Health Progress and Administration in the West Indies. By Sir
Rubert W. Boyce. (John Murray. 10s. 6d. net.)—Sir Rubert Boyce was sent out last year to Barbados to investigate an epidemic of yellow fever which was then present. He proceeded, at the request of the local authorities, to other Colonies, and he gives us in this volume the results of his inquiries, with various suggestions. Yellow fever -was regarded, not very long ago, as a necessary evil of West Indian life. In Barbados, for instance, medical reoords show its appearance for forty years up to 1846 without interruption. But from 1881 to 1907 it was unknown. Then came this outbreak. The question was : Was the cause to be found in survivals of the old infection or in some new importa- tion? Importation, is Sir Hubert Boyce's answer, and he gives his reasons for it here. And what was imported ? Not a human being infected, but an infected mosquito. It is only to be expected that practical difficulties arose. A portion of the public refused to believe in the presence of the disease ; some medical men were unwilling to diagnose it. And a portion of Vie Press supported them. Quotations from two newspapers are given in which the Government inspector is denounced as "an alarmist quarantine-monger." The authorities are urged to dismiss him. "If it be the will of Providence to afflict us with a real visitation of Yellow Fever or any other epidemic, the chastisement will doubtless be accepted by all classes without murmur or complaint." What simple piety ! Details are given of the work as it is carried on in the region generally. Cuba and Porto Rico seem to take the lead in the thoroughness of their measures. In Jamaica much remains to be done, though there is a general willingness to do it.
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