by law, the Commissioners of 
the District of Columbia shall appoint a physician as health officer, whose duty it 
shall be, under the direction of the said Commissioners, to execute and enforce all 
laws and regulations relating to the public health and vital statistics, and to per- 
form all such duties as may be assigned to him by said Commissioners; and the 
board of health now existing shall, from the date of the appointment of said health 
officer, be abolished. 
Approved June 11, 1878. 
AN ACT to regulate the practice of pharmacy in the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act, it shall 
be unlawful for any person, not a registered pharmacist within the meaning of this 
[1 Sup. R. S., 355.] REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
85 
act, to conduct any pharmacy or store for the purpose of retailing, compounding, 
or dispensing medicines or poisons, for medical use, in the District of Columbia, 
except as hereinafter provided. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful for the proprietor of any store or pharmacy to 
allow any person, except a registered pharmacist, to compound or dispense the 
prescriptions of physicians, or to retail or dispense poisons for medical use, except 
as an aid to, and under the immediate supervision of, a registered pharmacist. 
Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guiity of a mis- 
demeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine of not less than 
twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each and every such 
offense. 
Sec. 3. That immediately after the passage of this act, and biennially thereafter, 
or as often as necessary, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall 
appoint three pharmacists and two physicians, all of whom shall have been resi- 
dents of the District of Columbia for five years and of at least five years’ practical 
experience in their respective professions, who shall be known and styled as Com- 
missioners of Pharmacy for the District of Columbia, who shall serve without 
compensation, and who shall hold office for two years, and until their successors 
are appointed and qualified. Said commissioners shall, within thirty days after 
the notification of their appointment, each take and subscribe to an oath to impar- 
tially and faithfully discharge their duties as prescribed by this act. The position 
of any commissioner who shall fail to so qualify within the time named shall be 
vacant, and the vacancy or vacancies so occurring, or any vacancy or vacancies that 
may occur, shall be filled by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 4. That the commissioners of pharmacy shall keep a book of registration 
open at some convenient place within the city of Washington, of which due notice 
shall be given through the public press, and shall record therein the name and 
place of business of every person registered under this act. It shall be the duty 
of said commissioners of pharmacy to register, without examination, as registered 
pharmacists, all pharmacists and druggists who are engaged in business in the 
District of Columbia at the passage of this act as owners or principals of stores 
of pharmacies for selling at retail, compounding, or dispensing drugs, medicines, 
or chemicals for medicinal use, or for compounding and dispensing physicians’ 
prescriptions, and all assistant pharmacists, twenty-one years of age, engaged in 
said stores or pharmacies in the District of Columbia at the passage of this act, 
and who have been engaged as such in some store or pharmacy where physicians’ 
prescriptions were compounded and dispensed for not less than five years prior to 
the passage of this act: Provided, hoicever, That in case of failure or neglect on 
the part of any such person or persons to present themselves for registration within 
sixty days after said public notice, they shall undergo an examination such as is 
provided for in section five of this act. 
Sec. 5. That the said commissioners of pharmacy shall, upon application and 
at such time and place as they may determine, examine each and every person 
who shall desire to conduct the business of selling at retail, compounding, or dis- 
pensing drugs, medicines, or chemicals for medicinal use, or compounding and 
dispensing physicians’ prescriptions within the District of Columbia as pharma- 
cists; and if a majority of said commissioners shall be satisfied that said person is 
competent and fully qualified to conduct said business of compounding or dis- 
pensing drugs, medicines, or chemicals for medicinal use, or to compound and 
dispense physicians’ prescriptions, they shall enter the name of such person as a 
registered pharmacist in the book provided for in section four of this act. 
Sec. 6. That no person shall be entitled to an examination by said commission- 
ers of pharmacy for registration as pharmacist unless he present satisfactory evi- 
dence of being twenty-one years of age, and having served not less than four years 
in a store or pharmacy where physicians’ prescriptions were compounded and dis- 
pensed , or is a graduate of some respectable medical college or university. 
Sec. 7. That all graduates in pharmacy having a diploma from an incorporated 
college or school of pharmacy that requires a practical experience in pharmacy of 
not less than four years before granting a diploma shall be entitled to have their 
names registered as pharmacists by said commissioners of pharmacy. 
Sec. 8. That the commissioners of pharmacy shall be entitled to demand and 
receive from each person whom they register as pharmacist, without examination, 
the sum of three dollars, and from each person whom they examine the sum of 
ten dollars. And in case the examination of said person should prove defective 
and unsatisfactory, and his name not be registered, he shall be permitted to present 
himself for reexamination within any period not exceeding twelve months next 
thereafter, and no charge shall be made for such reexamination. The money 
received under the provisions of this section shall be applied to payment of such 
expenses as the commissioners may incur in executing the provisions of this act. 86 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
Sec. 9. Every registered pharmacist shall be held responsible for the quality of 
all drugs, chemicals, and medicines he may sell or dispense, with the exception of 
those sold in the original packages of the manufacturer, and also those known as 
“patent medicines;” and should he knowingly, intentionally, and fraudulently 
adulterate, or cause to be adulterated, such drugs, chemicals, or medical prepara- 
tions, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, 
be liable to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars, and, in addition thereto, 
his name shall be stricken from the register. 
Sec. 10. It shall be unlawful for any person, from and after the passage of this 
act, to retail any poisons enumerated in Schedules A and B, as follows, to wit: 
Schedule A. 
Arsenic and its preparations, corrosive sublimate, white precipitate, red precip- 
itate, biniodide of mercury, cyanide of potassium, hydrocyanic acid, strychnia 
and all other poisonous vegetable alkaloids, and their salts, essential oil of bitter 
almonds, opium and its preparations, except paregoric and other preparations of 
opium containing less than two grains to the ounce; 
Schedule B. 
Aconite, belladonna, colchicum, conium, nux vomica, henbane, savin, ergot, cot- 
ton root, eantharides, creosote, digitalis, and their pharmaceutical preparations, 
croton oil, chloroform, chloral hydrate, sulphate of zinc, mineral acids, carbolic 
acid, and oxalic acid, without distinctly labeling the box, vessel, or paper in which 
the said poison is contained, and also the outside wrapper or cover, with the name 
of the article, the word “ poison,” and the name and place of business of the seller. 
Nor shall it be lawful for any person to sell or deliver any poisons enumerated in 
Schedules A and B, unless, upon due inquiry, it be found that the purchaser is 
aware of its poisonous character, and represents that it is to be used for a legiti- 
mate purpose. Nor shall it be lawful for any registered pharmacist to sell any 
poisons included in Schedule A without, before delivering the same to the pur- 
chaser, causing an entry to be made, in a book kept for that purpose, stating the 
date of sale, the name and address of the purchaser, the name and quality of the 
poison sold, the purpose for which it is represented by the purchaser to be required, 
and the name of the dispenser; such book to be always open for inspection by the 
proper authorities, and to be preserved for reference for at least five years. The 
provisions of this section shall not apply to the dispensing of poisons, in not unusual 
quantities or doses, upon the prescriptions of practitioners of medicine. Nor shall 
it be lawful for any licensed or registered druggist or pharmacist in the District of 
Columbia to retail, or sell, or give away any alcoholic liquors or compounds, as a 
beverage, to be drunk or consumed upon the premises. And any violation of the 
provisions of this section shall make the owner or principal of said store or phar- 
macy liable to a fine of not less than twenty-five and not more than one hundred 
dollars, to be collected in the usual manner. 
Sec. 11. Any itinerant vender of any drug, nostrum, ointment, or appliance of 
any kind, intended for the treatment of diseases or injury, or who shall, by writing, 
or printing, or any other method, publicly profess to care or treat diseases, injury, 
or deformity, by any drug, nostrum, manipulation, or other expedient, shall pay a 
license of two hundred dollars per annum into the treasury of the District of 
Columbia, to be collected in the usual way. 
Sec. 12. That any person who shall procure or attempt to procure registration 
for himself or for another under this act, by making or causing to be made any 
false representation, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon 
conviction thereof, be liable to a penalty of not less than twenty-five nor more 
than one hundred dollars, and the name of the person so fraudulently registered 
shall be stricken from the register. Any person, not a registered pharmacist as 
provided for in this act, who shall conduct a store, pharmacy, or place for retail- 
ing, compounding, or dispensing drugs, medicines, or chemicals, for medicinal use. 
or for compounding or dispensing physicians’ prescriptions, shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be liable to a penalty 
of not less than fifty dollars. 
Sec. 13. That all fines and penalties under this act shall be collected in the same 
manner that other fines and penalties are collected in the District of Columbia; 
and it shall be the duty of the United States district attorney for the District of 
Columbia to prosecute all violations of this act. 
Sec. 14. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act be, and the 
same are hereby, repealed. 
Approved June 15, 1878. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
87 
AN ACT to create a revenue in the District of Columbia by levying a tax upon aH dogs therein, 
to make such dogs personal property, and for other purposes. 
[1 Sup. R. S., 374.] 
Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That there shall be levied a tax of two dollars 
each per annum upon all dogs owned or kept in the District of Columbia; said tax 
to be collected as other taxes in said District are or may be collected. 
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the collector of taxes, upon receipt of said tax, to 
give to the person paying the same, for each dog so paid for, a suitable metallic 
tag, stamped with the year, showing that said tax has been duly paid; and he shall 
keep a record of all such payments, with the date thereof, and the name, color, and 
sex of such dog, and the name of the person claiming any dog so paid for; and a 
copy of such record, certified under the hand and official seal of the said collector, 
which shall be given to any person demanding the same, upon payment of twenty- 
five cents therefor, shall be prima facie evidence of such payment in any court in 
the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 3. The poundmaster of the District of Columbia shall, during the entire 
year, seize all dogs found running at large without the tax tag, issued by the col- 
lector aforesaid, attached, and shall impound the same; and if, within forty-eight 
hours, the same are not redeemed, by the owners thereof, by the payment of two 
dollars, they shall be sold or destroyed, as the poundmaster may deem advisable; 
and any sale made by virtue hereof shall be deemed valid to all intents and pur- 
poses in all the courts of the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 4. Any dog wearing the tax tag hereinbefore provided for shall be per- 
mitted to run at large in the District of Columbia, and shall be regarded as per- 
sonal property in all the courts of said District; and any person injuring or 
destroying the same shall be liable to a civil action for damages, which, upon 
proof of said injuring or killing may be awarded in a sum equal to the value 
usually put upon such property by persons buying and selling the same, subject 
to such modification as the particular circumstances of the case may make proper, 
Sec. 5. Any person owning any dog so recorded in the collector's office shall be 
liable in a civil action for any damage done by said dog to the full amount of the 
injury inflicted. 
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of any person owning or possessing a dog to place, 
or cause to be placed and kept, around the neck of such dog, a collar, on which 
shall be marked and engraved, in legible and durable characters, the name of the 
owner or possessor, and the letters “D. C.”, and to which collar must be attached 
the insignia or tax tag furnished by the District tax collector, in accordance with 
the first and second sections of this law, under the penalty of not less than five 
nor more than ten dollars; and if any person shall put, or cause to be put, a col- 
lar, with the insignia or tax tag, around the neck of any dog owned or possessed 
by any person or persons residing in the District, without having obtained a 
license for keeping such animal, he, she, or they shall forfeit and pay the sum of 
not less than five nor more than ten dollars for each and every offense. 
Sec. 7. Whenever it shall be made to appear to the Commissioners that there are 
good reasons for believing that any dog or dogs within the District are mad, it 
shall be the duty of the Commissioners to issue a proclamation requiring that all 
dogs shall, for a period to be defined in the proclamation, wear good, substantial 
muzzles securely put on, so as to prevent them from biting or snapping; and any 
dog going at large during the period defined by the Commissioners without such a 
muzzle shall be taken by the poundmaster and impounded, subject to the pro- 
visions of section three. 
Sec. 8. Any person who shall remove, or cause to be removed, the collar and 
insigna or tax tag from the neck of any dog, or entice any properly licensed dog 
into any inclosure for the purpose of taking off its collar or insignia, or shall for 
such purpose decoy or entice any animal out of the inclosure or house of its owner 
or possessor, or shall seize or molest any dog while held or led by any person, or 
shall bring any dog into the District for the purpose of taking up and killing the 
same, shall forfeit and pay a sum of not more than twenty dollars. 
Sec. 9. If any owner or possessor of a tierce or dangerous dog permit the same 
to go at large in the District of Columbia, to the danger or annoyance of the inhab- 
itants, he shall forfeit and pay, for the first offense, ten dollars; for the second, a 
sum not exceeding twenty dollars; and upon a third conviction for the same offense, 
the Commissioners shall immediately cause the dog, upon account of which the 
conviction takes place, to be slain and buried. 
Sec. 10. That all acts or parts of acts now in force in the District of Columbia 
inconsistent with the provisions of this act be, and the same are hereby, repealed. 
Approved June 19, 1878. 88 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
AN ACT authbrizing the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to extend the area for the 
taking up and impounding of domestic animals in the District of Columbia. 
[1 Sup. R. S., 495.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That the Commissioners of the District of Colum- 
bia be, and are hereby, authorized to prescribe rules for taking up and impound- 
ing of domestic animals found running at large in the District of Columbia. 
Approved June 27, 1879. 
JOINT RESOLUTION legalizing the health ordinances and regulations for the District of 
Columbia. 
[1 Sup. R. S., 574.] 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That the ordinances of the late board of health of 
the District of Columbia, as revised, amended, and adopted November nineteenth, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled “An ordinance to revise, consolidate, 
and amend the ordinances of the board of health, to declare what shall be deemed 
nuisances injurious to health and to provide for the removal thereof,” as printed 
in the report of said late board of health made to the first session of the Forty- 
fourth Congress, being Executive Document number one, part eight, be, and the 
same are hereby, legalized; and the respective penalties therein prescribed for vio- 
lations thereof may be imposed and enforced for the respective offenses therein 
described, excepting the sections of said ordinance following, namely: Sections 
seven, nine, and fourteen, which said sections are not hereby legalized. 
Sec. 2. That the ordinances, rules, and regulations of said late board of health 
contained in the report mentioned in the preceding section, and printed in the 
said executive document therein mentioned, namely: 
First. ‘1 An ordinance to amend an ordinance to prevent domestic animals from 
running at large within the cities of Washington and Georgetown, passed by the 
board of health May nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one;” 
Second. “An ordinance to prevent the sale of unwholesome food in the cities of 
Washington and Georgetown;” 
Third. “An ordinance to provide for the inspection of streets, food, live stock, 
fish and other marine products, in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and 
to define the duties of inspectors and other officers of the board of health;” 
Fourth. “An ordinance to amend section ten of the code so as to read;” 
Fifth. “An ordinance to amend an ordinance passed May thirteenth, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-three, to read as follows;” 
Sixth. “An ordinance to prevent committing or creating nuisances in or about 
public urinals located within the cities of Washington and Georgetown;” 
Seventh.1 “ Rules and regulations in regard to smallpox;” 
Eighth. “Regulations to secure a full and correct record of vital statistics, 
including the registration of marriages, births, and deaths, the interment, disin- 
terment, and removal of the dead in the District of Columbia,” be, and the same 
are hereby, legalized and made valid; and the penalties therein provided respect- 
ively for violations thereof, may be imposed and enforced for the violations of the 
same respectively, as provided by section twenty-seven of the ordinances passed 
November nineteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five. 
Approved April 24, 1880. 
AN ORDINANCE to revise, consolidate, and amend the ordinances of the board of health, to 
declare what shall be deemed nuisances injurious to health, and to provide for the removal 
thereof. 
ORDINANCES AS LEGALIZED BY FOREGOING RESOLUTION. 
Be it ordained and enacted by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
That filth, the contents of cesspools, offal, garbage, foul water, dye water, refuse 
from manufactories, ordure, urine, stable manure, decayed animal or vegetable 
matter, or other offensive substance detrimental to health, thrown, placed, or 
allowed to remain, in or upon any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, gutter, public 
reservation, or open lot, in the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or in the 
1 See an act to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the District of Columbia, approved 
March 3,1897. 89 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
more densely populated suburbs of said cities, are hereby declared nuisances 
injurious to health; and any person who shall commit, create, or maintain the 
aforesaid nuisances, or either of them, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less 
than five nor more than twenty-five dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 2. That the carrying and transporting of bones, hides, fish, garbage, offal, 
or other animal or vegetable substances, in decomposing and offensive condition, 
in any other than covered and inclosed vehicles, through any street, avenue, alley 
or public place, within the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more 
densely populated suburbs of said cities, is hereby declared a nuisance injurious 
to health; and any person who shall cause, commit, create or maintain such 
nuisance shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than two nor more than twenty- 
five dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 3. That manure accumulated in great quantities; manure, offal, or garbage 
piled or deposited within 300 feet of any place of worship, or of any dwelling, or 
unloaded along the line of any railroad, or in any street or public way; cars or flats 
loaded with manure, or other offensive matter, remaining or standing on any rail- 
road, street, or highway in the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more 
densely populated suburbs of said cities, are hereby declared nuisances injurious 
to health; and any person who shall pile or deposit manure, offal, or garbage, or 
any offensive or nauseous substance within 300 feet of any inhabited dwelling within 
the limits of said cities or their said suburbs; and any person who shall unload, dis- 
charge, or put upon or along the line of any railroad, street or highway or public 
place, within said cities or their said suburbs, any manure, garbage, offal, or other 
offensive or nauseous substance, within 300 feet of any inhabited dwelling, or who 
shall cause or allow cars or flats loaded with, or having in or upon them any such 
substance to remain or stand in or along any railroad, street or highway, within 
the limits of said cities or their suburbs, within 300 feet of any inhabited dwelling, 
and who shall fail, after notice duly served by this board, to remove the same shall, 
upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than five nor more than twenty-five dol- 
lars for every such offense. 
Sec. 4. Thatthe filling, leveling, or raising thesurface of any ground or lot within 
the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more densely populated suburbs 
of said cities, with animal or vegetable substances, filth gathered in cleaning yards 
or streets, or waste material from mills or factories, or the removal of the surface of 
any ground or lot within said cities or their said suburbs, filled with such offensive 
matter or substance, in such manner as to cause noisome odors or noxious gases 
to arise, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person who 
shall cause, commit, create, or maintain such nuisance shall, upon conviction, be 
fined not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 5. That throwing or placing any defiling or poisonous substance, decayed 
animal or vegetable matter or filth into, or causing or allowing the same to pass 
or enter into, any spring, well, or river water, used by the public for drinking or 
cooking purposes, or into the water of any public reservoir or water pipe within 
the District of Columbia, whereby such water is rendered impure and unwhole- 
some, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person who shall 
commit or create such nuisance shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five 
nor more than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 6. That any wells, springs, or waters used for drinking or cooking purposes, 
which are impure and unwholesome, or which have been rendered impure and 
unwholesome by reason of any defiling or poisonous substance, are hereby declared 
nuisances injurious to health; and any person who shall maintain or continue such 
nuisance, after due notice from this board to abate the same, shall, upon convic- 
tion, be fined not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 8. That ailantus trees, the flowers of which produce offensive and noxious 
odors, in bloom, in the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more densely 
populated suburbs of said cities, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; 
and any person maintaining such nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice from 
this board, to abate the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five nor 
more than ten dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 10.1 That drainpipes, soil pipes, passages into sewers, or connections between 
any sewer and any ground or building, not of adequate and sufficient size to allow 
the free and entire passage of all the material that enters the same, or not provided 
with good and sufficient sewer traps, so as to prevent the escape of noisome odors 
and noxious gases therefrom, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; 
and any person creating or maintaining either of said nuisances who shall fail, 
after due notice from this board, to abate the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined 
not less than five nor more than twenty-five dollars for every such offense. 
1 See section 10 as amended, page 95. 90 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
Sec. 11. That all water-closets and privies connected with any house, building, 
or premises within the District of Columbia, in or upon which people live, or where 
they congregate or assemble, or any kind of business is done, kept in a filthy and 
offensive condition, or from which noisome odors and noxious gases arise, and all 
water-closets located within and being a part of any such house or building not 
provided with proper sewer traps so as to i>revent the return and escape of noxious 
gases and offensive odors from any public or private sewer connected therewith, 
are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person creating, keep- 
ing, or maintaining such nuisance, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than 
five nor more than twenty-five dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 12. That any privy within the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the 
more densely populated suburbs of said cities, including Uniontown or Anacostia, 
and Mount Pleasant, in the District of Columbia, constructed of other material 
than brick, cement, or wood, or which is not provided with a sufficient box, bucket, 
or vessel for the reception of filth, and the inside of which is not at least five feet 
distant from the line of any adjoining lot, and at least two (2) feet distant from 
any street, lane, alley, camp, square, or public place, or public or private passage- 
way; and any privy so constructed that it can not be conveniently approached and 
cleaned, or in such manner that each and every vault, box, bucket, or vessel thereof 
is not made tight and close, so that the contents thereof can not escape therefrom, 
except as may be permitted by means of a passageway or conduit under ground, 
for the purpose of carrying away the contents of such vault, box, or vessel into 
any common sewer or drain, is hereby declaimed a nuisance injurious to health; 
and any person who shall create, maintain, or continue such nuisance, and shall 
fail, after due notice from this board, to abate or remedy the same, shall, upon 
conviction, be fined not less than five nor more than twenty dollars for every such 
offense. 
Sec. 13. That foecal matter, not thoroughly deodorized and disinfected, remain- 
ing in privies in the District of Columbia, is hereby declared a nuisance injurious 
to health; and the board of health shall, upon the receipt of complaint in writ- 
ing, cause any privy to be inspected, and, if necessary, cleaned by the persons 
authorized for said purpose; and any person owning or occupying premises on 
which any privy is situated, who shall refuse to permit the same to be inspected 
and cleaned at the times designated by said board, or whenever necessary, shall, 
upon conviction, be fined not less than five dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 15. That it shall be unlawful for any person to deposit the contents of any 
privy in any place other than such as may be approved by this board; and any per- 
son so offending shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five nor more than 
fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 16. That the system heretofore in use of removing night-soil, cleaning 
privies, privy boxes, vaults, sinks, and cesspools within the cities of Washington 
and Georgetown, and the more densely populated suburbs of the said cities, by 
buckets or other process agitating and exposing the contents thereof in the open 
air, and of transporting said contents in carts or other vehicles not air-tight, 
through the streets, avenues, alleys, and other public places within said cities, and 
their said suburbs, is hereby declared a nuisance injurious to health. 
And that from and after the 15th day of October, A. D. 1873, no part of the con- 
tents (except substances not soluble in water) of any privy, privy box, vault, sink, 
or cesspool within said cities or their said suburbs shall be removed therefrom, nor 
shall the same be transported through any of the streets, avenues, alleys, or other 
public places of said cities or of their said suburbs, except as the same shall be 
removed and transported by means of some air-tight apparatus, pneumatic or other 
process, so as to prevent the said contents from being agitated or exposed in the 
open air during said process of removal or transportation; and any person violating 
the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not less than 
ten nor more than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 17. That the keeping, herding, and feeding of hogs, in pens or otherwise, 
within the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more densely populated 
suburbs of said cities, is hereby declared a nuisance injurious to health; and any 
person creating or maintaining such nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice 
from this board, to abate the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than 
five nor more than twenty-five dollars, for every such offense. 
Sec. 18. That filthy and unwholesome stables, sheds, pens, or places where 
cows, horses, mules, or other animals are kept, within the cities of Washington or 
Georgetown, or the more densely populated suburbs of said cities, are hereby 
declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person creating or maintaining 
such nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice from this board, to abate the 
same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five nor more than twenty-five 
dollars for every such offense. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
91 
Sec. 19. That any animal affected by glanders or other contagious or pestilential 
disease, kept or remaining in any stable, shed, pen, or place within the cities of 
Washington or Georgetown or the more densely populated suburbs of said cities, 
is hereby declared a nuisance injurious to health; and any person keeping or 
maintaining such nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice from this board, to 
abate the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than five nor more than 
twenty-five dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 20. That all establishments or places of business for tanning, skinning, 
scouring, or dressing hides or leather within the District of Columbia, in a filthy 
condition, or from which noisome odors and noxious gases arise, are hereby 
declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person who shall erect, create, 
maintain, or continue such nuisance, and who shall fail, after due notice from this 
board, to abate the same shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than ten nor more 
than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 21. That the boiling of offal, swill, bones, fat, tallow, or lard; the crushing, 
grinding or burning of bones or shells; cleansing guts; making glue from any 
dead animal or part thereof; making or boiling varnish or oil; making lampblack, 
turpentine, or tar: distilling ardent, alcoholic, or fermented spirits; storing or 
keeping scraps, fat, grease, or other offensive animal matter; rendering or trying 
out dead, undressed, and unslaughtered animals, or any other business or trade, 
whereby noisome stenches and odors and noxious gases arise or are generated, 
within the cities of Washington or Georgetown, or the more densely populated 
suburbs of said cities, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any 
person who shall cause, erect, create, maintain, or continue any such nuisance, and 
who shall fail, after due notice from this board, to abate the same, shall, upon con- 
viction thereof, be fined not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars for 
every such offense. 
Sec. 22. That unclean and filthy slaughterhouses, rooms, buildings, or places 
where sheep, hogs, cattle, or other animals are slaughtered, within the District of 
Columbia, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person cre- 
ating, keeping, or maintaining such nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice from 
this board, to abate the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than ten nor 
more than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 23. That the crushing or breaking of stone within the cities of Washington 
or Georgetown, or the more densely populated suburbs of said cities, by machines 
or otherwise, in such manner as to create offensive and deleterious dust, is hereby 
declared a nuisance injurious to health; and any person creating or maintaining 
said nuisance, who shall fail, after due notice from this board, to remove or abate 
the same, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than ten nor more than fifty 
dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 24. That undressed dead animals being or lying in any part of the cities of 
Washington or Georgetown, or the more densely populated suburbs of said cities, 
•viz: Any of the horse, mule, or jack kinds, or any cow, goat, calf, sheep, dog, or 
swine, are hereby declared nuisances injurious to health; and any person owning, 
possessing, or controlling any such dead animal, or any person who shall know- 
ingly place or allow such dead animal to remain in any part of said cities or their 
said suburbs, and who shall fail to give notice thereof to the board of health within 
eight hours after the death of said animal, shall, upon conviction, be fined not less 
than five nor more than ten dollars for every such offense. 
Sec. 25. That unmuzzled dogs going upon any street, avenue, or other public 
place, between the fifteenth day of May and the fifteenth day of October in any 
year, mad dogs, and dogs bitten by hydrophobic dogs, are hereby declared nuisances 
injurious to health; and any person owning or keeping any dog who shall allow 
the same to go unmuzzled upon any street, alley, or other public place, between 
the fifteenth day of May and the fifteenth day of October in any year, or who shall 
refuse to kill, or to cause to be killed, any such dog owned or kept by him, which 
has gone mad, or given symptoms of hydrophobia, or who shall omit to confine 
any such animal exposed to such disease, or which has been bitten by a hydro- 
phobic dog or animal, shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance, and, upon 
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one nor more than twenty-five dol- 
lars; and any dog going at large between the fifteenth day of May and the fifteenth 
day of October in any year, without a proper muzzle, shall be taken up by the 
poundmaster, who shall charge the owner of the same one dollar for its redemption; 
and every such dog not redeemed within twenty-four hours after having been 
taken up as aforesaid shall be liable to be shot by said poundmaster. 
Sec. 26. That it shall be the duty of the health officer appointed by this board, 
upon receiving information or obtaining knowledge of the existence of any thing 
or things herein declared to be nuisances, or any thing or things which may here- 
after be declared to be nuisances by any ordinance or resolution enacted or adopted 92 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
by this board, to notify the person or persons committing, creating, keeping, or 
maintaining the same, to remove, or cause to be removed, the same within twenty- 
four hours, or such other reasonable time as may be determined by this board, 
after such notice be duly given; and if the same be not removed by such person 
or persons within the time prescribed in said notice, it shall be the duty of the 
health officer aforesaid to remove, or cause to be removed, such nuisance or nui- 
sances, and all costs and expenses of such removal shall be paid by the persons com- 
mitting, creating, keeping, or maintaining such nuisance or nuisances; and if the 
said costs and expenses thus accruing shall not be paid within ten days after such 
removal by said health officer, the same shall be collected from the person or per- 
sons committing, creating, keeping, or maintaining such nuisances by suit at law. 
Sec. 27. That all fines and penalties imposed bv any section of this ordinance 
shall be collected by prosecution in the police or other proper court of the District 
of Columbia, by information filed in said court, at the instance of the board of 
health. 
And whenever the nuisance complained of is set forth as continuing and existing, 
and is shown to be such to the satisfaction of the court before whom the person 
creating or maintaining said nuisance is tried, the party so offending shall, upon 
conviction thereof , in addition to the fine imposed, be ordered by said court to abate 
or remove said nuisance. 
Sec. 28. That all ordinances, or parts of ordinances, of this board inconsistent 
or in conflict with the foregoing provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed. 
November 19, 1875. 
AN ORDINANCE to amend “An ordinance to prevent domestic animals from running at large 
within the cities of Washington and Georgetown,” passed by the hoard of health May 19,1871. 
Be it ordained and enacted by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
That domestic animals shall not be permitted to run at large within the limits of 
the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and all domestic animals found run- 
ning at large within the limits of said cities shall be taken up and impounded. 
Sec. 2. That every animal taken up and impounded as aforesaid, within forty-eight 
hours after such impounding, if not claimed, and the charges for taking up, 
impounding, and keeping the same paid, shall be sold at public auction; and the 
poundmaster appointed by this board, as hereinafter provided, is hereby authorized 
to act as auctioneer at said sale. 
Sec. 3. That the proceeds of such sale shall be paid over to the treasurer of the 
board, who shall give duplicate receipts therefor, one copy of the same to be 
retained by the officer selling such animals, and the other copy to be by said officer 
filed with the secretary of the board: and it shall be the duty of said treasurer to 
keep an accurate account of all moneys received by him under the provisions of * 
this ordinance, and to report the same from time to time as required by the board. 
Sec. 4. That all moneys received by said treasurer from the sale of animals, as 
aforesaid, shall, if demanded by the owner of such animals, at any time within one 
year from the sale thereof, upon satisfactory proof that such claimant was the 
owner of such animal sold as aforesaid, after deduction of charges and expenses, 
as hereinafter specified, of taking up, and impounding, and keeping such animals, 
be paid to said claimant; otherwise said moneys shall be used by this board for 
sanitary purposes within and for the benefit of the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 5. That the charges for taking up and impounding domestic animals found 
running at large within the cities of Washington and Georgetown shall be as fol- 
lows, to wit: For each horse, mule, bull, steer, cow, calf, heifer, two dollars; and 
for each sheep, goat, hog, one dollar; and for each goose, fifty cents; and, in addi- 
tion to said several sums, the charges for keeping said animals shall be the reason- 
able and necessary expenses thereof, to be paid by the owner. 
Sec. 6. That no person shall break open, or in any manner, directly or indirectly, 
aid or assist in breaking open, any pound established by the board of health, or 
take or let any animal out of such pound, without the consent of the officer keep- 
ing the same; nor shall any person or persons hinder, delay, or obstruct any per- 
son or persons engaged in driving or carrying to such pound any animal or 
animals liable to be taken up or impounded under the provisions of this ordi- 
.nance; and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished, 
upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than 
twenty-five dollars for each and every such violation. 
Sec. 7. That there shall be appointed by the board of health a poundmaster, 
whose duty it shall be to take up and impound all domestic animals found running 
at large within the cities of Washington and Georgetown, to keep safely and care- 93 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
fully all property pertaining to said pound, and all animals impounded therein; 
and to report from time to time, through the health officer, as required by this 
board, the condition of said pound, and what repairs, if any, are needed; and the 
number and description of the animals therein impounded, and what disposition 
has been made of the same; and to report all moneys received by him under the 
provisions of this ordinance. And it shall be the further duty of said poundmaster 
to pay over, daily, all moneys received as aforesaid to the health officer, taking 
receipt therefor, and said-poundmaster shall give good and sufficient bonds for the 
proper discharge of his several duties as herein provided. 
Sec. 8. That the poundmaster appointed by this board shall keep a register of all 
animals taken up by him, with an accurate description of the same, which shall at 
all times be open to the inspection of the public; and the said poundmaster is 
hereby forbidden to deliver any animal taken up and impounded to any person 
applying for the same, unless such person shall present good and sufficient evidence 
of his ownership or right to the possession of said animal. 
And no sale of any animal or animals impounded as aforesaid shall be made 
until due public notice by advertisement in at least one newspaper of such sale 
shall have been given, together with a description of the animal or animals to be 
sold, as hereinbefore provided. 
Sec. 9. That any ordinance or part of an ordinance heretofore passed by the 
board of health of the District of Columbia, inconsistent with the foregoing, be, 
and the same is hereby, repealed. 
AN ORDINANCE to pravent the sale of unwholesome food in the cities of Washington and 
Georgetown. 
Be it ordained and enacted by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
That no person shall knowingly sell, or cause to be sold, within the cities of Wash- 
ington or Georgetown, any impure, diseased, decayed, or unwholesome provisions, 
nor shall any person fraudulently adulterate, for the purpose of sale within said 
cities, any bread or other material intended to be used for food with any substance 
of a poisonous character, or any substance injurious to health; and any person 
violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished 
by a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars for each and every such 
offense. 
Sec. 2. That no person shall offer for sale within the cities of Washington or 
Georgetown any liquor used for drink, whether malt, vinous, or ardent, or the 
milk of cows or goats, intended to be used for food or drink, which has been adul- 
terated with any poisonous or deleterious ingredient; and any person violating the 
provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less 
than ten nor more than fifty dollars for each and every such offense. 
Sec. 3. That no person shall convey into the cities of Washington or George- 
town, and offer for sale in any part of said cities, any animal or part of animal 
that may be sickly, diseased, or unwholesome, or which may have died from dis- 
ease or accident, or any fish or vegetables not fresh, sound, and fit for food; and 
any person violating the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, 
be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than twenty-five dollars for 
each and every such offense. 
Sec. 4. That no person shall slaughter any cattle for the purpose of sale as food 
within the cities of Washington and Georgetown when such cattle are in a fever- 
ish or diseased condition; and any person violating the provisions of this section 
shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more 
than twenty-five dollars for each and every such offense. 
Sec. 5. That no person, whether owner, manager, keeper of, agent, bartender, 
or clerk, in any saloon, restaurant, boarding house, or eating house, located within 
the cities of Washington or Georgetown, shall offer for sale as food or drink any- 
thing poisonous or unwholesome; and any person violating the provisions of this 
section shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than five 
nor more than twenty-five dollars for each and every such offense. 
Sec. 6. That no person owning, renting, leasing, or occupying any stall, room, 
or stand where meats or vegetables are sold for food, within the cities of Wash- 
ington or Georgetown, shall fail to keep said stall, room, or stand in a cleanly 
condition; nor shall such person allow said meats or vegetables to become poi- 
soned, or infected, or unfit for food by reason of uncleanly condition of such 
stall, room, or stand; and any person violating the provisions of this section 
shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than 
twenty-five dollars for each and every such offense. 94 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
Sec. 7. That no person shall offer for sale, within the cities of Washington or 
Georgetown, any unwholesome, watered, or adulterated milk, or swill milk, or 
milk from cows kept up and fed on garbage, swill, or other deleterious substance; 
nor shall any person offer for sale within said cities any butter or cheese made 
from such unwholesome milk; and any person violating the provisions of this sec- 
tion shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more 
than twenty dollars for each and every such offense. 
Sec. 8. That on and after the passage of this ordinance it shall be unlawful for 
and person or persons to sell or expose for sale within the cities of Washington 
and Georgetown, any unsound, blown, or unwholesome meat, or other article of 
food, under a penalty of not less than five nor more than twenty-five dollars for 
each and every such offense. 
AN ORDINANCE to provide for the inspection of streets, food, live stock, fish and other 
marine products in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and to define the duties of 
inspectors and other officers of the board of health. 
Be it ordained and enacted by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
That there shall be appointed by the board of health a health officer and such 
inspectors as may be required, who shall be assigned to the several duties of 
inspection of streets, of food, of live stock, of fish and other marine products, or 
detailed for the performance of such other duties as may be necessary. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the health officer, as he may be directed by 
this board, to execute or cause to be executed, the ordinances, resolutions, and 
orders of the board, and generally, according to its instructions, to exercise a 
practical supervision in respect to inspectors, poundmasters, and the clerical force 
in his office; and said health officer shall devote his services to the aforesaid pur- 
poses as the board may direct. 
Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of each inspector of streets to visit every part 
of his district daily, and carefully inspect all streets, alleys, yards, and inclosures, 
horse and cow stables, privies, slaughterhouses, wharves, and every other place 
where offensive or deleterious matter may exist, and to report promptly to the 
health officer any and all nuisances injurious to health; and the inspectors of streets 
shall perform such other duties and special inspections as may be directed by the 
health officer. 
Sec. 4. That it shall be the duty of each inspector of food to attend the mar- 
ket or markets within his inspection district every morning, at the time when sales 
commence, and carefully inspect all meats, fowl, game, and vegetables offered for 
sale, and condemn, seize, and cause to be removed such as may be diseased, or 
from any other cause rendered unfit for fijod. He shall also visit, as early as prac- 
ticable each day, every green grocery or other place within his district, where 
articles of food are kept for sale, and perform his duty of inspection, condemna- 
tion, seizure, and removal as hereinbefore prescribed. He shall report his official 
proceedings daily to the health officer, and in the performance of his duties shall 
be under the direction of said officer; and the inspectors of food shall peform such 
other duties and special inspections as may be directed by the health officer. 
Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of the inspector of live stock to carefully inspect 
all cattle, hogs, sheep, or other animals intended to be killed and sold for consump- 
tion as food in the cities of Washington and Georgetown, and to condemn all such 
as may be diseased, or from, any other cause rendered unfit for food; and it is 
hereby made the duty of said inspector to brand with the letter “C” all cattle, 
hogs, sheep, or other animals condemned as aforesaid, and said inspector shall 
report his official proceedings daily to the health officer. 
Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of the inspector of fish and other marine prod- 
ucts to examine and inspect all fish, oysters, clams, lobsters, and other marine 
products, landing by boat, arriving by rail, or otherwise brought by any person 
or persons into the cities of Washington and Georgetown; and if, upon such 
inspection, said inspector shall find any of the said marine products to be in an 
unsound, diseased, or unwholesome condition, it shall be his duty to prohibit their 
sale; and the said inspector of fish is hereby authorized, empowered, and directed 
to condemn, seize, and remove any unsound, diseased, or unwholesome fish, oys- 
ters, clams, lobsters, crabs, or other marine products which may be offered for sale 
as food within the cities of Washington and Georgetown. 
Sec. 7. That in the performance of the duties herein prescribed the inspector 
of fish shall be, and is hereby, authorized and empowered to board all boats, ves- 
sels, steamboats, and cars, and to stop all vehicles believed by him to contain fish 
or other marine products, for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this ordi- 
nance, and said inspector shall report his official proceedings daily to the health 
officer. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
95 
Sec. 8. That upon any cattle, meat, birds, fowls, fish or other marine products, 
vegetables, or other articles of food being found by any inspector or other officer of 
the board of health in a condition which is, in his judgment, unwholesome, and 
unfit for use as human food, or in a condition or of a quality forbidden by the 
ordinances of this board, but with respect to the quality and condition of which 
articles of food said inspector or other officer may be in doubt, he shall forbid the 
sale thereof, and order that the same be set aside, and shall at once notify the 
health officer of such action: and if, upon inspection, the health officer shall con- 
cur in the judgment of the inspector or other officer aforesaid, said health officer 
shall prohibit the sale and order the removal of said articles, according to the 
regulations of the board of health; and if the health officer shall not concur in 
the- judgment of the inspector or other officer aforesaid, the sale of said articles 
shall be allowed. But if, upon inspection, the health officer is in doubt as to 
whether said articles should be condemned or not, then the committee on food 
inspections of the board of health shall decide whether or not said articles shall 
be condemned and the sale thereof forbidden: Provided, That no article of food, 
in a decayed or offensive condition, shall be allowed to remain where found, but 
the same shall be caused to be removed forthwith by the inspector or officer 
aforesaid, according to the rules and regulations of the board of health. 
Sec. 9. That any person who shall molest, hinder, or in any manner prevent said 
health officer or any inspector appointed by this board, from performing any duty 
imposed upon him or them by the provisions of this ordinance, shall be punished 
by fine of not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars for each and 
every such offense. 
AN ORDINANCE to amend section 10 of the code so as to read-. 
Sec. 10. And be it f urther ordained and enacted, That drainpipes, soilpipes, or 
passages into sewers, which are of inadequate and insufficient size, or which are 
not provided with proper sewer traps, within the District of Columbia, are hereby 
declared nuisances, injurious to health; and any person or persons, whether owner 
or tenant (board, department or corporation officer), using or possessing any drain- 
pipe, soilpipe, passage or connection between any sewer and any ground, building, 
or place of business, who shall fail to make such drainpipe, soilpipe, passage or 
connection of adequate or sufficient size to allow the free and entire passage of ail 
that enters or should enter the same, and provide them with proper sewer traps; 
and who shall fail, after notice duly served upon him, to supply such pipes of 
adequate and sufficient size, and provided with proper sewer traps, shall be deemed 
guilty of keeping and maintaining a nuisance, and, upon conviction thereof, shall 
be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than ten dollars. 
July 30, 1875. 
Sec. 1. That all water-closets and privies connected with any house, building, or 
premises within the District of Columbia, in and upon which people live, or where 
they do congregate or assemble, or any kind of business is done, kept in an uncleanly 
and foul condition, and from which offensive smells and noxious gases arise, and 
all water-closets located within and being a part of any such house or building not 
provided with proper sewer traps, so as to prevent the return and escape of noxious 
gases and offensive odors from any public or private sewer connected therewith, 
are hereby declared to be nuisances, injurious to health; and any person creating, 
keeping, and maintaining such nuisance, after dire notice served upon him by this 
board to abate the same within twenty-four hours or within such reasonable time 
as may be determined by this board, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished 
by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars for each 
and every day such nuisance is allowed to remain unabated. 
July 30, 1875. 
AN ORDINANCE to amend ordinance passed May 13, 1873, to read as follows: 
AN ORDINANCE to prevent committing or creating nuisances in or about public urinal or 
urinals located within the cities of Washington and Georgetown. 
Be it ordained and enacted by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
That foecal matter deposited in or about any public urinal or urinals located 
within the cities of Washington or Georgetown, defecating in or about said urinal 96 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
or urinals, or obstructing the same in any manner or by any means whatever, are 
hereby declared to be nuisances, injurious to health, and any person convicted of 
committing or creating either of said nuisances shall be fined not less than ten 
dollars nor more than fifty dollars for every such offense. 
December 28, 1876. 
REGULATIONS to secure a full and correct record of vital statistics, including the registration 
of marriages, births, and deaths, the interment, disinterment, and removal of the dead in the 
District of Columbia. 
First. It is hereby ordered by the board of health of the District of Columbia, 
that there shall be elected or appointed from its members, as the board may direct, 
an officer named and known as the registrar of vital statistics of the District 
of Columbia, but who may be designated registrar, and who shall, under the 
direction of said board, keep a full and correct record of vital statistics, issue 
such permits as are hereinafter required, make and publish a weekly statement 
of births, marriages, and deaths in said District, and perform such other duties 
as are hereinafter provided. 
Second. That it shall be the duty of every clergyman, magistrate, or other per- 
son who shall perform any marriage ceremony within the District of Columbia, 
to report each marriage ceremony solemnized by him to the registrar aforesaid, 
within forty-eight hours thereafter, giving the full name, age, color, occupation, 
birthplace (State or county), and legal residence of each person married, and the 
date of such marriage. 
Third. That any physician, accoucheur, midwife, or other person in charge who 
shall attend, assist, or advise at the birth of any child within the District of Colum- 
bia, shall report to the registrar aforesaid, within six days thereafter, stating dis- 
tinctly the date of birth, sex, and color of the child or children born, its or their 
physical condition, whether stillborn or not, the full name, nativity, and residence 
of the parents, and maiden name of the mother of such child or children. 
Fourth. That whenever any person shall die within the District of Columbia it 
shall be the duty of the physician attending such person during his or her last sick- 
ness, or of the coroner of the District when the case comes under his official notice, 
to furnish and deliver to the undertaker, or other person superintending the burial 
of said deceased person, a certificate, duly signed, setting forth, as far as the same 
may be ascertained, the name, age, color, sex, nativity, (giving State or country), 
occupation, whether married or single, duration of residence in the District of 
Columbia, cause, date, and place of death, (giving street and number), and dura- 
tion of last sickness of such deceased person. And it shall be the duty of the under- 
taker, or other person in charge of the burial of such deceased person, to state in 
said certificate the date and place of burial, and having signed the same, to forward 
it to the registrar aforesaid within twenty-four hours after such death: Provided, 
That in case of death from any infectious or contagious disease said certificate 
shall be so made and forwarded within eight hours thereafter. 
Fifth. That no interment or disinterment of the dead body of any human being, 
or disposition thereof in any tomb, vault, or cemetery shall be made within the 
District of Columbia without a permit therefor, granted by the board of health of 
said District, nor otherwise than in accordance therewith. And no sexton or other 
person shall assist in or assent to, or allow any such interment or disinterment to 
be made until such permit has been given, as aforesaid; and it shall be the duty of 
every sexton or other person having charge of any burying ground, cemetery, 
tomb, or vault, as aforesaid, who shall receive any such permit, to preserve and 
return the same to the registrar aforesaid, before 6 o’clock p. m. of the Saturday 
following the day of burial; and no sexton, undertaker, or other person shall bury, 
or cause to be buried, the body of any deceased person within the District of Colum- 
bia, except in such grounds as are now known and used as burial grounds, or such 
as shall hereafter be by law designated and authorized to be used as such. 
Sixth. That no dead body, or part of the dead body of any human being shall be in 
any manner carried or conveyed from, in, to, or through the District of Columbia 
by any person, or by means of any boat, vessel, car, stage, or other vehicle, or by 
public or private conveyance, without a permit therefor first gran ted by the board of 
health of said District; and when the remains of any deceased person are to be con- 
veyed, transferred, or removed beyond the limits of the District of Columbia, it 
shall be the duty of the person, or agent or officer of the corporation having charge 
of the conveyance, transfer, or removal, to detach, sign, and return the coupon 
attached to said permit to the registrar of vital statistics of the board of health 
aforesaid, before 5 o'clock p. m. of the Saturday following the conveyance, trans- 
fer. or removal of said remains ; Provided, That the same effect may be given by 
said board to a burial or transit permit issued by the proper authority of any REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
97 
other place or jurisdiction, when the death of the person named in the permit shall 
have occurred within such place or jurisdiction. 
Seventh. That whenever a permit for burial is applied for, in case of death 
without the attendance of a physician, or if it be impossible to obtain a physician's 
certificate, it shall be the duty of the health officer to investigate the cause and 
circumstances of such death, to make and sign the certificate required by section 
4 of these regulations, and if not satisfied as to the cause and circumstances of 
such death, he shall so report to the board of health, who shall refer the case to the 
coroner of the District for investigation and report, and said coroner is hereby 
required to make such investigation and report. 
Eighth. Thatit shall be the duty of every physician, accoucheur, midwife,1 under- 
taker, sexton or superintendent of any cemetery, or other person having charge of 
the same, practicing medicine or doing business within the District of Columbia, 
to register his or her name in a book or books to be provided for such purpose, at 
the office of the board of health of said District, giving full name, residence, and 
place of business, and in case of removal from one place to another in said District, 
to make change in said register accordingly. 
Ninth. That any person who shall violate, or aid and abet in violating, any of the 
provisions of the foregoing regulations, shall, upon conviction thereof by competent 
judicial authority, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than 
two hundred dollars for each and every such offense. 
Tenth. That all rules, regulations, and ordinances heretofore passed by this board 
inconsistent with the provisions of these regulations be, and the same are hereby, 
repealed. 
Eleventh. That these regulations shall take effect and be in force on and after 
the first day of August, A. D. 1874. 
District of Columbia, Board of Health, 
Washington, August 28, 1874• 
First. It is hereby ordered that physicians required to register their names 
under the eighth regulation of the board, to secure a full and correct record of vital 
statistics, do so upon a license received from some chartered medical society or 
upon a diploma received from some medical school or institution.1 
Second. That the expression “physical condition,” as employed in the statute 
heretofore enacted by the legislative assembly of the District, and incorporated in 
the third regulation, be defined as follows: “ The general physical condition,” 
whether healthy or unhealthy. But in no case will the board require in the en- 
forcement of this rule that sick-bed or confidential communications made to phy- 
sicians be revealed in the report required by this third regulation. 
Third. That on and after the fifteenth day of next month, by which time all 
physicians of the city may have registered according to the requirements of the 
board, the regulation with regard to penalties be rigidly enforced; and that up to 
that date the regulation with regard thereto, as far as any violations thereof have 
occurred, and as far as this board is concerned, as prosecutors, the same be not 
enforced.1 
Extract from An Act for the establishment of the Bureau of Animal Industry. 
[1 Sup. R. S.,2d Ed., 437.] 
Sec. 8. That whenever any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease 
affecting domestic animals, and especially the disease known as pleuro-pneumonia, 
shall be brought into or shall break out in the District of Columbia, it shall be 
the duty of the Commissioners of said District to take measures to suppress the 
same promptly and to prevent the same from spreading; and for this purpose the 
said Commissioners are hereby empowered to order and require that any premises, 
farm, or farms where such disease exists, or has existed, be put in quarantine; to 
order all or any animals coming into the District to be detained at any place or 
places for the purpose of inspection and examination; to prescribe regulations for 
and to require the destruction of animals affected with contagious, infectious, or 
communicable disease, and for the proper disposition of their hides and carcasses; 
to prescribe regulations for disinfection, and such other regulations as they may 
deem necessary to prevent infection or contagion being communicated, and shall 
report to the Commissioner of Agriculture whatever they may do in pursuance 
of the provisions of this section. 
Approved May 29, 1884. 
1 See An Act to regulate the practice of medicine, etc., approved June 3,1896. 
1569 7 98 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
AN ACT to prevent the manufacture or sale of adulterated food or drugs in the District of 
Columbia. 
[1 Sup. R. S., 3d Ed., 627]. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That no person within the District of Columbia 
shall nix, color, stain, or powder, or order or permit any other person to mix, 
color, stain, or powder any article of food or drugs with any ingredient or mate- 
rial so as to render the article injurious to health, or manufacture any article of 
food which shall be composed in whole or in part of diseased, decomposed, offen- 
sive, or unclean animal or vegetable substance with the intent that the same may 
be sold in the said District, and no person shall sell in the District of Columbia 
any such article so mixed, colored, stained, powdered or manufactured. Any 
person violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each 
offense be fined not exceeding two hundred dollars for the first offense, and for 
each subsequent offense not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisonment not 
exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. 
Sec. 2. That no person shall, within the District of Columbia, except for the 
purpose of compounding as hereinafter described, mix, color, stain, or powder, or 
order or permit any other person to mix, color, stain, or powder, any drug with 
any ingredient or material so as to affect injuriously the quality or potency of such 
drug, with intent that the same may be sold in the said District of Columbia, and 
no person shall sell any such drug so mixed, colored, stained, or powdered under 
the same penalty in each case respectively as in the preceding section for a first 
and subsequent offense. 
Sec. 3. That no person shall be liable to be convicted under either of the two 
last foregoing sections of this act in respect of the sale of any article of food, or of 
any drug, if he shows to the satisfaction of the court before whom he is charged 
that he did not know of the article of food or drug sold by him being so mixed, 
colored, stained, or powdered, as in either of those sections mentioned, and that 
he could not, with reasonable diligence, have obtained that knowledge. 
Sec. 4. That no person shall sell in the District of Columbia any article of food 
or drug which is not of the nature, substance, and quality of the article demanded 
by any purchaser, and any person violating this section shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and for the first offense be fined not exceeding fifty dollars, and for 
each subsequent offense not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not 
exceeding six months, or both, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That an 
offense shall not be deemed to be committed under this section in the following 
cases, that is to say: 
First. Where any matter or ingredient not injurious to health has been added to 
the food or drug because the same is required for the production or preparation 
thereof as an article of commerce, in a state fit for carriage or consumption, and 
not fraudulently to increase the bulk, weight, or measure of the food or drug, or 
conceal the inferior quality thereof. 
Second. Where the drug or food is a proprietary medicine. 
Third. Where the food or drug is compounded as authorized by this act. 
Fourth. Where the food or drug is unavoidably mixed with some extraneous 
matter in the process of collection or preparation. 
Sec. 5. That no person shall sell in the District of Columbia any compound arti- 
cle of food or compounded drug which is not composed of ingredients in accordance 
with the demand of the purchaser. Any person violating this section shall be 
guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not exceeding fifty dollars: Provided, That no 
person shall be guilty of any such offense as aforesaid in respect of the sale of an 
article of food or a drug mixed with any matter or ingredient not injurious to 
health, and not intended, fraudulently, to increase its bulk, weight, or measure, 
or conceal its inferior quality, if at the time of delivering such article or drug he 
shall supply to the person receiving the same a notice, by a label, distinctly and 
legibly written or printed on or with the article or drug, to the effect that the same 
is mixed. 
Sec. 6. That no person shall, in the District of Columbia, with the intent that 
the same may be sold in its altered state without notice, subtract from any article 
of food any part of it so as to affect injuriously its quality, substance, or nature, 
and no person shall sell any article so altered without making disclosure of the 
alteration, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty 
of a misdemeanor and fined not exceeding one hundred dollars. 
Sec. 7. That in any prosecution under this act, where the fact of an article hav- 
ing been sold in a mixed state has been proved, if the defendant shall desire to REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER, 
99 
rely upon proviso contained in this act, it shall be incumbent upon him to prove 
the same. 
Sec. 8. That if the defendant in any prosecution under this act prove to the 
satisfaction of the court that he had purchased the article in question as the same 
in nature, substance, and quality as that demanded of him by the purchaser, and 
with a written warranty to that effect; that he had no reason to believe at the 
time when he sold it that the article was otherwise; and that he sold it in the 
same state as when he purchased it, he shall be discharged from the prosecution. 
Sec. 9. That any person -who shall forge, or shall alter knowing it to be forged, 
any certificate or any writing purporting to contain a warranty, as provided in 
section eight of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be punishable, on 
conviction, by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year with hard labor. 
Sec. 10. That every person who shall willfully apply to any article of food or 
a drug a certificate or warranty given in relation to any other article or drug, or 
who shall give a false warranty in writing to any purchaser in respect of an article 
of food or a drug sold by him as principal or agent, or who shall willfully give a 
label with any article sold by him which shall falsely describe the article sold 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction be fined not to exceed one 
hundred dollars. 
Sec. 11. That the analysis provided for in this act shall be under the control of 
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue under such rules and regulations as may 
be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
Sec. 12. That any purchaser of an article of food or of a drug in the said Dis- 
trict shall be entitled to have such article analyzed by such analyst, and to receive 
from him a certificate of the result of his analysis. And any health officer, inspector 
of nuisances, or any food inspector may procure any sample of food or drug, and if 
he suspects the same to have been sold to him contrary to any provision of this act 
he shall submit the same to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to be analyzed 
who shall with all convenient speed cause such analysis to be made and give a cer- 
tificate to such officer, wherein he shall specify the result of the analysis. 
Sec. 13. That if any officer mentioned in section twelve of this act shall apply 
to purchase any article of food or any drug exposed to sale or on sale by retail on 
any premises or in any shop or store, and shall tender the price for the quantity 
which he shall require for the purpose of analysis, not being more than shall be 
reasonably requisite, and the person exposing the same for sale shall refuse to sell 
the same to such officer, such person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined 
for each offense not exceeding fifty dollars. 
Sec. 14. That the term “food,” as used* in this act, shall include every article 
used for food or drink by man other than drugs or water. The term “drug,” as 
used in this act, shall include all medicines for internal or external use. 
Sec. 15. That nothing in this act shall be construed as modifying or repealing 
the provisions of chapter eight hundred and forty of the acts of the first session of 
the Forty-ninth Congress, entitled “An act defining butter; also imposing a tax 
upon and regulating the manufacture, sale, importation, and exportation of oleo- 
margarine,” approved August sixth,1 eighteen hundred and eighty-six. 
Sec. 16. That the Commissioner of Internal Revenue may, from time to time 
declare certain articles or preparations to be exempt from the provisions of this 
act; and it shall be the duty of the Commissioners of the District to prepare and 
publish from time to time a list of the articles, mixtures, or compounds declared 
to be exempt from the provisions of this act, in accordance with this section. 
Approved October 12, 1888. 
AN ACT to prevent the spread of scarlet fever and diphtheria in the District of Columbia. 
[1 Sup. R. S., 885.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act it shall 
he the duty of every registered practicing physician or other person prescribing for 
the sick in the District of Columbia to make report to the health officer, on forms to 
be furnished by that officer, immediately after such practitioner becomes aware of 
the existence of any case of scarlet fever or diphtheria in his charge; and in case 
such person shall fail to so report within twenty-four hours he shall be subject to a 
penalty of not less than five nor more than fifty dollars, and in case of a second 
offense the penalty shall not be less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. 
In case no physician shall be in charge of such patient the householder where such 
1 So in original. Act was approved August second, 1886. 100 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
case occurred, or person in charge thereof, the parent, guardian, nurse, or other 
person in attendance upon the sick person knowing the character of the disease 
shall make the report above mentioned, and in case of failure to report shall suffer 
the same penalties as provided for physicians in this act. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the health officer cooperating with the 
attending physician to cause a suitable placard, flag, or warning sign to be dis- 
played from the front of the premises or apartment where any one case of scarlet 
fever or diphtheria is present. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove such 
placard, sign, or warning flag, when so placed, without permission of the health 
officer. And it shall be the duty of the said health officer, in conjunction with the 
attending physician, to cause the premises to be properly disinfected, and to issue 
the necessary instructions for the isolation of the patient. 
Sec. 3. That no person shall visitor attend any public or private school, or place 
of public assemblage, or appear on the public streets or in the parks while affected 
with scarlet fever or diphtheria, and any adult person, parent, or guardian of a 
minor convicted of having knowingly violated the provisions of this act shall, 
upon conviction, forfeit and pay a sum not less than five nor more than fifty 
dollars; and it shall be the duty of physicians while in attendance upon cases of 
scarlet fever and diphtheria to exercise such reasonable precautions to prevent 
the spread of the said diseases as may be prescribed by the health officer of the 
District of Columbia in regulations. 
Sec. 4. That no person who has convalesced from diphtheria or scarlet fever 
shall be allowed to attend any public or private school, seminary, or college until 
the attending physician shall have furnished a Certificate that said patient has 
completely recovered, and that there is no danger of infection to other persons. 
All persons who shall, after convalescing from diphtheria or scarlet fever, visit 
schools, seminaries, or colleges, without providing themselves with such certifi- 
cates, shall suffer the penalties provided for in section 1 of this act. 
Sec. 5. That the provisions of this act shall apply to every ship, vessel, steamer, 
“boat, or craft lying or being in the rivers, harbors, or other waters within the 
jurisdiction of said District, and to every tent, van, shed, hovel, barn, outhouse, 
cabin, or other like place, as if the same were an ordinary dwelling. 
Sec. 6. That the word “-regulations,” as herein used, shall be held to mean also 
rules, orders, and amendments. The words ‘ ‘ person in charge thereof” shall be 
held to mean the owner, his agent or factor; the tenant, his clerk or representa- 
tive; the nurse, or any one or more persons who’by reason of their position are 
charged with the management or care £>f the premises, or interested in the person 
afflicted. The words “practitioner of medicine,” or “practitioner,” shall be held 
to include all persons who undertake to treat persons afflicted, either gratuitously 
or for pay. 
Sec. 7. That any person who shall knowingly make, sign, or deliver any false 
report or certificate herein provided for, upon conviction thereof in the police court 
of said District, shall be fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars, and, in 
default of payment thereof, be committed to jail for not less than one nor more than 
twenty days. 
Sec. 8. That the expenses necessarily incurred in the execution of the provisions 
of this act shall be borne from the general appropriation for the maintenance of 
the health department of the District of Columbia, And the jurisdiction of civil and 
criminal procedure in the enforcement of this act is hereby vested in the police court 
of the said District, with the same right of appeal as in other civil and criminal 
trials in said District. 
Approved December 20, 1890. 
JOINT RESOLUTION to regulate licenses to proprietors of theaters in the city of Washing- 
ton, District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
[2 Sup. R. S., 71.] 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That all licenses issued by the Commissioners of 
the District of Columbia to proprietors of theaters or other public places of amuse- 
ment in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and now in force be and 
the same are hereby terminated, unless the persons holding such licenses shall 
within ten days after due notice comply with such regulations as may be pre- 
scribed for the public safety by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 2. That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby author- 
ized and empowered to make and enforce all such reasonable and usual police 
regulations in addition to those already made under the act of January twenty-sixth, REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
101 
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, as they may deem necessary for the protec- 
tion of lives, limbs, health, comfort and quiet of all persons and the protection 
of all property within the District of Columbia. 
Approved February 26, 1892. 
AN ACT for the regulation of the practice of dentistry in the District of Columbia, and for the 
protection of the people from empiricism in relation thereto. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That it shall be unlawful for any person to prac- 
tice dentistry in the District of Columbia unless such person shall register with 
the health officer in compliance with the requirements hereinafter provided. 
Sec. 2. That a board to carry out the purposes of this act is hereby created, to 
be known as the board of dental examiners, to consist of five reputable dentists 
resident of and for three years last before appointment actively engaged in the 
practice of dentistry in the District of Columbia, to be appointed by the Commis- 
sioners of said District for terms of five years and until their successors are 
appointed: Provided, That the first five appointments shall be made for terms of 
one, two, three, four, and five years, respectively. A majority of said board shall 
constitute a quorum. Vacancies occurring in said board shall be filled by appoint- 
ment of eligible persons for unexpired terms. 
Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the board of dental examiners, first, to organ- 
ize by electing one of their number president and one secretary, to provide neces- 
sary books and blank forms, and publicly announce the requirements of this act 
and the time, place, and means of complying with its provisions within thirty days 
from its passage; second, to promptly certify to the health officer for registration 
all who are engaged in the practice of dentistry in said District at the time of 
passage of this act who apply therefor; third, to test the fitness and pass upon the 
qualification of persons desiring to commence the practice of dentistry in said Dis- 
trict after the passage of this act and certify to the health officer for registration 
such as prove, under examination in theory and practice of dentistry, qualified in 
the judgment of the board to practice dentistry in said District; fourth, to report 
immediately information of any violation of this act, and. annually, the transac- 
tions of the board to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia: Provided, 
That all graduates of dental colleges which require a three years’ course of study 
shall be entitled to certificates upon payment of the certification fee and without 
examination as to their qualifications. 
Sec. 4. That it shall be the duty of every person practicing dentistry in said Dis- 
trict at the time of the passage of this act to make application to said board, in 
form prescribed by said board, for certification, and present the certificates thus 
obtained for registration to the health officer within sixty days from the passage of 
this act. Every such person so registering may continue to practice without incur- 
ring the penalties of this act. 
Sec. 5. That persons desiring to commence the practice of dentistry in said Dis- 
trict after the passage of this act shall first obtain a certificate of qualification from 
the board of dental examiners, granted under authority conferred upon said board 
by section three of this act, and present the same to the health officer for registration. 
Sec. 6. That it shall be the duty of the health officer to register all persons pre- 
senting certificates from said board in a book kept for this purpose, and indorse 
upon each certificate the fact and date of such registration. 
Sec. 7. That certificates issued and indorsed under the provisions of this act shall 
be evidence of the right of the person to whom granted to practice under this act. 
Sec. 8. That anyone who shall practice or attempt to practice dentistry in the 
said District without having complied with the provisions of this act shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not 
less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars, and in default of payment of 
such fine shall be imprisoned not less than thirty nor more than ninety days, said 
fines, when collected, to be paid into the Treasury of the United States, to the 
credit of the District of Columbia: Provided, That nothing in this act shall be 
construed to interfere with physicians in the discharge of their professional duties, 
nor with students pursuing a regular uninterrupted dental college course or in 
bona fide pupilage with a registered dentist. 
Sec. 9. That to provide a fund to carry out and enforce the provisions of this 
act the board of dental examiners may charge such fees, not exceeding one dollar 
for each certificate and ten dollars for each examination, as will from time to time, 
[2 Sup. R. S., 24.] 102 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
in the opinion of said board, approved by said Commissioners, be necessary. 
From such fund all expenses shall be paid by the board: Provided, That such 
expense shall in no case exceed the balance of receipts. 
Approved June 6, 1892. 
[Extract from An Act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the government of 
the District of Columbia, etc. 
[2 Sup.R.S.,36.] 
That hereafter the police shall, as far as practicable, aid in the enforcement of 
the garbage regulations. 
Approved July 14, 1892. 
AN ACT regulating the construction of buildings along alleyways in the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act it 
shall be unlawful to erect or place a dwelling house on or along any alley in the 
District of Columbia where such alley is less than thirty feet wide and is not sup- 
plied with sewerage, water mains, and light: Provided, That no dwelling house 
hereafter erected or placed in any alley shall in any case be located less than 
twenty feet back clear of the center line of such alley, so as to give at least a 
thirty-foot roadway and five feet on each side of such roadway clear for a walk or 
footway, and that it shall be unlawful to erect or place a dwelling house on or 
along any alley which does not run straight to, and open at right angles upon, one 
of the public streets bordering the square in which such alley is located, with at 
least one exit fifteen feet in the clear. 
Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are 
hereby repealed. 
Approved July 22, 1892. 
[2 Sup.R.S.,42.] 
[Extract from An Act to provide for the opening of alleys in the District of Columbia. ] 
[2 Sup.R.S.,42.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That the Commissioners of the District of Colum- 
bia be, and they are hereby, authorized to condemn, open, extend, widen, or 
straighten alleys in the District of Columbia upon the presentation to them of the 
plat of the alley to be condemned, opened, widened, extended, or straightened, 
accompanied by a petition of the owners of more than one-half of the real estate 
in the square in which such alley is sought to be opened, widened, extended, or 
straightened, or when the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall cer- 
tify that the preservation of peace, good order, and public morals require that any 
such alley should be opened, extended, widened, or straightened, or when the 
health officer of said District shall certify that such opening, extension, widening, 
or straightening of an alley is necessary for the public health. 
* * * * * * * 
Approved July 22, 1892. 
Extract from An Act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the government 
of the District of Columbia, etc. 
That the ordinances of the late hoard of health of the District of Columbia, as 
legalized by joint resolution of Congress, approved April twenty-fourth, eighteen 
hundred and eighty, be, and the same are hereby, declared to have the same force 
[2 Sup. R. S„ 231.] REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
103 
and effect within the District of Columbia as if enacted by Congress in the first 
instance, and that the powers and duties imposed upon the late board of health, in 
and by the said ordinances, are hereby conferred upon the health officer of said dis- 
trict, and that all prosecutions for violations of said ordinances and regulations 
shall be in the police court of the District of Columbia in the name of the said Dis- 
trict: Provided, That said regulations shall not be enforced against established 
industries which are not a nuisance in fact. 
Approved August 7, 1894, 
AN ACT for the promotion of anatomical science, and to prevent the desecration of graves in 
the District of Columbia. 
[2 Sup. R. S., 388.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That any public officer or officers, whether direc- 
tors, trustees, superintendents, wardens, keepers, or managers, having lawful 
charge of or control over any hospital, prison, jail, or morgue, within the District 
of Columbia, may, with the approval of the health officer of said District, deliver 
to the duly authorized agent of any medical college or colleges in the District of 
Columbia, the bodies of such deceased persons as are required to be buried at the 
public expense, said bodies to be distributed among the several colleges in propor- 
tion to the number of students in each: Provided, however, That if the deceased 
person, during his last illness, requested to be buried, or if within forty-eight 
hours, after his death any person claiming to be, and satisfying the health officer 
that he is, a relative by blood or marriage, or friend of the deceased, asks to 
have the body buried, or if such deceased person was a stranger or traveler who 
suddenly died, the body shall not be so delivered, but shall be buried. 
Sec. 2. That before the bodies of such deceased persons as are mentioned in the 
first section shall be delivered to the authorized agents of any medical college in 
the District of Columbia notice shall be given, by the person or persons having 
lawful charge of said bodies to the relative or friend of the deceased, if known; if 
not known, the death of the deceased shall be published at least once in a daily news- 
paper published in the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, in which 
publication the full name of the deceased person shall, if possible, be given, and 
if such name be not known, a description of the person and apparel of the deceased, 
with information of the place where they may be seen, the expenses of such publi- 
cation to be paid as other expenses of the District of Columbia are paid: Provided, 
That the persons named in the first section shall not deliver the body of the 
deceased, as provided in this act, until at least thirty-six hours shall have elapsed 
since the death of said deceased and giving of said notice or the publication of the 
■ same. 
Sec. 3. That every person who shall have been duly authorized by the faculty of 
any medical college in the District of Columbia to receive such dead bodies shall, 
before receiving them, give to the health officer of said District a bond in the sum 
of two hundred dollars, with surety satisfactory to said health officer, and condi- 
tioned that each dead body shall be used only for the promotion of anatomical and 
surgical knowledge within the said District of Columbia, and that after having 
been so used the remains thereof shall be decently buried; and whosoever shall use 
such body or bodies for any purpose other than that aforesaid, or shall remove the 
same beyond the limits of the District of Columbia, and whosoever shall sell or buy 
such body or bodies, or in any way traffic in the same, or who shall disturb or 
remove bodies from graves in which they have been buried, or who shall disregard 
the expressed wishes of the deceased, or of his or her friends, where such wishes 
may be disclosed, as provided for in section one of this act, shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be imprisoned for a term not less than 
two nor more than three years, at hard labor, in the jail of said District. 
Approved February 26, 1895. 
Extract from “An Act making appropriations to provide for the expenses of the government 
of the District of Columbia,” etc. 
[2 Sup. R. S.,412.] 
And said Commissioners are hereby authorized to make necessary regulations for 
the collection and disposition of garbage in the District of Columbia, and to annex 
to said regulations such penalties as will secure the enforcement thereof. Provided, 104 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
That hereafter no other building for use as a public or private hospital for con- 
tagious diseases shall be erected in the District of Columbia within three hundred 
feet of any building owned by a private individual or any other party than the one 
erecting the building. All private hospitals in the District of Columbia shall be 
required to secure a permit from the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
and said hospitals shall be at all times subject to inspection by the health officer 
of said District or his deputy, and any person or persons refusing to permit such 
inspection shall each be subject to a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than 
two hundred dollars for each of such refusals. 
Approved March 2, 1895. 
AN ACT to regulate the sale of milk in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage of this act no 
person shall, within the District of Columbia, keep or maintain a dairy or dairy 
farm without a permit so to do from the health officer of said District; application 
for said permit shall be made in writing, upon a form prescribed by said health 
officer: Provided, That no applicant for said permit shall be restrained from con- 
ducting business until said application has been acted upon by the health officer 
of the District of Columbia or his duly appointed agent. It shall be the duty of 
said health officer, upon receipt of said application in due form, to make or cause 
to be made an examination of the premises which it is intended to use in the 
maintenance of said dairy or dairy farm; if after such examination said premises 
are found to conform to the regulations governing dairies and dairy farms within 
the District of Columbia, said health officer shall issue the permit hereinbefore 
specified, without charge: Provided, That said permit may be suspended or revoked 
at any time, without notice, by said health officer whenever the milk supply from 
said dairy or dairy farm is exposed to infection by Asiatic cholera, anthrax, diph- 
theria, erysipelas, scarlet fever, smallpox, splenic fever, tuberculosis, typhoid 
fever, typhus fever, or yellow fever, so as to render its distribution dangerous to 
public health. 
Sec. 2. That no person shall bring or send into the District of Columbia for sale 
any milk without a permit so to do from the health officer of said District: appli- 
cation for said permit shall be made in writing, upon a form prescribed by said 
health officer, and shall be accompanied by such detailed description of the dairy 
farm or dairy where said milk is produced or stored as said health officer may 
require, and by a sworn statement as to the physical condition of the cattle sup- 
plying said miik: Provided, That no applicant for said permit shall be restrained 
from conducting business until said application has been acted upon by the health 
officer of the District of Columbia or his duly appointed agent. If after examina- 
tion of said application said health officer is satisfied that said milk will be brought 
into the District of Columbia for sale or consumption without danger to public 
health, he shall issue, without charge to the applicant, a permit so to do, on con- 
dition that none but pure and unadulterated milk shall be, with knowledge of its 
impurity, brought into said District; that in the management of said dairy or 
dairy farm said applicant shall be governed by the regulations of the health office 
of the District of Columbia, approved by the Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia, issued for dairies and dairy farms in said District, when said regula- 
tions do not conflict with the law of the State in which said dairy or dairy farm is 
located, and that said dairy or dairy farm may be inspected at any time without 
notice by the health officer of the District of Columbia or his duly appointed 
representative: Provided, That said permit may be suspended or revoked at any 
time without notice by said health officer whenever the milk supply from said 
dairy or dairy farm is exposed to infection by Asiatic cholera, anthrax, diphtheria, 
erysipelas, scarlet fever, smallpox, splenic fever, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, typhus 
fever or yellow fever, so as to render its distribution dangerous to public health. 
Sec. 3. That no person suffering from, or who has knowingly, within a period 
specified by the health officer of the District of Columbia, been exposed to diph- 
theria. scarlet fever, erysipelas, smallpox, anthrax, or other dangerous contagious 
disease, shall work or assist in or about any dairy or dairy farm: no proprietor, 
manager, or superintendent of any dairy or dairy farm within the District of 
Columbia shall knowingly permit any person suffering, or exposed as aforesaid, 
to work or assist in or about said dairy or dairy farm. 
Sec. 4. That all milk wagons shall have the name of the owner, the number of 
[2 Sup. R. S., 401.] REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
105 
permit, and the location of dairy from which said wagons haul milk, painted thereon 
plainly and legibly. 
Sec. 5. That all grocers, bakers, and other persons having or offering for sale 
milk shall at all times keep the name or names of the dairymen from whom the 
milk on sale shall have been obtained posted up in a conspicuous place wherever 
such milk may be sold or kept for sale. 
Sec. 6. That no person shall offer or have for sale in the District of Columbia 
any unwholesome, watered, or adulterated milk, or milk known as swill milk, or 
milk from cows that are fed on swill, garbage, or other like substance, nor any 
butter or cheese made from any such milk. 
Sec. 7. That m> person shall knowingly offer or have for sale any milk contain- 
ing more than e* lity-eight per cent of watery fluid and less than twelve per cent 
of total milk solids, of which at least three per cent shall be of fat. 
Sec. 8. That no person shall sell, exchange, or deliver, or have in his custody or 
possession with intent to sell, exchange, or deliver, skimmed milk containing less 
than nine and three-tenths per cent of milk solids, inclusive of fat. 
Sec. 9. That no dealer in milk, and no servant or agent of such a dealer, shall 
sell, exchange, or deliver, or have in his custody or possession with intent to sell, 
exchange, or deliver, milk from which the cream, or any part thereof, has been 
removed, unless in a conspicuous place, above the center or upon the outside of 
every vessel, can, or package thereof, in which milk is sold, the words “skimmed 
milk” are distinctly marked in gothic letters, not less than one inch in length. 
Sec. 10. That it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell or offer for 
sale, within the District of Columbia, milk taken from any cow less than fifteen 
days before or ten days after parturition, or from any cow which is known to be 
suffering from tuberculosis, splenic fever, anthrax, or any general or local disease 
which is liable to render the milk from said cow unwholesome. 
Sec. 11. That it shall be the duty of the health officer of the District of Columbia, 
under direction of the Commissioners of said District, to make and enforce regula- 
tions to secure proper water supply, drainage, ventilation, air space, floor space, 
and cleaning of all dairies and dairy farms within said District; to secure the isola- 
tion of cattle suffering from any contagious disease, and to carry into effect the 
provisions of this act.1 
Sec. 12. That the health officer of the District of Columbia, or his duly appointed 
assistants, shall have the right to enter without previous notice, for the purpose 
of inspection, any dairy or dairy farm within said District. 
Sec. 13. That in all cases of sampling, in the District of Columbia, milk taken 
for analysis shall be taken, examined, and analyzed in the presence of at least two 
witnesses, one of whom may be the owner of the milk or his agent; and in all 
cases such sampling shall be made according to the Babcock method, to wit, 
dumping the milk from one can to another not less than twice before sampling. 
Sec. 14. That prosecutions under this act shall be in the police court of said Dis- 
trict, on information signed by the attorney of the District or one of his assistants, 
and any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished for the first offense 
by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars, to be col- 
lected as other fines and penalties, or by imprisonment in the workhouse for a period 
of not more than thirty days, and for the second offense and each subsequent offense, 
by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by 
imprisonment in the workhouse for ninety days, or by both such fine and imprison- 
ment, in the discretion of the court, and if the person so convicted of a second or 
subsequent offense hold a permit under this act, the same shall be canceled and 
no permit shall be issued to said person for a period of six months: Provided. That 
any person or persons under this act shall have the privilege, when demanded, of 
a trial by jury as in other jury cases in the police court. 
Sec. 15. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing be, and 
the tame are hereby, repealed. 
Approved, March 2, 1895. 
AN ACT to provide for the incorporation and regulation of medical and dental colleges in the 
District of Columbia. 
[39 Stats., 113.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any medical or dental 
college claiming the authority to confer, or actually conferring, the degree of doc- 
1 See page —. 106 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
tor of medicine, or doctor of dental surgery, not incorporated by a special act of 
Congress, to conduct its business in the District of Columbia, unless such college 
shall be registered by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and granted 
by them a written permit to commence or continue business in said District in 
compliance with the requirements of this act. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the proper officers of any such college, before 
commencing or continuing business, to apply to the said Commissioners for regis- 
tration and a permit to commence or continue business: and said Commissioners 
are hereby authorized and required to make such regulations1 concerning the form 
of such application, the evidence to be adduced in support thereof, and the method 
of taking such evidence as they may deem best, and shall have power, and it shall 
be their duty, to give public notice of all hearings upon such applrcations; and no 
registration and permit shall be granted until after the Commissioners shall have, 
by the inquiry and hearing hereinbefore provided for and such other inquiry as 
they may see fit to make, satisfied themselves that all such medical or dental col- 
leges are fully equipped, both by the character and fitness of the faculty and the 
sufficiency of their appliances, to give suitable and sufficient instruction in the 
theory and practice of medicine or dental surgery. 
Sec. 3. That it shall be the duty of the proper officers of every medical or dental 
college not incorporated by a special act of Congress which is now doing business 
in said District to apply for such certificate and registration within thirty days of 
the passage of this act; and no such college hereafter sought to be opened in said 
District shall commence business without first obtaining such registration and 
permit. 
Sec. 4. That such of the officers and of the faculty of any such medical or dental 
college now in existence, and of every such college hereafter sought to be opened 
in said District, which shall continue or commence to offer instruction in such 
capacity without first obtaining registration and permit, as hereinbefore provided, 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof in the police 
court of said District, upon an information similar to that filed in the case of vio- 
lations of the police regulations made by the said Commissioners, shall be fined not 
less than twenty-five nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars, and in default 
of payment thereof shall be imprisoned in the common jail of said District not less 
than thirty nor more than ninety days: said fines when collected to be paid into the 
Treasury of the United States to the credit of the District of Columbia. 
Sec. 5. That in any case when such action shall be necessary in the opinion of 
the said Commissioners to give full effect to the intent of this act they shall have 
power, and it shall be their duty, to file in the supreme court of the District of 
Columbia, in the name of the said District, a bill in equity against the proper 
parties praying an injunction against the opening or continuance of any such col- 
lege not registered and granted a permit as aforesaid; and jurisdiction is hereby 
conferred upon such court to hear and determine such causes. 
Sec. 6. That all acts and parts of acts and all charters heretofore obtained by 
any medical or dental college under the general incorporation laws in force in 
said District, so far as inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed. 
Approved May 4, 1896. 
AN ACT to provide for the drainage of lots in the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That eacii original lot or subdivisional lot situated 
on any street in the District of Columbia where there is a public sewer shall be 
connected with said sewer in such manner that any and all of the drainage of 
such lot, whether water or liquid refuse of any kind, except human urine and fecal 
matter, shall flow into said sewer; and if such original lot or subdivisional lot is 
situated on any street in said District where there is a public sewer and water 
main, such original lot or snbdivisional lot shall be connected with said sewer and 
also with said water main in such manner that any and all of the drainage of such 
lot, whether water or liquid refuse of any kind shall flow into said sewer: Pro- 
vided, That the connections required to be made by this act shall be made under 
the following conditions: When there is on any such original lot or subdivisional 
lot aforesaid any building used or intended to be used as a dwelling, or in which 
persons are employed or intended to be employed in any manufacture, trade, or 
business, or any stable, shed, pen, or place where cows, horses, mules, or other 
[29 Stats., 125.] 
1 See page —. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
107 
animals are kept, then, and in that instance, such original lot or subdivisional lot 
shall be connected with a public sewer and water main or with a public sewer, 
as may be required with this act; and whenever there is no such building, stable, 
shed, pen, or place, as aforesaid, on such original lot or subdivisional lot, then such 
lot shall be required to be connected with a public sewer only when it has been 
certified by the health officer of said District that such connection is necessary to 
public health. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioners of said District to notify 
the owner or owners of every lot required by this act to be connected with a pub- 
lic sewer or water main, as the case may be, to so connect such lot, the work to 
be done in accordance with the regulations governing plumbing and house drain- 
age in said District. 
Sec. 3. That if the owner or owners of any such lot neglect or refuse to make 
such connections as are required by this act within thirty days after the receipt of 
such notice, such owner or owners shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
shall, on conviction in the police court of said District, be punished by a fine of 
not less than one dollar nor more than five dollars for each day he, she, or they 
fail or neglect to make such connections. 
Sec. 4. That in case the owner or owners of any such lot be a nonresident or 
nonresidents of the District of Columbia, or can not be found therein, then, and 
in that case, the said Commissioners shall give notice, by publication twice a week 
for two weeks in some daily newspaper published in the city of Washington, to 
such owner, directing the connection of such lot with such public sewer or with 
such public sewer and water main, as the case may be: Provided, however, That 
if the residence or place of abode of the said nonresident lot owner be known or 
can be ascertained on reasonable inquiry, then, and in that case, a copy of the 
aforesaid notice shall be mailed to said nonresident, addressed to him in his proper 
name at his said place of residence or abode, with legal postage prepaid; and in 
case such owner or owners shall fail or neglect to comply with the notice afore- 
said within thirty days it shall be the duty of said Commissioners to cause such 
connection to be made, the expense to be paid out of the emergency fund; such 
expense, with necessary expense of advertisement, shall be assessed as a tax against 
such lot, which tax shall be carried on the regular tax roll of the District of 
Columbia, and shall be collected in the manner provided for the collection of other 
Approved, May 19, 1896. 
AN ACT to establish certain harbor regulations for the District of Columbia. 
[29 Stat., 126.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any owner or occu- 
pant of any wharf or dock, any master or captain of any vessel, or any person or 
persons to cast, throw, drop, or deposit any ballast, dirt, oyster shells, or ashes in 
the water in any part of the Potomac River or its tributaries in the District of 
Columbia, or on the shores of said river below high-water mark, unless for the 
purpose of making a wharf, after permission has been obtained from the Commis- 
sioners of the District of Columbia for that purpose, which wharf shall be suffi- 
ciently inclosed and secured so as to prevent injury to navigation. 
Sec. 2. That it shall be unlawful for any owner or occupant of any wharf or 
dock, any captain or master of any vessel, or any other person or persons to cast, 
throw, deposit, or drop in any dock or in the waters of the Potomac River or its 
tributaries in the District of Columbia any dead fish, fish offal, dead animals of 
any kind, condemned oysters in the shell, watermelons, cantaloupes, vegetables, 
fruits, shavings, hay, straw, ice, snow, filth, or trash of any kind whatsoever. 
Sec. 3. That any person or persons violating any of the provisions of this act 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in the police 
court of the District of Columbia shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one 
hundred dollars or by ifnprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such 
punishments, in the discretion of the court. 
Sec. 4. That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to interfere with 
the work of improvement in or along the said river and harbor, under the super- 
vision of the United States Government. 
Sec. 5. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed- 
Approved, May 19, 1896. 108 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
AN ACT relating to the testimony of physicians in the courts of the District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That in the courts of the District of Columbia no 
physician or surgeon shall be permitted, without the consent of the person afflicted, 
or of his legal representative, to disclose any information, confidential in its 
nature, which he shall have acquired in attending a patient in a professional 
capacity and which was necessary to enable him to act in that capacity, whether 
such information shall have been obtained from the patient or from his family or 
from the person or persons in charge of him: Provided, That this act shall not 
apply to evidence in criminal cases where the accused is charged with causing the 
death of, or inflicting injuries upon, a human being, and the disclosure shall be 
required in the interests of public justice. 
Received by the President. May 13, 1896. 
[Note by the Department of State.—The foregoing act having been pre- 
sented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been 
returned by him to the House of Congress in- which it originated within the time 
prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without 
his approval.] 
[29 Stats., 138.] 
AN ACT to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery, to license physicians and surgeons, 
and to punish persons violating the provisions thereof in the District of Columbia. 
[29 Stats., 198.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. That there shall be. and is hereby, created a board 
of medical supervisors of the District of Columbia, which shall consist of the 
presidents of the three boards of medical examiners hereinafter provided for and 
two persons, not physicians, one of whom shall be learned in the law, to be 
appointed by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, each for a period of 
three years, or until his successor is appointed: Provided, That not more than two 
members of the board of supervisors shall be adherents of any one system of 
medical practice: And provided further, That said Commissioners may remove, 
after due notice and hearing, any member of said board for neglect of duty or 
other just cause, and that in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any 
member the vacancy for the unexpired term of said member shall be filled in the 
same manner as other appointments are made. 
Sec. 2. That the said board of medical supervisors shall elect a president, a vice- 
president, and a secretary. Said board shall make, subject to the approval of the 
Commissioners of the District of Columbia, such regulations as may be necessary 
to carry into effect the provisions of this act. Said board shall hold such meetings 
as may be necessary for the transaction of business. Said board shall supervise 
all examinations provided for in this act, and shall issue all licenses to practice 
medicine and surgery or midwifery in the District of Columbia. Said board shall 
keep an official record of its meetings, also an official register of all applicants for 
examination for licenses to practice medicine and surgery in the District of Colum- 
bia. Said register shall show the name, age, place and duration of residence of 
each candidate, the time he or she has spent in medical study, in or out of medical 
schools, and the names and locations of all medical schools which have granted 
said applicant any degree or certificate of attendance upon lectures in medicine. 
Said register shall also show whether said applicant was rejected or licensed under 
this act. Said register shall be prima facie evidence of all matters contained 
therein. The secretary aforesaid may be elected by said board from others than 
its own members; said secretary shall also act as treasurer, and shall give such 
bond as may be required by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia; said 
secretary shall have the power to administer oaths upon such matters as pertain 
to the business of said board; said secretary shall mail to the address of each appli- 
cant a notice of the time and place of examination, not less than seven days before 
the examination, and at a longer period if requested by tlje applicant at the time 
of making application. 
Sec. 3. That from and after the passage of this Act, all persons desiring to prac- 
tice medicine and surgery in any of their branches in the District of Columbia 
shall apply to said board of medical supervisors for a license to do so. Applicants 
shall submit to examination upon the following-named branches, to wit: Anat- 
omy, physiology, chemistry, pathology, materia medica and therapeutics, hygiene, 
histology, practice of medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, diseases of the REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
109 
eye and the ear, medical jurisprudence, and such other branches as said board 
shall deem advisable. Each applicant shall be certified by said board for exami- 
nation as speedily as possible to the board of medical examiners whose members 
are adherents to the system of medicine which said applicant desires to practice; 
but said board shall not certify for examination any applicant until satisfactory 
proof is furnished that he or she is of good moral character and over twenty-one 
years of age, nor until he or she has presented a diploma conferring upon him or 
her the degree of doctor of medicine, issued by some medical college authorized 
by law to confer such degree: Provided, That said diploma, if issued prior to 
July first, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, shall be accompanied by satisfac- 
tory evidence that said applicant has studied medicine and surgery for not less 
than three years prior to the issue thereof, and if issued subsequent to June thir- 
tieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, shall be accompanied by satisfactory evi- 
dence that the applicant has studied medicine and surgery for not less than four 
years prior to the issue of said diploma. All examinations shall be both theoreti- 
cal and practical, and of sufficient severity to test a candidate's fitness to practice 
medicine and surgery. 
Sec. 4. That said application for a license to practice medicine and surgery in the 
District of Columbia shall be made to the secretary of said board of medical super- 
visors upon a form prescribed by said board, and shall be accompanied by a fee of 
ten dollars. Each application shall be in the hands of said secretary not less than 
two weeks before the day set for examination, and any application may be rejected 
for refusal to furnish any of the information called for, or for other irregularity. 
All applications shall be kept on file by said secretary. 
Sec. 5. That immediately after the passage of this Act the Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia shall appoint three boards of medical examiners, one to be 
known as the board of medical examiners of the District of Columbia, and to be 
composed of five physicians in good standing, adherents to the regular system of 
medical practice; one to be known as the board of homeopathic medical examin- 
ers of the District of Columbia, and to be composed of five physicians in good 
standing, adherents to the homeopathic system of medical practice, to be selected 
from a list of not less than ten names, submitted by a majority vote at some reg- 
ular meeting of the Washington Homeopathic Medical Society, and one to be 
known as the board of eclectic medical examiners of the District of Columbia, to 
be composed of five physicians in good standing, adherents to the eclectic system 
of medical practice, to be selected from a list of not less than ten names, submitted 
by a majority vote at some regular meeting of the Eclectic Medical Society of the 
District of Columbia. Of the members of each board first appointed, one shall be 
appointed to serve one year, two to serve two years, and two to serve three years, 
and thereafter each member of each board shall be appointed to serve three years, 
or until his successor is appointed: Provided, That no member of either of said 
boards shall have been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in the Dis- 
trict of Cohimbia for less than five years at the time of his appointment: And 
provided further, That in event of the failure of the Washington Homeopathic 
Medical Society or of the Eclectic Medical Society of the District of Columbia, 
after fifteen days’ notice by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, to sub- 
mit the list of names aforesaid, said Commissioners may appoint the members of the 
board of homeopathic medical examiners or of the board of eclectic medical exam- 
iners without restriction as to nomination by the society in default: And provided 
further, That said Commissioners may at any time remove any member of either 
of the boards named in this Act for neglect of duty or other just cause, and that 
in case of the death, resignation, or removal of any member the vacancy for the 
unexpired term of said member shall be filled in the same manner as other appoint- 
ments are made. 
Sec. 6. That each member of said boards of medical examiners of the District of 
Columbia shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, take an oath to 
administer fairly and impartially the provisions of this Act. Each board shall 
elect from its own members a president and a secretary. Each board shall hold a 
meeting for examination in the city of Washington on the second Thursday in 
January, April, July, and October of each year, and continuing so long as maybe 
necessary to examine all applicants, and other meetings shall beheld at such times 
as the board of medical supervisors shall direct. Each of said boards shall exam- 
ine, at the meeting immediately following the receipt of the proper certificates 
from the board of medical supervisors, all applicants for licenses to practice medi- 
cine and surgery in the District of Columbia so certified. 
Sec. 7. That the several boards of medical examiners shall, not less than one 
week prior to each examination, submit to the board of medical supervisors of the 
District of Columbia questions for thorough examinations in anatomy, physiology, 110 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
chemistry, pathology, materia medica and therapeutics, hygiene, histology, prac- 
tice of medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, diseases of the eye and the ear, 
medical jurisprudence, and such other branches as said board of medical super- 
visors may direct. From the lists of questions so submitted said board of medical 
supervisors shall select the questions for each examination, and such questions 
shall be the same for all candidates, except that in the departments of therapeu- 
tics, practice of medicine, and materia medica the questions shall be in harmony 
with the system of medicine selected by the candidate. Said examinations shall 
be conducted orally and in writing, in accordance with the rules and regulations 
prescribed by the board of medical supervisors, and shall embrace the subjects as 
stated in section three of this Act. An official report of the result of each exam- 
ination, signed by the president and the secretary and each acting member of the 
board of medical examiners conducting such examination, stating the average 
attained by each candidate in each branch, the general average, and the result of 
the examination, whether successful or unsuccessful, shall be transmitted to the 
board of medical supervisors within fifteen days from the date of such examina- 
tion. Said report shall embrace all the examination papers, questions, and answers 
thereto. All such examination papers shall be kept for reference and inspection 
for a period of not less than five years. 
Sec. 8. That if in the opinion of a majority of the board of medical supervisors, 
after a careful examination of the report of the board of medical examiners by 
which any applicant was examined, said applicant has fairly and successfully 
passed such examination as hereinbefore provided for, the board of medical super- 
visors of the District of Columbia shall, as soon thereafter as possible, issue to him 
a license signed by the president and the secretary of said board and attested by 
the seal of the District of Columbia, which license shall entitle said applicant, 
after it is registered as hereinafter provided, to practice medicine and surgery in 
the District of Columbia: Provided, That a license shall be issued upon applica- 
tion, free of cost and without examination, to each physician who is registered at 
the health office of the District of Columbia at the time of the passage of this act, 
and to physicians who may change their residence to the District of Columbia 
from any State or Territory where medical laws and medical examining boards 
exist, the presentation of a certificate or license from a medical examining board, 
if found upon due inquiry to be true and genuine, being sufficient evidence of 
right to registration and certification under the provisions of this act: Provided, 
That the medical laws and examining boards of such States and Territories grant 
equal rights and recognition to the licentiates of the board herein created. All 
licenses issued by said board shall be numbered consecutively, and a register shall 
be kept by the secretary showing the number of each license, the date of issue, and 
to whom issued. 
Sec. 9. That the hoard of medical supervisors of the District of Columbia shall 
make, subject to the approval of the Commissioners of said District, such regula- 
tions as may he necessary to determine the qualifications of women desiring here- 
after to commence the practice of midwifery in the District of Columbia, and 
shall issue licenses to such as are, after examination, found qualified; but no fee 
shall be charged for the examination of any applicant for such licenses, and no 
applicant who has been rejected shall be reexamined within one year from such 
rejection: Provided, That a license shall be issued upon application, free of cost 
and without examination, to each midwife registered at the health office of the 
District of Columbia at the time of the passage of this act. 
Sec. 10. That the board of medical supervisors of the District of Columbia may, 
by a vote of four members, refuse to grant or may revoke a license, and may 
cause the name of any person to be removed from the record of the supreme court 
of the District of Columbia and from the register of the health office for any of 
the following causes, to wit: The employment of fraud or deception in passing the 
examinations provided for in this act, chronic inebriety, the practice of criminal 
abortion, conviction of crime involving moral turpitude, or of unprofessional or 
dishonorable conduct. In complaints under this section the accused shall be fur- 
nished with a copy of the complaint and given a hearing before said board in 
person or by attorney, and witnesses may be heard for and on behalf of the 
accused, and for and on behalf of the said board. Appeal from the decision of 
said board may be taken to the court of appeals of the District of Columbia, and 
the decision of said court shall be final. Said board may at any time within two 
years from the refusal or revocation of a license, or the cancellation of registra- 
tion under this section, by a vote of four members, issue, without examination, a 
new license to the person so affected, restoring to him or her all the rights and 
privileges of which he or she had been deprived by said board. 
Sec. 11. That any person receiving a license as hereinbefore provided shall have REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
it recorded in the office of the clerk of the supreme court of the District of Colum- 
bia within three months from the date of said license, and the place and date of 
record shall be certified thereon by said clerk; and the holder of the license shall 
pay to the clerk of said court a fee of fifty cents for making the record. The 
holder of said license shall, after the same has been recorded, exhibit the same 
at the health office, and shall register, in a book provided for that purpose, his or 
her name and address. Whenever a license is revoked by said board of medical 
supervisors the secretary thereof shall report that fact in writing to the clerk of 
said court and to the health officer of the District of Columbia, who shall there- 
upon cancel such registration. 
Sec. 12. That this act shall not apply to commissioned surgeons of the United 
States Army, Navy, or Marine-Hospital Service, nor to regularly licensed physi- 
cians and surgeons in actual consultation from other States or Territories, nor to 
regularly licensed physicians and surgeons actually called from other States or 
Territories to attend specified cases in the District of Columbia, nor to the treat- 
ment of any case of actual emergency, nor to the practice of massage or the so- 
called Swedish movement cure, nor to the use of ordinary domestic remedies 
without fee, gift, or consideration of any kind. 
Sec. 18. That from and after the passage of this act any person practicing medi- 
cine and surgery or midwifery in the District of Columbia, or who shall publicly 
profess to do so, without first having obtained from the board of medical super- 
visors of the District of Columbia a license and registered the same as herein pro- 
vided, or in violation of any of the provisions of this act or any of the rules and 
regulations made by authority conferred herein, or after his license or registra- 
tion, has been canceled by order of said board of medical supervisors of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction 
thereof, shall be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than fifty nor more 
than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the District jail for a period of 
not less than ten nor more than ninety days, or by both such fine and imprison- 
ment. It shall be the duty of the United States district attorney for the District 
of Columbia to prosecute all violations of the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 14. That the secretary of the board of medical supervisors shall be paid for 
taking testimony the same fee that is allowed to an examiner in chancery for the 
same service. The expense of said board and of the examinations shall be paid 
from the license fees herein provided for; and if any surplus remain on the thirtieth 
day of June of each year the members of the board of medical supervisors appointed 
as such shall be paid such reasonable compensation as the Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia may determine, and any balance then remaining shall be 
divided among the three boards of medical examiners in proportion to the number 
of candidates examined, each member of each board of medical examiners to 
receive such part of the entire amount paid as that board itself shall determine. 
Sec. 15. That nothing in this act shall be construed to conflict with an act for 
the regulation of the practice of dentistry in the District of Columbia, approved 
June sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, nor to interfere with graduates of 
standard dental colleges, registered under the provisions of said act, in the exercise 
of their profession to the extent and within the limits of the curriculum of such 
standard dental colleges. 
Sec. 16. That all act or parts of acts, general or special, not in accordance with 
the provisions of this act, be, and are hereby, repealed. 
Approved June 3, 1896. 
Extract from An Act making appropriations to supply deficiencies, etc. 
[29 Stats., 281.] 
Provided, That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are hereby author- 
ized to make rules and regulations for the government of said smallpox hospital. 
Approved June 8, 1896. 
AN ACT to punish the impersonation of inspectors of the health and other departments of the 
District of Columbia. 
[29 Stats., 619.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any person in the 
District of Columbia to falsely represent himself or herself as being an inspector 112 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
of the health department of said District, or an inspector of any department of the 
District government: and any person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and on conviction in the police court of said District shall be punished 
by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars for the first 
offense, and for each subsequent offense by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor 
more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the jail of the District not 
exceeding six months, or both, in the discretion of the court. 
Approved, March 2, 1897. 
AN ACT authorizing the Commissioners of the District of Columbia to charge a fee for the 
issuance of transcripts from the records of the health department. 
[29 Stats., 695.] 
Be it enaeted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That the Commissioners of the District of Colum- 
bia be, and they are hereby, authorized and directed to collect a fee of fifty cents, to 
be paid to the collector of taxes, and by him to be deposited in the United States 
Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia for each transcript from the 
records of births, deaths, and marriages in the health department of said District: 
Provided, That no one transcript shall be made so as to apply to more than one 
birth, death, or marriage: And provided further, That no fee shall be charged for 
transcripts furnished the various departments of the United States Government 
for official purposes. 
Sec. 2. That this act shall take effect thirty days after its passage. 
Approved, March 3, 1897. 
AN ACT to prevent the spread of contagious diseases in the District of Columbia. 
[29 Stats., 635.] 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, That for the purposes of this act the term “con- 
tagious disease ” shall be held to mean Asiatic cholera, yellow fever, typhus fever, 
smallpox (including varioloid), leprosy, the plague, and glanders, or any of these 
diseases by whatsoever name it may be designated; the term “ case of contagious 
disease ” shall be held to mean any person suffering from any such disease. Any 
person shall be held to be suffering from a contagious disease who is so infected 
by such disease as to be' capable of transmitting it to others. The presence of the 
ordinary clinical symptoms of any contagious disease shall be prima facie evidence 
that such case is or was such a disease; and the presence in such case of the spe- 
cific bacteria of such disease shall be conclusive evidence that such case is or was 
such disease. The provisions of this act shall apply to every ship, vessel, steamer, 
boat, or craft lying or being in the rivers, harbors, or other waters within the juris- 
diction of said District, and to every tent, van, hovel, barn, outhouse, cabin, or other 
place in said District. The term ‘ ‘ person in charge of a case of contagious disease ” 
shall beheld to mean,first, theheadof the family in’which such case belongs; second, 
in his absence or disability or in case he be the person sick, the nearest relative or 
relatives of such case present on the premises where such case is. and being in 
attendance on him; third, in the absence of such relatives everyone in attendance 
on such person; fourth, in the absence of anyone so in attendance, everyone in 
charge of the premises where such person is. 
Sec. 2. That every physician attending on or called in to visit, or examining any 
case of contagious disease in the District of Columbia, shall immediately cause 
such case to be properly isolated, and at once send to the health officer of said Dis- 
trict a certificate signed by him, which said certificate shall state the name of the 
disease and the name, age, sex, and color of the person suffering therefrom, and 
shall set forth by street and number, or otherwise sufficiently designate the house, 
room, or other place in which said person may be located, together with such other 
reasonable information relating thereto as may be required by said health officer: 
Provided, That attending, visiting, or examining any person suffering from a con- 
tagious disease shall be prima facie evidence that any physician so doing was aware 
that such person was suffering from such disease: And provided further That any 
case of sickness, the symptoms of which so resemble the symptoms of any conta- 
gious disease that such case can not be immediately distinguished fromsuch disease, 
shall be properly isolated by the person in charge thereof until the nature of such REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
113 
sickness is positively determined, or until the case has completely recovered or 
died; and if such case recovers or dies without the true nature of the disease hav- 
ing been ascertained, it shall be the duty of the person in charge of such case to 
adopt such measures of isolation and disinfection as are required by this act in 
cases of contagious diseases. 
Sec. 3. That any physician attending on or visiting any case of contagious dis- 
ease in said District shall send to said health officer a certificate signed by him, 
certifying to the recovery or death of such case, within twenty-four hours after he 
becomes aware of such recovery or death. No person suffering from any con- 
tagious disease shall be certified as having recovered therefrom until he is entirely 
free from danger of communicating such disease to others. 
Sec. 4. That whenever any person in said District is suffering from any con- 
tagious disease, or suspected of being suffering from such disease, and no physician 
is in attendance on or called in to visit, or examines such person, it shall be the 
duty of the person in charge of such case to properly isolate the same and to send 
to said health officer certificates relative thereto, in the same manner as is required 
by this act of physicians attending on or called in to visit, or examining like cases. 
Sec. 5. That whenever it comes to the knowledge of said health officer, either by 
the certificate hereinbefore provided for or otherwise, that any person in said Dis- 
trict is suffering from any contagious disease, said health officer shall cause one or 
more suitable placards or warning signs to be placed at once in a conspicuous 
position or positions upon, at, or near the front entrance or entrances to the prem- 
ises in which such person is, so that the same can be distinctly seen by passers-by; 
said placards or signs shall contain, printed thereon in large letters, the name of 
the disease from which said person is suffering, and, in small letters, a statement 
of the law in reference to entrance to and exit from such house, and in reference 
to interfering with such placard or warning sign; if such premises be a hospital, 
asylum, hotel, or apartment house said placards or warning signs may, in the dis- 
cretion of said health officer, be placed in a conspicuous position or positions within 
said premises, at such place or places as said health officer may determine; said 
placards or warning signs shall be displayed as aforesaid until such premises and 
the contents thereof are disinfected to the satisfaction of said health officer, as 
certified by him, and for such time thereafter as maybe necessary to demonstrate 
the freedom of occupants of said premises from contagious disease, namely, in the 
case of cholera and yellow fever, five days; typhus fever, twenty-one days; small- 
pox, sixteen days; the plague, fourteen days; and glanders, twenty-one days: Pro- 
vided, That in addition to or in lieu of the placards or warning signs provided for 
above said health officer may station a watchman or watchmen at such building 
or premises for the purpose of securing compliance with the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 6. That no person shall in said District, without the written consent of said 
health officer, handle, deface, obliterate, remove, or in any manner conceal any 
placard or warning sign displayed as aforesaid; the person in charge of the build- 
ing or premises where such placard or sign is or has been displayed, and which 
said placard or warning sign has been to his knowledge defaced, obliterated, 
removed, or concealed, shall forthwith report that fact in writing to said health 
officer unless he has good reason to believe that such placard or sign has been 
removed by authority of said health officer. 
Sec. 7. That it shall be the duty of the person in charge of any case of conta- 
gious disease in said District to cause such case, immediately upon the discovery 
thereof, to be removed to a room or rooms on the premises where it occurs, as far 
as practicable from rooms occupied by other person not affected by such conta- 
gious disease; to prevent the entrance into the building in which such sick per- 
son is of any person or persons except those dwelling therein at the time of the 
discovery of such disease therein, the physician or physicians in attendance, the 
nurse or nurses, and such persons as may be especially authorized in writing by 
said health officer to enter such building; to properly disinfector cause to be prop- 
erly disinfected all articles in use in the room or rooms in which such sick person 
is, and all excreta from such sick person before such articles or excreta are removed 
from said room; and within three days after the complete recoyery, the death, or 
removal of such case, to cause the premises in which such sick person has been 
and the persons and articles thereon to be properly disinfected. 
Sec. 8. That the disinfection required by this Act shall be performed as follows: 
(A) All dejecta, vomit, and sputum of persons suffering from contagious dis- 
eases shall be received and shall remain for not less than one hour in vessels 
containing a sufficient quantity of an acid solution of bichloride of mercury (bichlo- 
ride of mercury, one part; hydrochloric acid, two parts; water, one thousand 
parts), or other germicidal agent which has been approved by said health officer. 
(B) All articles which have been exposed to infection but not included among 
1569 8 114 
REPORT OP THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
those enumerated in the preceding paragraph, shall be (a) exposed for not less 
than thirty minutes to steam at a temperature of not less than one hundred and 
five degrees centigrade, or (b) boiled for not less than thirty minutes, articles to 
be disinfected to be completely submerged, or (c) soaked in the acid solution of 
bichloride of mercury aforesaid for not less than one-half hour, or in a two per- 
centum aqueous solution of carbolic acid for not less than four hours, or in other 
germicidal solution approved by said health officer, or thoroughly washed with 
such solution, or (d) exposed to the vapor of formaldehyde or other germicidal 
agent for such time and in such strength as may be specified by said health officer. 
(C) Persons who have convalesced from any contagious disease or who have 
been exposed to such disease shall be thoroughly washed with soap and hot water 
and sponged with an acid solution of bichloride of mercury, as follows: Bichlo- 
ride of mercury, one part; hydrochloric acid, two parts; water, two thousand 
parts; or other germicidal solution approved by said health officer. The bodies of 
persons who have died from any contagious disease shall be immediately envel- 
oped in a sheet saturated with a five per centum aqueous solution of carbolic acid 
or other germicidal solution approved by said health officer. 
Sec. 9. That if the person who is or has been in charge of any case of contagi- 
ous disease in said District shall fail or refuse to properly disinfect said premises, 
and persons and articles thereon, or cause the same to be properly disinfected, 
within three days after the removal, recovery, or death of such case, said health 
officer is hereby authorized to cause the same to be properly disinfected and to 
pay the cost thereof out of any appropriation available for the purpose, and the 
court before whom such person is tried may require him to pay such costs in addi- 
tion to suffering such penalty as is hereinafter specified: Provided, That when 
such person is unable, in the opinion of said health officer, to properly disinfect 
such premises, or any part thereof, or any person or persons, article or articles 
thereon, such premises or parts thereof, person or persons, article or articles may 
be disinfected by said health officer and the cost of such disinfection paid out of 
any appropriation available therefor, including payment for articles belonging to 
the poor necessarily destroyed. 
Sec. 10. That no person in said District suffering from any contagious disease, 
or residing either permanently or temporarily in any building where there is such 
disease (or, if such building be a hospital, asylum, hotel, or apartment house, in the 
apartments where there is such disease) shall leave such building, or apartments, 
except with a written permit from said health officer, and then only in accordance 
with the terms of said permit; or with a certificate from said health officer certi- 
fying that such person can leave said building or apartments without danger to 
public health. 
Sec. 11. That no person in said District shall knowingly enter any building or 
if such building be a hospital, asylum, hotel, or apartment house in the apartment 
in which exists any case or cases of contagious disease or any building infected by 
such disease except persons dwelling in such building at the time of the discovery 
of such disease therein, the attending physician or physicians, the nurse or nurses, 
and such other person as may be especially authorized in writing by said health 
officer to do so. 
Sec. 13. That no person shall, in said District, keep or retain the body of any 
person who has died of any contagious disease, except in accordance with the fol- 
lowing provisions: Such body shall not be placed in an ice box, but shall, imme- 
diately after death, be completely enveloped, and shall thereafter remain so 
enveloped, in a sheet saturated with a five per centum aqueous solution of carbolic 
acid or other germicidal solution, as provided in section eight; such body shall 
then be immediately placed in a coffin or casket, which shall at once be tightly 
closed with screws or clamps and remain so closed; such body shall be buried, 
cremated, or transported beyond the limits of said District within thirty-six hours 
after death. 
Sec. 13. That no body of any person who has died of Asiatic cholera, yellow fever, 
typhus fever, smallpox, including varioloid, the plague, leprosy, or glanders, shall 
be carried into or out of the District of Columbia except in transit : Provided, That 
this section shall not apply to the transportation of bodies in hearses or under- 
takers’ wagons for burial in adjoining States. 
Sec. 14. That in said District the body of any person who has died of any con- 
tagious disease shall not be carried from place to place except for the purpose of 
burial, cremation, or shipment, nor in any conveyance other than a hearse or 
undertaker's wagon; such body shall not be taken into anyplace of public assem- 
blage, nor shall any person attend the funeral of any such l3ody except adult mem- 
bers of the immediate family of the deceased, his nearest friends, not exceeding 
two, and other persons whose attendance is actually necessary. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
115 
Sec. 15. That no person shall, in said District, without a written permit from 
said health officer, and then only in accordance with the terms of said permit, 
carry or remove, or caiise to be carried or removed, from place to place, any per- 
son suffering from any contagious disease, or who has been recently exposed to 
infection by such disease, and is liable soon to develop the same, or to carry the 
infection of such disease. No person shall, in said District, expose himself or any 
other person, or permit his minor child or ward to expose himself, while suffering 
from any contagious disease or when, having been exposed to such disease, liable 
soon to develop the same or to carry the infection thereof. 
Sec. 16. That no person shall, in said District, without a written permit from 
said health officer, and then only in accordance with the terms of said permit, 
carry or remove, or cause to be carried or removed, from place to place, any thing 
or things which have been exposed to any case of contagious disease and which 
have not been properly disinfected since such exposure as certified by said health 
officer. 
Sec. 17. That the principal, teacher, or other person or persons in charge of any 
school, seminary, college, or Sunday school in said District shall not permit any 
person to attend such school, seminary, college, or Sunday school who is or has 
been suffering from or exposed to any contagious disease and whose exclusion 
from such school, seminary, college, or Sunday school has been certified to by 
said health officer as in his opinion necessary to prevent the spread of such con- 
tagious disease; persons so excluded may be permitted to return to such school, 
seminary, college, or Sunday school upon the presentation of a certificate from 
said health officer that they may do so without danger of spreading such con- 
tagious disease. 
Sec. 18. That no parent, master, or custodian of any child or minor, having 
power or authority to prevent, shall, in said District, permit such child or minor 
to be unnecessarily exposed or to needlessly expose any other person to the infec- 
tion of any contagious disease. 
Sec. 19. That no person suffering from any contagious disease shall, in said Dis- 
trict, enter any public conveyance, nor shall any person in charge of anyone so 
suffering permit such an one to enter such conveyance without previously making 
it known to the owner or driver thereof that he, or the person in charge, as the 
case may be, is suffering from such contagious disease; any person suffering from 
such disease and any person in charge of one so suffering having entered any pub- 
lic conveyance shall forthwith report in writing to said health officer the time of 
such use, the number and kind of conveyance used, and, if known, the name of 
the driver. The owner or driver of any public conveyance, either or both of them, 
in which has been conveyed any person suffering from a contagious disease shall 
immediately have such conveyance properly disinfected, and said conveyance shall 
not again be used until it has been disinfected to the satisfaction of said health 
officer, as certified by him. 
Sec. 20. That no person shall, in said District, knowingly let, or cause to be let 
to any person, or put any other person in possession of, any house, room, or part of 
a house or room, in which any person has been confined by reason of any conta- 
gious disease, until such house or room or part of a house or room has been disin- 
fected to the satisfaction of said health officer, as certified by him. 
Sec. 21. That whenever any person in said District is an inmate of any premises 
occupied by three or more families, or of any tenement house, boarding house, 
lodging house, hotel, or apartment house, and is suffering from any contagious dis- 
ease, and can not, in the opinion of said health officer, be properly isolated in such 
premises, tenement house, lodging house, hotel, or apartment house, said person 
shall be removed as expeditiously as possible, under direction of said health officer, 
to the public hospital or to such other place, satisfactory to said health officer, pro- 
vided by and at the expense of said person, his parents or guardians; if such per- 
son can not, in the opinion of said health officer, be removed as aforesaid without 
endangering his life, said health officer may cause such persons in the vicinity to 
be removed as are in danger of contracting the disease. Any person suffering 
from any contagious disease, and requiring to be treated at public expense, may, 
at the discretion of said health officer, be removed to the public hospital for 
treatment. 
Sec. 22. That in every hospital and dispensary in said District there shall be 
provided and maintained a suitable room or rooms for the isolation of persons 
infected with any contagious disease aforesaid, or any other disease ordinarily 
recognized as contagious; such persons shall, immediately upon the discovery of 
the nature of their sickness, be separated from the other persons and other patients 
at such dispensary or hospital. It shall be the duty of the physician or physicians, 
of the officers, managers, and of everyone in charge of a hospital or dispensary, 116 
REPOET OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
and of everyone who has any duty or office in respect to patients in course of 
treatment, or persons who apply for treatment or care at a dispensary or hospital, 
to see that a report is immediately made to said health officer of every person so 
applying, infected with any contagious disease mentioned in section one of this 
act, who comes to their knowledge, and that such person or persons infected with 
any contagious disease aforesaid, or any other disease ordinarily recognized as 
contagious, are properly isolated and kept separated from other persons and other 
patients. 
Sec. 23. That every person in said District having been exposed to the infection of 
smallpox (including varioloid) shall be at once successfully vaccinated, or vacci- 
nated a sufficient number of times to make it evident that successful vaccination 
is impossible. 
Sec. 24. That it shall be the duty of every person in said District to be success- 
fully vaccinated, or to be vaccinated a sufficient number of times to make it 
evident that successful vaccination is impossible, whenever the Commissioners 
of said District shall, by proclamation, declare such action on the part of every 
person, within a reasonable time, to be stated in said proclamation, necessary for 
public health: Provided, That this section shall not apply to persons who prove 
to the satisfaction of said health officer that they have been successfully vacci- 
nated, or repeatedly vaccinated as aforesaid, within five years from the date of 
said proclamation, or that they have had smallpox or varioloid. 
Sec. 25. That the Commissioners ot said District be, and they are hereby, 
authorized and empowered, whenever said District is, in their judgment, threat- 
ened or afflicted with any contagious disease to cause house-to-house inspections 
to be made, to require, especially, the cleansing and disinfection of premises 
or parts of premises, to provide accommodations for such persons as may be 
threatened by or afflicted with any of the diseases aforesaid, to provide gratui- 
tous vaccination and distribution of disinfectants, and to do or cause to be done 
such other acts not contrary to law as may be necessary, in their judgment, to 
prevent the introduction or spread in said District of any disease aforesaid. 
Sec. 26. That no person shall, in said District, knowingly make, sign, or deliver 
any report or certificate, herein provided for, not in accordance with fact. 
Sec. 27. That said health officer, and any employee or employees of the health 
department of said District duly detailed for such purpose, shall have the right to 
enter and inspect premises or places in said District where there is, or is believed 
to be, one or more cases of contagious disease; such inspection to be made between 
the hours of seven o'clock antemeridian and seven o’clock postmeridian, or at 
such other times as may, in the opinion of said health officer, be found necessary 
to secure the enforcement of the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 28. That no person in said District shall molest, hinder, or in any manner 
prevent said health officer, or any person in the service of said health department, 
from performing any duty imposed upon him or them by the provisions of this 
act. 
Sec. 29. That any person who shall violate, or aid or abet in violating, any of 
the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 
viction thereof be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than 
two hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail of the District of Columbia, 
or in such other place as may be designated by the court, for not less than five 
days nor more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the dis- 
cretion of the court. 
Sec. 30. That prosecutions under this act shall be in the police court of said 
District, in the name ot' said District, on information signed by the attorney of 
said District or one of his assistants, at the instance of said health officer: Pro- 
vided, That any person or persons tried under this act shall have the privilege, 
when demanded, of a trial by jury, as in other jury cases in said police court. 
Sec. 31. That any person arrested in the District of Columbia for alleged viola- 
tion of law, whose detention in a police station, workhouse, or jail would, in the 
opinion of the health officer of said District, expose the occupants of any such police 
station, workhouse, or jail to infection by any contagious disease aforesaid, or 
any other disease ordinarily recognized as contagious, may be confined in any hos- 
pital in which are treated patients suffering from such contagious disease as that 
by which said person is believed to be infected, or in such other place as may be 
designated by the court. 
Sec. 32. That all laws and parts of laws inconsistent with the foregoing be, and 
the same are hereby, repealed. 
Approved, March 3,1897. REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
117 
REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF the DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RELATING 
TO PUBLIC HEALTHs 
Office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, Jidy 18, 1887. 
ORDERED. 
The Commissioners having learned that a dangerous communicable disease pre- 
vails among domestic animals in the vicinity of the District, which by contagion 
or transportation may affect the general health and safety, the Commissioners in 
pursuance of the provisions of section 8 of the act approved May 29, 1884, order 
the following measures for the prompt suppression of the same. 
1. Upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Agriculture the Chief of 
the Bureau of Animal Industry in the U. S. Department of Agriculture is hereby 
authorized and empowered to act as veterinarian for the District of Columbia 
for the purposes named in the act above quoted. 
2. So much of the rules and regulations prepared by the Commissioner of Agri- 
culture in accordance with the requirements of the act aforesaid, and published 
under date of April 15,1887, as are applicable to the District of Columbia, are hereby 
approved and adopted by the Commissioners as the regulations for the District: 
Provided That wherever said regulations require report to and action by the Com- 
missioner of Agriculture, the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry acting as 
veterinarian for the District, shall submit the requisite reports and recommenda- 
tions for the consideration of and action by the Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia. 
8. The legally appointed agents and inspectors of the Bureau of Animal Industry, 
are hereby empowered, under the direction of the Chief of the Bureau to dis- 
charge corresponding duties for the District of Columbia, and all citizens of the 
District are hereby directed and required to recognize and respect the said Chief 
of Bureau and his duly appointed agents as lawful officers of the District. 
4. The said Chief of Bureau and his agents are authorized to inspect any 
premises in the District of Columbia where it is believed there exists any conta- 
gious infectious or communicable disease among any domestic animals, and if 
found needful to order the temporary quarantine of said animals, to cause prem- 
ises to be disinfected, and if necessary to condemn the animals to be killed in order 
to prevent the spread of the disease. 
5. The proceedings for the appraisal of the value of animals condemned to be 
killed, shall be had under the provisions of sec. 8 of the regulations. 
fi. The Chief of Bureau aforesaid acting as veterinarian for the District, shall 
make to the Commissioners monthly reports of all matters relating to the subject 
of this order within the District of Columbia, and in addition thereto, special 
reports and recommendations as often as shall be needful, for the information of 
the Commissioners to enable them to carry into effect the provisions of the law. 
regulations for the suppression and prevention of contagious, infectious 
AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES AFFECTING DOMESTIC ANIMALS IN THE DISTRICT 
OF COLUMBIA. 
Office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, August 21, 1888. 
Whereas the eighth section of the act of Congress approved May 29, 1884, 
entitled ‘'An act for the establishment of a Bureau of Animal Industry, to pre- 
vent the exportation of diseased cattle, and to provide the means for the suppres- 
sion and extirpation of pleuro-pneumonia and other contagious diseases among 
domestic animals,” authorizes and requires the Commissioners to take measures 
for the prompt suppression of all contagious, infectious, and communicable dis- 
eases affecting domestic animals in the District of Columbia, to prescribe regula- 
tions for disinfection, and such other regulations as they may deem necessary to 
prevent infection and contagion, as provided in said section, do ordain, declare 
and publish the following: 
Ordered: That all persons having the care or custody of any domestic animal in 
the District of Columbia affected or supposed to be affected with any infectious, 
contagious or communicable disease shall isolate and forthwith report the same 
to the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, 
or to some officer of said Bureau in said District, designating the place where 118 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
the same may be found, and shall place the same at his disposal and observe and 
follow such directions as such chief or officer shall prescribe in such case. 
2. That it is hereby made the duty of all veterinary surgeons in said District and 
sanitary inspectors of the health department of the District, and of every member 
of the Metropolitan police force to inquire and report upon all known or suspected 
cases referred to in section 1 of this order. 
8. That if any person or persons having the care or custody of any domestic 
animal in said District affected or supposed to be affected as aforesaid, shall 
secrete or conceal the same or use any device to conceal the same or mislead the 
persons or officers who are charged with any duty in reference to such domestic 
animals, and all persons aiding therein, shall each suffer the penalty hereinafter 
prescribed. 
4. That the Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry only may cause the death 
of any so diseased or supposed to be diseased animal in said District upon orders 
oral or written from him for the death of such animal, and shall also prescribe 
the mode and place of such death which shall be strictly pursued in the destruction 
of said animal, and the bodies of such animals so killed shall be removed by the 
health officer of the District upon notice from said chief. 
5. That every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this regulation, 
shall be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars for 
each offense, to be enforced in the police court of the District of Columbia, in the 
name of the District on information, etc. 
REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE COLLECTION AND DISPOSITION OF GARBAGE. 
[Art. XIY, Police Regulations.] 
Office of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, April 1, 1895. 
Whereas the Commissioners of the District of Columbia were authorized by an 
act, approved March 2, 1895, to make necessary regulations for the collection and 
disposition of garbage in said District, and to annex thereto such penalties as will 
secure the enforcement thereof, the following regulations, to take effect May 1,1895, 
are hereby promulgated for the guidance of all concerned. 
It is hereby ordered that: 
Section 1. The word garbage wherever it occurs in these regulations shall be 
held to mean the refuse of animal or vegetable matter which has been used or 
intended for food. 
Sec. 2. Occupants of dwelling houses, proprietors of boarding houses, commis- 
sion warehouses, hotels, restaurants and other places where garbage is accumu- 
lated, and owners or occupants of apartment or tenement houses shall provide for 
the use of such premises a sufficient number of water-tight metal receptacles to 
contain all garbage which may accumulate on said premises during the usual 
interval between the collections of garbage therefrom, and shall keep such recep- 
tacles at all times water-tight and in good repair. Each such receptacle shall have 
a tight cover provided with a handle. No person without a permit from the health 
officer shall use for the reception of garbage any receptacle having a capacity of 
less than three or more than ten gallons, nor more than one receptacle containing 
less than ten gallons. 
Sec. 8. Occupants of any dwelling house, apartment or tenement house and each 
proprietor of any boarding house, commission warehouse, hotel, restaurant and 
other place where garbage is accumulated shall cause all garbage from his or her 
premises to be put into the receptacle provided for that purpose. Each person 
aforesaid shall cause such receptacle to be kept covered at all times and to be placed 
and to remain, between the hours of seven o’clock a. m. and six1 o’clock p. m. of 
each day on which the collection is made from his or her premises, in such posi- 
tion as to be easily accessible to the garbage collector or as may be designated by 
the health officer. No person shall place or cause to be placed in any garbage 
receptacle any substance other than garbage. 
Sec. 4. Owners of premises from which garbage is to be removed, having street 
and alley entrances, shall place conspicuously at the alley entrance thereof the 
street and number designations in letters and figures, respectively, not less than 
two inches in height, so as to be easily read.2 
'Amendment of April 22, 1895. 
2Amendment of May 6, 1895. 119 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
Sec. 5. It shall be unlawful for any person to alter, deface, or destroy, any name 
of any street or number required to be displayed by these regulations. 
Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of any person or persons having possession, custody 
or care of meat, fish, vegetables or provisions of any kind intended for sale as 
food, but which has become unfit for such use, to forthwith remove such meat, 
fish, vegetables or provisions to such place as has been designated by the health 
officer for such purpose. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to know- 
ingly bring or cause to be brought into the District of Columbia any diseased, 
spoiled or decayed meat, fish, vegetables or provisions of any kind intended for 
food. 
Sec. 7. No driver, owner or superintendent having charge or control of any cart 
or other vehicle for carrying garbage shall allow such cart or vehicle to needlessly 
remain, nor allow a needless number of such carts or vehicles to gather before any 
residence, building or place of business within the city of Washington or the more 
densely populated suburbs thereof; nor allow any such cart or vehicle or any- 
thing thereto appertaining to be in a condition needlessly filthy or offensive; nor 
allow any such cart or vehicle or implement used in connection therewith to be 
stored or kept in any place where needless offense is given to any person or per- 
sons. No driver of any such cart or vehicle shall occupy an unreasonable length 
of time in loading or unloading such cart or vehicle or in passing along any alley, 
street, avenue or public road; nor allow the lid or cover of such cart or vehicle to 
be otherwise than securely closed except as may be necessary for the loading or 
unloading and cleaning of such cart or vehicle. 
Sec. 8. No person other than the owner or authorized collector shall interfere 
with or disturb any garbage after it shall have been put in a garbage receptacle 
and placed in an accessible place for collection; nor shall any unauthorized person 
molest, hinder, delay, or in any other manner interfere with any garbage collector 
in the discharge of his duty. 
Sec. 9. No person or persons other than such as hold permits from the health 
officer shall haul any garbage through or over any street, alley or avenue in the 
city of Washington or its more densely populated suburbs, and each cart or other 
vehicle used for such purpose shall have the word “garbage ” and the number of 
the permit in large white letters on a black ground plainly painted or attached to 
each side of the wagon bed. No cart or other vehicle shall be used for the collec- 
tion of garbage except such as are water-tight and provided with tight-fitting 
covers and such as have been approved by the health officer. 
Sec. 10. Any person violating any of the provisions of these regulations shall, 
on conviction thereof in the police court, be punished by a fine of not less than 
one nor more than fifty dollars for each and every offense, and in default of pay- 
ment of such fine, shall be imprisoned in the workhouse of the District of Colum- 
bia for not more than thirty days. 
regulations concerning the form of application for registration and 
permission to commence or to continue business, and the evidence to be 
ADDUCED IN SUPPORT THEREOF, FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL COLLEGES NOT 
INCORPORATED BY SPECIAL ACTS OF CONGRESS. 
Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, D. C., Jidy 31, 1896. 
Ordered: In compliance with the requirements of the act entitled “An act to 
provide for the incorporation and regulation of medical and dental colleges in the 
District of Columbia,” approved May 4, 1898, the following regulations are pro- 
mulgated concerning the form of application for registration and a permit to 
commence or continue business, and the evidence to be adduced in support 
thereof, required by said act to be made and adduced by the officers of each med- 
ical or dental college not incorporated by special act of Congress, desiring to com- 
mence or to continue business in said District: 
1. Application shall be made in writing, in ink; shall be signed by the president 
and secretary of the hoard of trustees of the college for which registration and a 
permit is asked, and must be accompanied by a certified copy of the articles of 
incorporation of such college; or, if such college has not yet been incorporated, 
shall be signed by each of the proposed incorporators and accompanied by a copy 
of the proposed articles of incorporation. 
Amendment of June 9, 1896. 120 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
2. Each application shall state the amount of capital stock of the college and the 
amount of such stock paid in, or otherwise show the financial responsibility of the 
organization. 
11. Each application shall state whether a permit is desired to commence or to 
continue business. 
4. Each application shall state at length— 
A. The conditions required of applicants prior to admission to courses of study. 
B. The branches of medical science which are, or are to be, included in the 
course of instruction, with a statement of the time allotted to each branch, and 
the name of the person or persons who are to instruct in it. 
C. The minimum requirements of each student prior to the issue of a diploma 
or certificate of attendance to him, specifying in detail as to attendance upon lec- 
tures, quizzes, examinations, laboratory work, and clinical instruction. 
D. The facilities for instruction. Under this head should be given at length a 
statement as to— 
(a) The names of those connected, or to be connected, with the college in the 
capacity of professors, instructors, demonstrators, etc.; the names and locations 
of each medical college which has conferred upon any such person any degree or 
any certificate of attendance upon lectures in medicine, and the date and character 
of such degree or certificate; the names and locations of each hospital or dispensary 
with which any such person has been connected, stating those with which he is 
connected at the present time. 
(b) The location of the premises which are intended to be used for college purposes. 
(c) The facilities for practical instruction in anatomy, chemistry, histology, 
pathology, bacteriology, and the facilities for clinical instruction in medicine, 
surgery, obstetrics, and similar branches. 
Application for registration and a permit to continue business shall state, in 
addition to the foi’egoing: 
5. The name of each graduate who has received a degree, and the date and 
character of such degree; the time spent by such graduate as a student at the col- 
lege making application; the time spent by each such graduate at other medical 
colleges prior to obtaining such degree; the names of such other medical colleges, 
the time of attendance, and whether such attendance was attested by a certificate 
from such college, or otherwise. 
6. The names of other colleges, so far as may be known, which have recognized 
degrees or certificates of attendance issued by the college making application. 
7. Application having been duly executed in accordance with the above require- 
ments, must be accompanied by the affidavits of those signing such application, 
that the statements contained therein are true to the best of their knowledge and 
belief. 
REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE USE AND OCCUPANCY OF BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS. 
Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, April 22, 1897. 
Ordered: That pursuant to the “ Joint resolution to regulate licenses to proprie- 
tors of theaters in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, and for other 
purposes,” the following regulations concerning the use and occupancy of build- 
ings and grounds in the District of Columbia are hereby made: 
1. That it shall be and is hereby made the duty of the owner of any premises or 
building, situated in the District of Columbia, to provide and furnish such prem- 
ises and building with adequate facilities for heating, ventilating and lighting the 
same, and with proper and sufficient water closets or privies; to keep the roof 
thereof tight and in good repair; and to cause the yard or area, or both, to be so 
graded and paved that all drainage shall flow freely from all parts of it into such 
sewer traps as may have been provided for that purpose, or if there be none, shall 
flow away from any inhabited building on such premises. 
2. That it shall be the duty of every person occupying any premises, or any part 
of any premises, in the District of Columbia, or if such premises be not occupied, 
of the owner thereof, to keep such premises or part, and all buildings, yards, 
stables, grounds and outhouses connected therewith, clean and wholesome; if, 
upon inspection by the health officer or an inspector of the health department it 
be ascertained that any such premises, or any part thereof, or any building, yard, 
stable, grounds, alley, or outhouse connected therewith is not in such condition as 
herein required, the occupant or occupants of such premises or part, or the owner 
thereof, as hereinbefore specified, shall be notified thereof and required to place 
the same in a clean and wholesome condition; and in case any person shall fail or 121 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
neglect to place said premises or part in such condition within the time allowed 
by said notice he shall be liable to the penalties hereinafter provided. 
8. That no person being the owner, proprietor, lessee, manager or superintend- 
ent of any store, factory, workshop, or other structure or place of employment 
where workmen or workwomen are employed for wages, shall cause, permit, or 
allow the same, or any portion or apartment thereof, or any room therein to be 
overcrowded or inadequate, faulty or insufficient in respect of lighting, heating 
or ventilation. Every such store, factory, workshop or place shall be kept in a 
clean and wholesome condition, and, as far as practicable, free from all gases, 
vapors, dust or other impurities generated by manufacturing processes or other- 
wise, and injurious to health. Sufficient and separate urinals and privies shall be 
provided for male and female employees. 
4. That no person shall, in the District of Columbia, use any building for any 
purpose for which it has not been lawfully used for a period of thirty days, at least, 
immediately preceding the promulgation of these regulations, unless said building 
is located and constructed in accordance with the requirements of the laws, build- 
ing regulations and health ordinances in force in this District, governing the 
location and construction of buildings intended to be used for such purposes. 
5. That no room in any tenement or lodging house shall be occupied as a sleep- 
ing room unless there are at least four hundred feet cubic contents for each person 
therein not less than ten years of age. The health officer is hereby authorized, if 
in his judgment it is necessary to secure compliance with this requirement, to 
cause to be affixed to or near the door of each such room, a placard stating the 
number of occupants allowed under this regulation, and shall, in any case where 
such placard has been affixed, cause a notice stating such number to be served on 
the owner, agent, or person having charge of the premises. No person having 
authority to prevent shall permit to occupy any such room as a sleeping room any 
greater number of persons than are specified on such placard, if any, or otherwise 
authorized under this section. 
6. That it shall be the duty of the owner or owners of every tenement or lodg- 
ing house to provide a suitable place or places in connection therewith for the 
reception of garbage and other refuse matter. 
7. That whenever there shall be more than five families residing in any tene- 
ment house in which the owner does not reside, there shall be placed therein by 
the owner or owners, lessee or lessees thereof, when required by the Commission- 
ers of the District of Columbia, a janitor, housekeeper, or some other responsible 
person who shall reside in said house and have charge thereof. 
8. That no person shall use any tenement or lodging house or any portion thereof, 
as a place of storage for any combustible article, or any article dangerous or 
detrimental to health. 
9. That no old rags, paper, or other like refuse material, gathered or recovered 
from any source shall be brought into or allowed to remain within any building 
used as a dwelling. 
10. That the health officer shall examine or cause to be examined any building 
supposed or reported to be in an unsanitary condition, and make a record of such 
examination; of the location of the building; the purposes for which it is used, and 
the names of the owner and lessee and occupant. If after such examination, he 
shall deem any structure or building, or part thereof, or appurtenance thereto in 
such condition as to endanger the health of the inmates thereof, or of those living 
in the vicinity, he shall serve upon the occupants a notice requiring a vacation of 
said structure or building, and also serve or cause to be served a notice in writing 
upon the owner, agent, or other party having interest in said structure, requiring 
the same to be put in proper condition within such time as he may direct; and it 
shall thereupon be the duty of said interested party or parties to comply with and 
execute the order of the health officer under the penalties for failure as provided 
by section twelve of these regulations, unless an appeal be taken as hereinafter 
provided. Upon deposit of thirty dollars to cover fees for an examining commis- 
sion, the interested party may appeal within forty-eight hours in writing to the 
Commissioners of the District, who shall appoint a commission to determine the 
question at issue; said commission shall consist of two disinterested and compe- 
tent physicians and one architect, residents of the District, who shall be paid for 
their services not exceeding ten dollars each upon the certificate of the health 
officer. In case of a decision adverse to the appellant, it shall be the duty of the 
appellant to comply therewith when duly notified thereof in writing by the heajth 
officer. 
11. That the term “tenement'" wherever used in these regulations, shall be held 
to mean any building or portion thereof which is occupied or is intended for occu- 
pation as the residence of more than two families living independently of one 
another and doing their cooking upon the premises; and the term “ lodging houes,” 122 
REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
wherever used in these regulations, shall be held to mean any building or portion 
thereof in which persons are lodged for hire for less than a week at one time. 
12. That any person violating, or aiding or abetting in violating any of the pro- 
visions of these regulations, or interfering with, or preventing any inspection 
authorized thereby, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon con- 
viction in the police court, be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred 
dollars, or by imprisonment in the workhouse for not more tlianninety days, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. 
Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 
Washington, July 31, 1897. 
Ordered: Tliat the following regulations made by the health officer of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, pursuant to the requirements of section 11 of “An act to regu- 
late the sale of milk in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes,” approved 
March 2, 1895, in lieu of the regulations on the same subject made and approved 
June 26, 1895, are hereby approved: 
Section f. No building or space shall be used for dairy purposes which is not 
well lighted and ventilated, which is not provided with a suitable floor; and, if 
such room or space be a cellar or subcellar, or be located in a cellar or subcellar, 
which is not properly concreted, guttered and drained. 
Sec. 2. No dairy shall be located or maintained within any kitchen, wash room, 
work shop or inhabited room, nor in proximity to any water-closet, privy, cess- 
pool or urinal, nor in any room or space which is not of such size and construc- 
tion as to permit the entire separation of all milk and milk products, both in the 
process of handling and storing the same, from all probable sources of contami- 
nation, either by dirt, noxious gases, infective organisms or substances or anything 
liable to alter unnecessarily the quality of such milk or milk products. 
Sec. 3. Every person maintaining a dairy shall provide for the use thereof, and 
shall use, a sufficient number of receptacles, made of nonabsorbent material, for 
the reception, storage and delivery of milk, and shall cause them to be kept clean 
and wholesome at all times; and having delivered any such receptacle to a con- 
sumer shall not again use the same for the reception, storage or delivery of milk 
or cream in any form until it has been, to his personal knowledge, properly cleaned 
after such use. 
REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF DAIRIES AND DAIRY FARMS. 
Sec. 4. Every person maintaining a dairy shall provide for the use thereof a sup- 
ply of pure and suitable water, sufficient for the proper washing of all cans, bottles 
and appliances. 
Sec. 5. Every person maintaining a dairy shall keep the same and all appurte- 
nances thereto clean and wholesome at all times, and shall change the water in the 
coolers at least once each day. 
Sec. 6. No building shall be used for stabling cows for dairy purposes which is 
not well lighted, ventilated, drained and constructed, or which is not provided 
with stalls or with proper stanchions for anchoring the cows so arranged as to 
allow not less than three and one-half feet width of space for each milch cow; or 
which is not provided with good and sufficient facilities for feeding the animals 
in a cleanly manner; or which contains less than six hundred cubic feet clear 
space for each cow, unless the use of such building for stabling cows for dairy pur- 
poses has been authorized prior to the promulgation of these regulations, in which 
case it shall contain not less than five hundred cubic feet clear air space for each 
cow. 
Sec. 7. No room shall be used for stabling cows for dairy purposes which con- 
tains any water-closet, privy, cesspool, urinal or manure pit; nor shall any fowl, 
hog, horse, sheep or goat be kept in any room used therefor. 
Sec. 8. Every person using any premises for keeping cows for dairy purposes 
shall, when so directed by the health officer, erect and maintain in the stable, stall, 
shed or yard connected therewith one or more proper receptacles for drinking 
water for such cows, and shall keep the same supplied with clean, fresh water and 
none other. 
Sec. 9. Every person using any premises for keeping cows for dairy purposes 
shall keep the entire premises clean and in good repair, and the buildings well 
painted or whitewashed. 
Sec. 10. Every person using any premises for keeping cows for dairy purposes 
shall cause the dung to be removed from the stables at least twice daily, and always 
within one hour preceding every milking of the cows; and shall not allow any REPORT OF THE HEALTH OFFICER. 
123 
accumulation of dung within the building occupied by the cows, but shall, when- 
ever in the opinion of the health officer it is required by local conditions and sur- 
roundings, provide temporary storage for the same and for other refuse in a sepa- 
rate place, which shall be covered, and which, when so ordered by said health 
officer, shall be a water-tight receptacle. 
Sec. 11. Every person keeping cows for dairy purposes within the city of Wash- 
ington or its more densely populated suburbs, or elsewhere in the District of 
Columbia, if, in the opinion of the health officer, local conditions require it, shall 
cause the inclosure in which such cows are kept to be graded and drained so as to 
keep the surface reasonably dry and to prevent the accumulation of water therein, 
except as may be permitted for the purpose of supplying drinking water; and shall 
not permit any garbage, urine, fecal matter or similar substance to be placed or 
to remain in such inclosure, nor any open drain to run through it. 
Sec. 12. Every person keeping cows for the production of milk for sale shall 
cause them to be kept clean and wholesome at all times, and shall cause the teats, 
and, if necessary, the udder, to be carefully cleaned .by brushing, washing or 
wiping before milking, and shall cause each such cow to be properly fed and 
watered. 
Sec. 13. Any person using any premises for keeping cows for dairy purposes 
shall provide and use a sufficient number of receptacles, of nonabsorbent mate- 
rial, for the reception, storage and delivery of milk, and shall keep them clean 
and wholesome at all times, and at milking time shall remove each receptacle, as 
soon as filled, from the stable or room in which the cows are kept; nor shall any 
milk or cream be stored or kept within any room used for stabling cows or other 
domestic animals. 
Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of every person having charge or control of any 
premises upon which cows are kept to notify the health officer of the District of 
Columbia of the existence of any contagious or infectious disease among such 
cows, by letter delivered or mailed, within twenty-four hours after the discovery 
thereof, and to thoroughly isolate any cow or cows so diseased or which may 
reasonably be believed to be infected, and to exercise such other precautions as 
may be directed, in writing, by said health officer. 
Sec. 15. Milkers and those engaged in the handling of milk or cream shall 
maintain strict cleanliness of their hands and persons while milking or while so 
engaged. It shall be the duty of every person holding a permit to maintain a dairy 
or dairy farm to enforce this regulation in reference to such persons as may assist 
them in the maintenance thereof. 
Sec. 1C. That any person violating any of the foregoing regulations shall, on 
conviction thereof in the police court, be punished by a fine of not more than ten 
dollars for each and every such offense, to be collected as other fines and penalties 
are collected. 
Sec. 17. That the regulations for the government of dairies and dairy farms in 
the District of Columbia, promulgated June 26, 1895, are hereby repealed. INDEX TO LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO PUBLIC 
HEALTH, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
[Appendix D, report of health officer District of Columbia, 1897.] 
Page. 
Abatement of nuisances 92 
Acts (see also Ordinances and Regulations): 
For the promotion of anatomical science and to prevent desecration of 
, graves .. _.. 103 
For the regulation of the practice of dentistry 101 
Regulating the construction of buildings along alley ways 102 
Relating to testimony of physicians. 103 
To create a revenue by levying a tax upon dogs 87 
To establish a fee for transcripts from records 112 
To establish harbor regulations 107 
To prevent manufacture or sale of adulterated food or drugs 98 
To prevent spread of contagious diseases. 112 
To prevent spread of scarlet fever and diphtheria 99 
To provide for drainage of lots 106 
To provide for the incorporation and regulation of medical and dental 
• colleges.. 105 
To punish impersonation of inspectors 111 
To regulate the practice of medicine and surgery 108 
To regulate the practice of pharmacy. 81 
To regulate the sale of milk 101 
Adulteration of— 
Bread forbidden. 93 
Chemicals, pharmacists responsible for 86 
Drugs forbidden 98 
Drugs, pharmacists responsible for 86 
Food forbidden 93,98 
Liquor forbidden 93 
Medicines, pharmacists responsible for 86 
Milk forbidden 93,105 
Ailanthus trees, nuisances 89 
Alleys: 
Act regtilating construction of buildings in 102 
Cleanliness of - 83 
Commissioners may condemn, open, extend, widen, or straighten 102 
Deposits not to be made in 88 
Dwelling houses not to be erected in 102 
Gates to be numbered. ... 118 
Numbers on gates not to be defaced. 119 
Animal matter: > , 
Decayed, disposal of 88 
Decayed not to be permitted to enter certain water supplies 89 
Not to be used for filling land . ’ _ _. 89 
Offensive, carrying and transportation of.. 89 
Offensive, storing of, a nuisance 91 
Animals, domestic (see also Contagious diseases, animals): 
At large to be impounded. 92 
Commissioners may prescribe rules for impounding 88 
Contagious diseases of, nuisances 91 
Dead of disease or accident not to be brought into city. 93 
Dead, rendering or trying out of, a nuisance 91 
Dead, undressed, nuisances. 91 
Dead, undressed, owner to give notice of 91 
For slaughter, keeping of 82 324 
INDEX 
Animals, domestic—Continued. Page. 
For slaughter, may be condemned and branded 94 
Glanders of, a nuisance . 91 
Impounded, disposal of proceeds of sale 92 
Impounded, may be sold.. 92 
Impounded,register of 93 
Not to be kept in cow stables .._ .. 122 
Not to be thrown into Potomac River •._. 107 
Ordinance to prevent running at large . 92 
Places where kept to be clean _ 90 
Places where slaughtered to be kept clean 91 
Sickly, diseased, or unwholesome not to be brought into city 93 
Anatomical science, act for promotion of 103 
Analysis of foods or drugs under control of Commissioner of Internal Re venue 99 
Appeal from decision of food inspector 95 
Areas, to be properly drained 120 
Army surgeons may practice medicine without licenses Ill 
Ashes: 
Disposal of. 83 
Not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Bakers selling milk to post name of dairymen. 105 
Births: 
Report of, to be published weekly._ 96 
To be reported to health officer 96 
Confidential communications not to be disclosed 97 
Blacksmith shops, location of 83 
Blown meat not to be exposed for sale 94 
Boarding houses not to offer unwholesome food or drink 93 
Board of dental examiners: 
Appointment of 101 
Annual report to Commissioners 101 
Certification of dentists for registry by '101 
Created 101 
Duties of. 101 
Examination of dentists by 101 
Expenses of 102 
Fees may be charged by .. 102 
Violations of law to be reported by 101 
Board of eclectic medical examiners. (See Boards of medical examiners.) 
Board of health abolished. 84 
Created 84 
Board of homeopathic medical examiners. (See Boards of medical exam- 
iners. ) 
Board of medical examiners. (See Boards of medical examiners.) 
Boards of medical examiners: 
Appointment of 109 
Organization of 109 
Payment of 111 
Qualifications of members 109 
Questions to be submitted by 109 
Removal of members 109 
Result of examination to be reported by 110 
Board of medical supervisors: 
Created 108 
Duties of. 108-111 
Expenses of. Ill 
Organization of .* 108 
Qualification of members 108 
Refusal or revocation of licenses 110 
Removal of members 108 
Secretary, duties of 108-110 
To make regulations 108,110 
Boats may be boarded by inspector of marine products 94 
Bodies, dead: 
Contagious diseases, preservation and burial of 114 
Conveyance of, requires a permit 96 
Delivery to medical colleges 103 
Disinterment requires a "permit 96 INDEX. 
325 
Bodies, dead—Continued. Page. 
Disposal of, requires a permit 96 
Interment of, except in burial grounds, forbidden 96 
Interment of, requires a permit . 96 
Notice to be given before delivery to medical colleges 103 
Remains to be buried after dissection 103 
Removal of, requires a permit. 96 
Traffic in, forbidden 103 
Boiling of certain substances a nuisance 91 
Bond: 
To be given by poundmaster 93 
To be given by representatives of medical colleges. 103 
Bones: 
Boiling of. a nuisance 91 
Burning of, a nuisance 91 
Carrying and transportation of 89 
Crushing of, a nuisance 91 
Grinding of, a nuisance 91 
Storing of 82 
Bread not to be adulterated : 93 
Breaking of stone a nuisance 91 
Buildings: 
Along alleyways, act regulating construction of 102 
Condemnation of 121 
Heating, facilities for, to be provided. 120 
Lighting, facilities for, to be provided. 120 
Privy accommodations to be provided 120 
Roofs to be kept tight . 120 
Regulations concerning use and occupancy of 120 
To be kept clean 120 
Use of, to conform to regulations governing location and construction of. 121 
Ventilation, facilities for, to be provided ... 120 
Water-closets to be provided 120 
Bulls, pound fee for 92 
Bureau of Animal Industry, Chief of, may act as veterinarian 117 
Burial (see also Bodies, dead)— 
Of persons dead from major contagious diseases 114 
Permits, etc., to be returned to health office 96 
Burning shells or bones a nuisance 91 
Burying grounds. (See Cemeteries.) 
Businesses generating offensive odors a nuisance 91 
Butter made from unwholesome milk not to be sold 94,105 
Calves, pound fee for 92 
Cars— 
Loaded with manure, garbage, etc., location of 89 
May be boarded by inspector of marine products 94 
Cattle (see also Animals, domestic, and Contagious diseases, animals): 
Diseased or feverish, not to be slaughtered. 93 
Contagious diseases of, to be isolated 105 
When intended for slaughter, keeping of 82 
Cemeteries: 
Persons in charge of, to register at health office 97 
Persons in charge of, to return burial permits 96 
What grounds may be used as 96 
Cesspools: 
Cleaning, method of 90 
Disposal of contents 88 
Transportation of contents 90 
Cheese made from unwholesome milk not to be sold 94,105 
Cholera, Asiatic. (See Contagious diseases, major.) 
Clams may be condemned and seized 94 
Cleanliness of— 
Buildings , 120 
Cows 123 
Dairies 122 
Garbage carts 119 
Milkers 123 
Milk receptacles 122 326 
INDEX 
Cleanliness of—Continued. Page. 
Cow stables . 122 
Yards 120 
Cleansing guts a nuisance 91 
Clergymen to report marriages. 90 
Collection of garbage. (See Garbage.) 
Colleges, dental (see also Colleges, medical and dental): 
Graduates exempt from examination 101 
Colleges, medical (see also Colleges, medical and dental)— 
May receive dead bodies 103 
Representative to give bond : 103 
Colleges, medical and dental: 
Act to provide for incorporation and regulation of 105 
Application for registration described. 119 
Commissioners to file bills in equity against. 106 
Registration of, required. _ 105 
Regulations concerning form of application for registration 119 
Combustible material not to be stored in tenement and lodging houses 121 
Commissioner of Internal Revenue: 
To control analysis of food and drugs 99 
To declare foods or drugs exempt from law 99 
To furnish certificates as to analysis of foods or drugs 99 
Commissioners of District of Columbia: 
Contagious diseases, authority of, in reference to 116 
To charge fee for transcripts from records 112 
To condemn, open, extend, widen, or straighten public alleys when 
necessary for public health 102 
To file bills in equity against medical and dental colleges 106 
To make regulations relative to contagious diseases among domestic 
animals 97 
To make regulations relative to garbage 103 
To make regulations relative to impounding domestic animals. 88 
To make regulations relative to medical and dental colleges 106 
To make regulations relative to public health 101 
To make regulations relative to smallpox hospital. Ill 
To make sewer and water connections 107 
To notify owners of lots to connect with sewers and water mains 107 
To publish lists of foods or drugs exempt from j>rovisions of law 99 
To register and grant permits to medical and dental colleges 106 
To require dogs to be muzzled .... 87 
To require vaccination 116 
Commissioners of pharmacy: 
Appointment of. 85 
Duties of 85 
Expenses of 85 
Qualifications of 85 
Common carrier, agent for, to sign and return permits for conveyance of 
dead bodies. 97 
Condemnation of buildings 121 
Confidential communications not to be divulged. 97,108 
Contagious diseases (see also Contagious diseases, animals; Contagious dis- 
eases, major, and Scarlet fever and diphtheria): 
Dairy and dairy-farm permits may be suspended on account of. 104 
Death certificates to be forwarded to health officer in eight hours 96 
Hospitals and dispensaries to isolate 115 
Hospitals for, location of 104 
Persons suffering from, not to work in dairies or dairy farms 104 
May be confined, where 116 
Contagious diseases, animals: 
May be killed 117 
Appraisal of condemned animals 117 
Cattle to be isolated 105,123 
Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry to submit reports 117 
Concealing of animal forbidden 118 
Dairy and dairy-farm permits may be suspended 104 
Dairymen to notify health officer of 123 
Dead bodies to be removed.. 118 
Disinfection may be required 117 INDEX, 
327 
Contagious diseases, animals—Continued. Page. 
Glanders of, a nuisance 91 
Inspection by agents of Bureau of Animal Industry authorized 117 
Inspection prior to entering District .. 97 
Inspectors to investigate 118 
Isolation of, required 117,123 
Killing of animals to be at direction of Chief of Bureau of Animal 
Industry 118 
Nuisances 91,96 
Police to investigate . 118 
Quarantine of premises_. ... 117 
Regulations of Commissioner of Agriculture adopted 117 
Regulations to prevent spread of _. 117 
Regulations to prevent spread of, authorized 97 
Reports to be made by owner to Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry117 
Reports to Commissioners to be made monthly by Chief of Bureau of 
Animal Industry . - 117 
Veterinary surgeons, to report 118 
Contagious diseases, major (Asiatic cholera, yellow fever, typhus fever, 
smallpox, leprosy, the plague, and glanders): 
Accommodations for patients may be provided 116 
Act to prevent spread of. 112 
Attendance on, prima facie evidence of knowledge of 112 
“ Case of,” defined. 112 
Children not to be exposed to, nor to expose others 115 
Clinical symptoms, prima facie evidence of 112 
Colleges, attendance on forbidden 115 
Dead bodies not to be brought into or taken from District of Columbia. 114 
Dead bodies, preservation and burial of 114 
Deaths to be reported 113 
Defined.. _• 112 
Disinfectants to be approved by health officer 113,114 
Disinfection, health officer to certify to 115 
Disinfection may be done by health officer 114 
Disinfection, method of 113,114 
Disinfection of public vehicles 115 
Disinfection required 113,114 
Dispensaries, duties of, in reference to 115 
Duties of persons in charge of. 113 
Evidence of, conclusive 112 
Evidence of, prima facie 112 
Exposure of patient forbidden. 115 
False certificates not to be issued. 116 
Funerals. 114 
Goods, removal of. 115 
Hospitals, duties of, in reference to. 115 
Hotels, etc., placarding 113 
Hotels, removal of patients from 115 
Inspection of premises 116 
Interference with agents of health department forbidden. 116 
Isolation of case 112,113 
Isolation of entrance to and exit from infected houses. 113,114 
Patient, removal of 115 
Patient to be isolated. 113 
Person in charge of, defined 112 
Person in charge of, duties of 113 
Person in charge of, to report 113 
Physicians to report 112 
Physicians to report recovery or death 113 
Placards described. 113 
Placards, how long to be posted. dl3 
Placards, location of. 113 
Placards not to be interfered with 113 
Placards to be posted 113 
Premises not to be rented, except 115 
Premises to be placarded 113 
Persons may be confined, where 116 
Provisions of act apply to ships, etc. 112 328 
INDEX 
Contagions diseases, major—Continued. Page. 
Public vehicles, employment of 115 
Recovery from defined .. 113 
Recovery to be reported 113 
Removal of infected goods 115 
Removal of patients 115 
Removal of those in vicinity of patient 115 
Renting of infected premises. 115 
Reports of 112,113 
Schools attendance forbidden 115 
Sunday schools, attendance forbidden 115 
Suspected cases to be isolated, etc 112 
Tenement houses, removal of patients from 115 
Vaccination. (See Vaccination.) 
W atchmen may be employed 113 
Coroner: 
To hold inquests 82 
To investigate deaths upon report from health officer 97 
To issue death certificates 96 
To make report to health department 82 
Cows (see also Animals, domestic; Contagious diseases, animals, Dairies, 
Milk, etc.): • 
Contagious diseases to be isolated 123 
Contagious diseases to be reported by dairymen 123 
Feeding of.. 123 
Feeding on garbage, etc., forbidden ' 94,105 
Milking, dung to be removed before 122 
Milking, teats to be cleaned before. t.. 123 
Places where kept to be clean 90 
Pound fee for 92 
Teats to be cleaned before milking. 123 
To be kept clean... 123 
Watering of 123 
Cow pens: 
Location of 83 
To be kept clean. 83 
Cow stables (see also Stables): 
Air space in. 122 
Animals, domestic, other than cattle, not to be kept in 122 
Cleanliness of, required 83,122 
Construction of. 122 
Drainage of 122 
Drinking water to be provided. 122 
Dung, receptacles for, to be provided, when. 123 
Dung to be removed 122 
Feeding troughs to be provided * 122 
Lighting of 122 
Location of 83 
Manure pits not to be located in. 122 
Milk not to be kept in 123 
Painting or whitewashing of 122 
Privy not to be located in. . 122 
Receptacles for drinking water to be provided, when 122 
Receptacles for dung to be provided, when 123 
Receptacles for milk to be removed when filled 123 
Removal of dung „ 122 
Stalls to be provided 122 
Stalls, size of 122 
Stanchions may be used 122 
Ventilation of 122 
Water-closets not to be located in 122 
Cow yards: 
Drainage of 123 
Location of 83 
To be kept clean 83,123 
Crabs may be condemned and seized 94 
Crushing bones or shells, nuisance 91 
Crushing of stone a nuisance 91 INDEX. 
329 
Dairies (see also Dairies and dairy farms): Page. 
Building used for— 
Floor of . 122 
Lighting of .. 122 
Ventilation of ... 122 
Coolers, water in, to be changed 122 
Location of.. 122 
Size of 122 
To be kept clean. 122 
Water to be provided • 122 
Dairies and dairy farms: 
Inspection of 105 
Permits for. 104 
Permits, revocation of. 105 
Persons suffering from contagious diseases not to work in 101 
Receptacles for milk to be provided 123 
Receptacles for milk to be kept clean 123 
Regulations for government of 122 
Regulations for, health officer to make 105 
Dairy farms. (See Cow stables and Dairies.) 
Dead bodies. (See Bodies, dead.) 
Dealers in milk to post name of dairyman 105 
Death certificates: 
To be issued by physicians or coroner 96 
Undertaker to indorse and forward 96 
Deaths: 
Health officer to investigate 97 
Report of, to be published weekly 96 
Defacing numbers on alley gates forbidden — 119 
Defiling of water supplies 89 
Dental colleges. (See Colleges, medical and dental.) 
Dentists: 
Must register with health officer 101 
Not liable for practicing medicine Ill 
When entitled to certification without examination 101 
Dentistry: / 
Act for regulation of practice of 101 
Not practice of medicine or surgery, when 111 
Desecration of - graves, act to prevent 103 
Diphtheria. (See Scarlet fever and diphtheria.) 
Dirt not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Disinterment requires a permit 96 
Dispensaries to isolate all cases of contagious diseases 115 
Distilling spirits a nuisance 91 
Dog catchers. (See Animals, domestic; Poundmaster; Poundmen.) 
Dogs (see also Animals, domestic, and Contagious diseases animals): 
Act levying a tax on — 87 
Bitten by mad dogs nuisances 91 
Collars not to be removed from 87 
Collars to be worn 87 
Dangerous, not to go at large 87 
Dangerous, when to be killed 87 
Impounded, how redeemed. 87 
Impounded, when to be sold or destroyed 87 
Licensed, owner of, liable for damage done by 87 
Mad, Commissioners may issue proclamation requiring muzzling 87 
Mad, nuisances 91 
Muzzles, Commissioners may require 87 
Muzzles to be worn .:. 91 
Not to be brought into District for purpose of taking up or killing 87 
Not to be seized while held or led i 87 
Owners to keep collars on .* 87 
Owners to keep tag on . 87 
Personal property 87 
Sale of impounded, valid 87 
Tags not to be put on unlicensed 87 
Tag not to be removed from - - 87 
Tags to be kept on - 87 330 
INDEX, 
Dogs—Continued. Page. 
Tag to be provided for 87 
Tagged inay go at large . .. 87 
Tagged, persons injuring, liable to civil action for damages 87 
Tax on . 87 
To be impounded when running at large without tax tag 87 
Unmuzzled not to go at large 91 
Unmuzzled to be impounded 87,91 
Domestic animals. (See Animals, domestic.) 
Drainage of lots, act to provide for 108 
Drainage of yards and areas 120 
Drainpipes: 
Size to be adequate and sufficient . 89,95 
Traps to be provided for 89,95 
Drains: 
Not to be choked 84 
Strainers to be kept clean and in repair 84 
To be provided with strainers 84 
Drugs (see also Food and drugs): 
Definition of 99 
Pharmacists liable for quality of 83 
Drugstores. (See Pharmacies.) 
Dwellings: 
Erection of, in alleys regulated 102 
Garbage receptacles to be provided 118 
Privies to be provided _» 83 
Refuse material not to be stored in 121 
Dye water, disposal of 83,88 
Eating houses, not to offer unwholesome food or drink 93 
Factories: 
Cleanliness of. 121 
Heating of 121 
Lighting of 121 
Overcrowding of 121 
Privy accommodations for 121 
Ventilation of. 121 
Fat, boiling or storing of a nuisance 91 
Fecal matter: 
Not to be deposited in or about public urinals.. • 95 
Not to be placed in cow yards ... 123 
Filth: 
Disposal of 83,88 
Not to be permitted to enter certain water supplies ... 89 
Not to be used in filling land 89 
Not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Fish: 
Carrying and transportation of 89 
Dead, not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Unsound and unwholesome, may be condemned and seized 94 
Unfit for food not to be brought into District of Columbia 93,119 
Unfit for food to be removed by owner 119 
Food (see also Adulteration, and Food and drugs): 
Adulteration of 93 
Appeal from decision of inspectors 95 
Condemned, not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Condemned, not to remain where found 95 
Condemned, to be removed by owner 119 
Manufacture of from unwholesome animal or vegetable substances for- 
bidden 98 
Ordinance to prevent sale of unwholesome 93 
Unfit for use not to be brought into District of Columbia 119 
Unwholesome, condemnation and seizure of 94 
Food and drugs: 
Adulterated, act to prevent manufacture and sale of 98 
Adulterated, burden of proof upon defendant 99 
Adulterated, persons not liable to be convicted, when 98 
Analysis of, certificate to be furnished by Commissioner of Internal 
Revenue 99 INDEX 
Food and drags—Continued. Page. 
Analysis of, under control of Commissioner of Internal Revenue 99 
Compounded, notice to be given 98 
Compounded, to be of ingredients in accordance with demand of pur- 
chaser , except -... 98 
Exemptions from provisions of law may be declared _ 99 
Definition of food and drug. 99 
Food, definition of . _ _ 99 
Label must correctly describe article 99 
List of exempted, to be published 99 
Notice of impaired quality to be given 98 
Purchaser of, entitled to analyses 99 
Quality not to be impaired 98 
Rules and regulations for analyses of, to be prescribed by Secretary of 
Treasury A 99 
Sample for analysis must be sold 99 
To be of nature satisfactory and quality demanded 98 
Warranty for one article not to applied to another 99 
Warranty not to be forged 99 
Warranty to be correct 99 
Warranty to be taken 99 
Foul water, disposal of 83,88 
Garbage: 
Carrying and transportation of 89 
Cars loaded with, location of. 89 
Carts, loading of. 119 
Carts not to congregate on streets. „ 113 
Carts of private collectors to be marked 119 
Carts, stabling of 119 
Carts to be covered 119 
Carts to be kept clean .'. 113 
Carts to be kept covered 119 
Carts to be water-tight 119 
Collectors not to be interfered with 119 
Condemned food to be removed by owner 119 
Defined 118 
Deposit of, forbidden 89 
Disposal of .' 88 
Not to be collected without permits 119 
Not to be fed to cows 94,105 
Not to be interfered with... 119 
Not to be placed in cow yards. 123 
Not to be thrown into Potomac River. 107 
Place for, in tenement and lodging houses to be provided 121 
Premises from which removed to have alley gates numbered 118 
Receptacles, description of ,118 
Receptacle, substances other than garbage not to be placed in 118 
Receptacles to be kept covered 118 
Receptacles to be provided 118 
Regulations for collection and disposal of, Commissioners may make 103 
Regulations governing collection and disposition of 118 
Regulations, police to aid in enforcement of. 102 
To be made accessible for collector 117 
To be placed in receptacle 118 
Geese, pound fee for 92 
Glanders. {See Contagious diseases, animals, and Contagious diseases, 
major.) 
Glue, making of, a nuisance. 91 
Goats: 
Not to be kept in cow stables 122 
Pound fee for 92 
Graves, desecration of, act to prevent. 103 
Grease, storing of, a nuisance 91 
Grinding bones or shells a nuisance *_ 91 
Grocers selling milk to post name of dairyman 105 
Grounds to be kept clean 120 
Guts, cleaning of, a nuisance 91 
Gutters, deposits not to be made in 88 
To be kept clean 83 332 
INDEX 
Page. 
Harbor regulations, act to establish 107 
Health officer: 
Duties of _ 84,91,94 
Duties of late board of health imposed upon 103 
May authorize delivery of dead bodies lo medical colleges. 103 
May authorize entrance to infected houses 114 
May authorize removal of infected goods. 115 
May authorize removal of persons suffering from contagious diseases 115 
May authorize use of special garbage receptacles. 118 
May call on police for aid 84 
May direct exclusion of certain persons from school 115 
May disinfect premises •. ... 114 
May inspect dairies and dairy farms 104,105 
May inspect premises in cases of contagious disease 116 
May inspect private hospitals 104 
May placard tenement and lodging houses as to air space 121 
May prescribe regulations for dairies 105 
May prescribe regulations to prevent spread of scarlet fever and diph- 
theria ■ 100 
May procure sample of food or drugs 99 
Office created. 84 
To approve disinfectants ' 113,114 
To cause bodies of certain dead animals to be removed. 118 
To cause premises to be disinfected 100 
To certify to disinfection 115 
To issue instructions for isolation in scarlet fever and diphtheria. 100 
To investigate cause of death 97 
To keep register of cemetery superintendents 97 
To keep register of dentists 101 
"To keep register of midwives 97, 111 
To keep register of physicians 97, 111 
To keep register of undertakers 97 
To placard houses in which certain contagious diseases exist. 100,113 
To issue permits for exit from infected houses. 114 
Health ordinances: 
Legalized 88,102 
Not to be enforced against established industries 103 
Heifers, pound fee for 92 
Hides: 
Disinfection of, may be required 98 
Establishments for tanning, etc., cleanliness of 91 
Transportation of 89 
Hogs: 
Keeping of, a nuisance 90 
Not to be kept in cow stables 122 
Pound fee for 92 
Horses: 
Not to be kept in cow stables 122 
Places where kept to be clean 90 
Pound fee for 92 
Hospitals: 
For contagious diseases, location of 104 
Private, may be inspected. 104 
Private, to have permit. 104 
Smallpox, Commissioners to make regulations for government of. Ill 
Superintendent may deliver deceased bodies to medical colleges 103 
To isolate all cases of contagious diseases 115 
Hotels to be provided with garbage receptacles 118 
Houses. (See Dwellings.) 
Hydrophobia. (See Contagious diseases, animals, and Dogs.) 
Impersonation of inspectors, act to punish 111 
Incorporation of medical and dental colleges, act to provide for 105 
Inspection: 
House to house 116 
Of contagious diseases of animals. 117 
Of dairies and dairy farms 105 
Of private hospitals 104 
Of streets, food, live stock, fish, etc., ordinance to provide for 94 333 
Inspectors: Page. 
Duties of 94 
Impersonation of, act to punish. Ill 
Interference with, forbidden 95 
May condemn and seize unwholesome food 94 
May procure samples of food or drugs. 99 
May enter and examine premises in cases of contagious disease 116 
To report cases of contagious disease among animals 118 
Interference with inspectors forbidden 95 
Interment. (See Bodies, dead, and Burial.) 
Jail, warden may deliver dead bodies to medical colleges 103 
Lampblack, making of, a nuisance. 91 
Lard, boiling of, a nuisance ... 91 
Leprosy. (See Contagious diseases, major.) 
Liquor, adulterated, not to be sold 93 
Live stock: 
Inspection of 94 
May be condemned and branded 94 
Lobsters, unsound and unwholesome, may be condemned and seized 94 
Lodging houses. (See Buildings and Tenement and lodging houses.) 
Lots: 
Drainage of, act to provide for 106 
Open, certain deposits not to be made in 83,88 
Removal of offensive substances from 89 
Magistrates to report marriages to health officer 96 
Manufactories, disposal of refuse 83,88 
Manure: 
Cars loaded with, location of 89 
Deposit of, forbidden 89 
Disposal of 83,88 
Manure pits not to be located in cow stables. 122 
Marine hospital surgeons may practice medicine without license Ill 
Marine products, inspection of 94 
Marriages: 
Report of, to be published weekly. 96 
To be reported to health officer 96 
Massage, practice of, not practice of medicine Ill 
Meat: 
Blown, not to be exposed for sale 94 
Of diseased animals not to be sold 93 
Stalls, rooms, or stands where sold to be kept clean 93 
Unfit for food not to be brought into District of Columbia 119 
Unfit for food to be removed by owner. 119 
Unsound, not to be exposed for sale 94 
Medical colleges. (See Colleges, medical and dental.) 
Medicine and surgery (see also Boards of medical examiners, and Board of 
Medical Supervisors): 
Act to regulate 108 
Applicants for license, qualifications of 109 
Applications for license— 
Rejection of 109 
Time of filing. 109 
To be made 108 
Diploma to accompany application 109 
Fee to accompany application 109 
Examinations for licenses— 
Branches to be examined in 108 
Character of. 109,110 
Papers to be preserved. 110 
Exemptions from 110 
Questions, how selected. 109 
Result to be reported by boards of examiners. 110 
Time of holding 109 
Licenses to practice— 
How issued j 110 
Issue with States may be reciprocal. 110 
May be issued without examination. 110 
Not required in certain cases 111 
INDEX. INDEX, 
Medicine and surgery—Continued. Page. 
Licenses to practice—Continued. 
Refusal and revocation of.. _• 110 
To be issued. L 108 
To be recorded 111 
Not to be practiced without license 111 
Medicines: 
Pharmacist responsible for quality of 86 
Proprietery, need not be of nature, substance, and quality demanded.. 86,98 
Midwifery (see also Midwives): 
Examination for license 110 
Licenses to practice— 
Issue of 108 
Refusal and revocation of 110 
Not to be practiced without license. Ill 
Midwives: 
Regulations governing examination of, may be made by board of med- 
ical supervisors... 110 
To record licenses in supreme court District of Columbia. 111 
To register at health office 97, 111 
To report births to health officer 96 
Milk: 
Act to regulate sale of 104 
Adulterated, not to be offered for sale 98,94,105 
From cows fed on any deleterious substance not to be offered for sale. 94,105 
From cows kept up nbt to be offered for sale 94 
From diseased cows not to be sold 105 
From partiirient cow not to be sold 105 
Legal standard of 105 
Name of person from whom purchased to be posted 105 
Not to be brought into District of Columbia without permit. 104 
Not to be kept in stable 128 
Persons handling, to be clean 128 
Receptacles for— 
To be cleaned before use 122 
To be kept clean 122 
To be provided 122 
Samples, how taken and analyzed , 105 
Skim, legal standard of 105 
Skim, receptacles to be labeled 105 
Storing of 122 
Swill, not to be offered for sale 94,105 
Unwholesome, not to be offered for sale. 94,105 
Wagons to have name of owner, etc. 104 
Watered, not to be offered for sale 94,105 
Milking: 
Dung to be removed before. 122 
Persons engaged in, to be clean 123 
Receptacles to be removed when filled 123 
Teats to be cleaned before 123 
Morgue, keeper may deliver dead bodies to medical colleges 103 
Mules: 
Places where kept to be clean 90 
Pound fee for 92 
Muzzling of dogs. (See Dogs.) 
Naval surgeons may practice medicine without licenses 111 
Nuisances: 
A batement of 92 
Ordinances to declare what shall be deemed 88 
Numbers on alley gates: 
Not to be defaced 119 
Required 118 
Odors, offensive, business or trade generating, a nuisance 91 
Offal: 
Boiling of, a nuisance 91 
Carrying and transportation of 89 
Cars loaded with, location of...... 89 
Deposit of, forbidden 89 index. 
335 
Offal—Continued. < Page. 
Disposal of - 83,88 
Fish, not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Offensive substances: 
Cars loaded with, location 89 
Deposit of, forbidden _ 89 
Disposal of 83,88 
Oil, boiling or making, a nuisance 91 
Ordinances, health (see also Act and Regulations): 
Legalized 88,102 
To declare what shall be deemed nuisances. 88 
To prevent domestic animals from running at large 92 
To prevent nuisances in and about public urinals. 93 
To prevent sale of unwholesome food 93 
To provide for inspection of streets, food, live stock, fish, and marine 
products ... 94 
Ordure, disposal of 88 
Original packages, pharmacists not responsible for quality of 83 
Outhouses to be kept clean 120 
Oysters: 
Condemnation and seizure of 94 
Condemned, not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Oyster shells: 
Not to be placed in streets s. , 83 
Not to be thrown into Potomac River 107 
Patent medicines, pharmacists not responsible for quality of. 86 
Permits— 
For bringing milk into District of Columbia. 104 
For collection of garbage 119 
For conveyance of dead bodies 98 
For conveyance of dead bodies to be signed and returned 95 
For dairies and dairy farms 104 
For disposal of dead bodies 96 
For interment or disinterment of dead bodies 96 
For medical and dental colleges. 103 
Pharmacists (see also Commissioners of pharmacy and Pharmacy): 
Examination of.... 83 
Exemption from 85 
Requirements for 85 
Registration of i 85, 86 
Fees for 85 
Penalty 86 
Responsible for quality of goods sold 86 
Pharmacy: 
Act to regulate 84 
Who may conduct 84 
Physicians: 
Not to be interfered with by act regulating practice of dentistry 102 
Testimony of, act relating to. 108 
To exercise precautions to prevent spread of scarlet fever and diphtheria. 100 
To furnish certificates of recovery from scarlet fever and diphtheria. _. 100 
To issue death certificates. r 96 
To record licenses in supreme court of the District of Columbia. 111 
To register at health office 97, 111 
To report births to the health officer 98 
To report deaths from major contagious diseases 113 
To report major contagious diseases. 112 
To report scarlet fever and diphtheria 99 
Plague. (See Contagious diseases, major.) 
Plumbing regulations to be complied with in making sewer and water con- 
• nections 107 
Poisonous substances not to be permitted to enter certain water supplies... 89 
Poisons: 
Sale of 86 
Who may sell 85 
Police— 
To aid in enforcement of garbage regulations 102 
To assist health officer 84 
To report cases of contagious diseases among animals 118 336 
INDEX, 
Page. 
Potomac River, certain substances not to be thrown into 107 
Pound: 
Not to be broken open 92 
Fees 87,92 
Poundmaster: 
Bond of 93 
Duties of 92 
May act as auctioneer. 92 
To seize unmuzzled dogs 87,91 
To seize untagged dogs 87 
Poundmen, not to be interfered with 92 
Prescriptions, who may compound.. 85 
Privies: 
Box, to be tight. ..._ 90 
Cleaning, method of 90 
Cleanliness of 90,95 
Construction of. 90 
Contents— 
Deodorization of 90 
Disposal of 90 
Transportation of 90 
Fecal matter must be drained into sewers, when 106 
Inspection of * 90 
Location of 90,122 
Privy accommodations to be provided 83,120 
Proprietary medicines need not be of nature, substance, and quality de- 
manded 98 
Provisions, unwholesome, not to be sold 93 
Public reservations, certain deposits not to be made in 88 
Rags: 
Not to be stored in dwellings 121 
Removal of 83 
Storing of 83 
Receptacles for garbage. (See Garbage.) 
Records, transcripts from, fee for, established.. 112 
Refuse, place for, in tenement and lodging houses to be provided 121 
Refuse substances, disposal of 83,88 
Register of— 
Applicants for licenses to practice medicine 108 
Cemetery superintendents 97 
Dentists. 101 
Impounded domestic animals 93 
Licenses to practice medicine and surgery. 110 
Midwives 97,111 
Physicians 97,111 
Undertakers 97 
Registrar of vital statistics, appointment and duties of 96 
Registration of medical and dental colleges 105 
Regulations (see also Acts and Ordinances)— 
For analysis of food and drugs, Secretary of Treasury may prescribe... 99 
For carrying into effect act to regulate practice of medicine, board of 
medical supervisors may make 108 
For collection and disposition of garbage 118 
Commissioners may make 103 
For contagious diseases among animals 117 
Commissioners may make 97 
For dairies and dairy farms 122 
Health officer to make 105 
For examination of midwives,to be made by board of medical supervisors. 110 
For protection of public health, Commissioners may make 101 
For registration of medical and dental colleges 119 
Commissioners may make 108 
For scarlet fever and diphtheria, health officer may make 100 
For smallpox hospital, Commissioners may make 111 
For use and occupancy of buildings and grounds 120 
For vital statistics 96 
Bar bor, act to establish 107 
Plumbing, to be complied with in making sewer and water connections. 107 INDEX. 
337 
Page. 
Rendering dead animals a nuisance. 91 
Report of— 
Board of dental examiners 101 
Contagious diseases of animals 117,123 
Contagious diseases, major 112,113 
Health officer. (See Sup. R. S., 2d Ed., 179.) 
Health officer, printing of. (See 2 Sup. R. S., 354.) 
Inspectors (see also 2 Sup. R. S., 354) 94 
Scarlet fever and diphtheria required 99 
Vital statistics to be published weekly 96 
Reports to Commissioners of agriculture to be made by Chief of Bureau of 
Animal Industry 117 
Reports to Commissioners to be made by Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry. 117 
Reservations, public, certain deposits not to be made in 88 
Reservoirs, public, not to be defiled 89 
Restaurants not to offer unwholesome food or drink 93 
River water, not to be defiled 89 
Roofs to be kept tight 120 
Rubbish not to be placed in streets, etc 83 
Saloons not to offer unwholesome food or drink 93 
Scarlet fever. (See Scarlet fever and diphtheria.) 
Scarlet fever and diphtheria: 
Act to prevent spread of 99 
Cases to be reported 99 
Dispensaries and hospitals to isolate 115 
Expenses of enforcing act, how paid 100 
Isolation by hospitals and dispensaries 115 
Issue of false reports or certificates forbidden 100 
Jurisdiction, civil and criminal, vested in police court 100 
Patients not to appear on streets, etc 100 
Patient to be isolated .. 100 
Person in charge of, defined 100 
Persons convalescent from, not to attend school without certificate of 
recovery 100 
Practice of medicine defined 100 
Premises to be disinfected , 100 
Premises to be placarded 100 
Persons suffering from, may be confined, where. 116 
Provisions of law applied to ships, etc 100 
Regulations defined 100 
Removal of placard forbidden. 100 
Schools: 
Persons convalescent from scarlet fever and diphtheria not to attend, 
without certificate of recovery 100 
Persons suffering from scarlet fever and diphtheria not to attend 100 
Science, anatomical, act for promotion of 103 
Secretary of Treasury, rules and regulations for analysis of food and drugs 
to be prescribed by 99 
Sewer connections. (See Sewer and water connections.) 
Sewer and water connections: 
Compulsory ’. 106 
Cost of making may be assessed against property. 107 
May be made by Commissioners 107 
To be made in accordance with plumbing regulations 107 
Sewers. (See also Drains): 
Passages into, to be adequate and sufficient 89,95 
Passages into, traps to be provided for 89,95 
Sheep: 
Not to be kept in cow stables 122 
Pound fee for 92 
Shells, burning, crushing, or grinding of, a nuisance 91 
Sidewalks to be kept clean 83,88 
Slaughter of feverish or diseased cattle forbidden 93 
Slaughterhouses, cleanliness of 91 
Smallpox. (See Contagious diseases, major, and Vaccination.) 
Smallpox hospital. (See Hospital, smallpox.) 338 
INDEX. 
Page. 
Soap factories, disposal of offal i - 83 
Soil pipes: 
Size to be adequate and sufficient 89,95 
Traps to be provided for_ ... 89,95 
Spirits, distilling, a nuisance 91 
Springs: 
Defiling of .. - 89 
Impure and unwholesome, not to be maintained 89 
Stables (see also Cow stables). 
Cleanliness of .. 120 
Filthy and unwholesome, nuisances .. .. .. 90 
Steamboats may be boarded by inspector of marine products 94 
Steers, pound fee for - 92 
Stillbirths, to be reported. 90 
Stone, breaking or crushing, a nuisance 91 
Stores: 
Cleanliness - 121 
Lighting 121 
Heating 121 
Overcrowding 121 
Privy accommodations 121 
Ventilating... 121 
Streets, cleanliness of , 83,88 
Students, dental, not to be interfered with by act regulating practice of 
dentistry 102 
Superintendents of cemeteries: 
Burial permits to be returned by 96 
To register at health office 97 
Supervisors, medical. (See Board of medical supervisors.) 
Swedish movement cure not practice of medicine Ill 
Swill, boiling of, a nuisance 91 
Tallow, boiling of, a nuisance. .' 91 
Tanneries, cleanliness of 91 
Tar, making of, a nuisance 91 
Tenement houses (see also Buildings and Lodging houses): 
Defined 121 
Janitor to be provided, when 121 
Privies to be provided 83 
Receptacles for garbage to be provided 118 
Tenement and lodging houses (see also Buildings and Tenement houses). 
Air space in 121 
Articles dangerous to health not to be stored in 121 
Combustible material not to be stored in. 121 
Garbage, place for, to be provided 121 
Overcrowding forbidden 121 
Placards may be affixed 121 
Refuse, place for, to be provided 121 
Testimony of physicians, act relating to 1 108 
Trades generating offensive odors a nuisance 91 
Transcripts from records, act to establish a fee for 112 
Traps: 
Sewer to be provided 89,95 
Water-closets to be provided with 90,95 
Trees, ailanthus, when nuisances .. 89 
Tuberculous cattle, milk of, not to be sold 105 
Turpentine, making of, a nuisance 91 
Typhus fever. (See Contagious diseases, major.) 
Undertakers: 
Death certificates to be indorsed and forwarded by 96 
Registration of 97 
Urinals, public, ordinance to prevent nuisance in or about. 95 
Urine, disposal of 88 
Vaccination: * 
Gratuitous, means for, may be provided 116 
May be required by Commissioners 116 
Required after exposure to smallpox 116 
Varnish, boiling or making of, a nuisance 91 INDEX. 
339 
Varioloid. (See Contagious diseases, major.) Page. 
V'egetable matter: 
Decayed, disposal of . 88 
Decayed, not to be permitted to enter certain water supplies 89 
Decomposing and offensive, carrying and transportation of _ 89 
Not to be used for filling land 89 
Vegetables: 
Stalls, rooms, or stands where sold to be kept clean 98 
Unfit for food not to be brought into the city 98 
Unfit for food not to be brought into District of Columbia 119 
Unfit for food to be removed by owner 119 
Vehicles may be stopped by inspector of marine products 94 
Venders of drugs, etc., itinerant, to pay license 86 
Vessels may be boarded by inspector of marine products. 94 
Veterinarian, Chief of Bureau of Animal Industry may act as 117 
Veterinary surgeons to report cases of contagious diseases 118 
Vital statistics, regulations to secure full and correct record of 96 
Wagons, milk, to have name of owner, etc 104 
Waste matter from factories not to be used in filling land 89 
Water: 
Dye, disposal of 83,88 
Foul, disposal of. 83,88 
In water pipes not to be defiled 89 
W ater-closets: 
Cleanliness of 90,95 
Not to be located in cow stables. *122 
Traps to be provided for 90,95 
Water connections (see also Sewer and water connections) 106 
Water supply, impure and unwholesome, not to be maintained 89 
Wells: 
Impure and unwholesome, not to be maintained 89 
Not to be defiled 89 
Workshops: 
Cleanliness of 121 
Heating 121 
Lighting.. 121 
Overcrowding.. . 121 
Privy accommodations 121 
Ventilation 121 
Yards: 
Cleanliness of 120 
Drainage of 120 
Yellow fever. (See Contagious diseases, major.)