It is declared a misdemeanor for any person to practise medicine, surgery, or midwifery in this State, unless authorized so to do by a certificate. And any person found guilty of such misdemeanor shall for the first offence be fined not less than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars; for any subsequent offence not less than two hundred nor more than five hundred dollars; which fine may be recovered by an action of debt for the use of any person who shall sue therefor, or by an indictment. No person practising either of the branches of medicine, surgery, or midwifery within this State, without a certificate as provided in this act, shall be permitted to enforce, in any of the courts of this State, the collection of any fee or compensation for any services rendered, or medicine or material of any kind furnished, in the practice of any of the branches not mentioned in such certificate. The act does not apply to the practice of dentistry, or to those practitioners of medicine who have resided five years in the town or city of their present residence (1875). PHARMACY. In Massachusetts apothecaries and other persons are required to keep a record of the sale of arsenic, strychnine, corrosive sublimate, or prussic acid, without the written prescription of a physician, under penalty of not less than fifty dollars, and persons purchasing deadly poisons and giving a fictitious name to the apothecary or other persons, are liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars (G. S. 166, § 7). In Maine no person is allowed to sell such drugs, except on the prescription of a physician, without labeling each parcel sold with the name of the article and the word "Poison," and making record of such sale, under a penalty of not less than twenty nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment from thirty to sixty days (R. S. 28). In New Hampshire druggists and apothecaries are required to keep account of the sale of dangerous drugs (G. S. 253). In Vermont druggists must keep an account of the sale of poisonous drugs and of any anesthetic agents. Giving an anesthetic by inhalation or otherwise for the purpose of committing any crime against the person or property of any citizens renders one liable to imprisonment for not less than three years or for life (G. S. 118, § 6). In Rhode Island no person, unless a registered pharmacist or registered assistant pharmacist, or one acting under the supervision of such, can retail, compound, or dispense medicines or poisons. This provision does not, however, apply to physicians who do not keep open shop for the sale of medicines, or prevent them from administering or supplying to their patients such medicines as they deem best. Registration is allowed only to graduates in pharmacy, practising pharmacists, or assistant pharmacists. The State Board of Pharmacy (consisting of seven members, and appointed every three years) are authorized to examine all applicants for registration and to grant such as pass a satis factory examination permission to engage in business. The fee for examination and registration is ten dollars. A registered assistant pharmacist may be entitled to registration as a registered pharmacist, on payment of one dollar. The sale of medicines by other than registered pharmacists, or the assumption of the name of registered pharmacist, is forbidden under a penalty of fifty dollars. The sale of poisons and of the whole class of emmenagogue and abortifacient remedies is forbidden, except such articles are labelled with their names, and the word "Poison," and apothecaries are required to keep a list of such sales (G. S. 119, §§ 1-8). QUARANTINE. In Massachusetts towns may establish quarantine grounds in suitable places, within their limits or if in other towns with the consent of such towns. Two or more towns may at their joint expense establish quarantine grounds for their joint use, and may make suitable quarantine regulations; and owners and masters of vessels, seamen and passengers, liable to quarantine, are bound to obey such regulations (G. S. 26, §§ 3239). In Maine municipal officers of seaport cities and towns are authorized to make similar arrangements (R. S. 14, §§ 17-25). In New Hampshire, (G. S. 103, §§ 1-14). In Rhode Island (G. S. 74, §§ 1-11). In Connecticut (G. S. 11, §§ 4-12). REGISTRY AND RETURN OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS. In Massachusetts any physician having attended a person during his last illness, shall, when requested, within fifteen days after the decease of such person, forthwith furnish for registration a certificate of the duration of the last sickness, the disease of which the person died, and the date of his decease as nearly as he can state the same. If any physician neglects or refuses to make such certificate, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten dollars for the use of the town in which he resides (G. S. 21, § 3). In New Hampshire physicians are required to make return of births and deaths annually before the fifteenth of April in each year, for which a fee is paid (G. S. 162, § 3). In Vermont a physician who has been in attendance upon any person is required to leave a certificate of the cause of death with the town clerk within fifteen days after the interment of such person, under a fine for neglect, of three dollars (G. S. 17, § 7). In Rhode Island the physician must make out a certificate within forty-eight hours of the death of a person (G. S. 77, § 6). In Connecticut physicians and midwives are re quired to furnish certificates of births within the first week of the month, after said birth, and physicians are required to give certificates of death during the first week of the next month following such death (G. S. 3, § 3). VACCINATION. In Massachusetts parents and guardians shall cause their children and wards to be vaccinated before they attain the age of two years, and revaccinated whenever the selectmen or mayor and aldermen shall after five years from the last vaccination require it. For every year's neglect the party offending shall forfeit the sum of five dollars. The selectmen and mayor and aldermen shall require and enforce the vaccination of inhabitants, and persons over twenty-one years of age failing to comply with such requirement are liable to a fine of five dollars. Towns are required to furnish the means of vaccination to such of their inhabitants as are unable to pay for the same (G. S. 26, §§ 27-31). In Maine a town may provide for the vaccination of the inhabitants, and raise money to defray the expenses of the same. Inoculation with small-pox is forbidden under penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence (R. S. 14, §§ 31, 35). In New Hampshire any town may appoint an agent for vaccination, who may vaccinate all persons at the expense of the town. Inoculation with small-pox is liable to a fine of one hundred and fifty dollars (G. S. 102, §§ 1-6). In Vermont town officers may require vaccination in case of the presence and threatened spread of small-pox (G. S. 99, §1). The town councils in Rhode Island are obliged to provide public vaccination at the expense of said towns (G. S. 74, §§ 25-27). In Connecticut boards of health may compel vaccination of the inhabitants of their several towns (G. S. 16, §§ 17, 18). Executive Departments in the Cities throughout Massachusetts. BOSTON. Board of Health. The Board of Health of the city of Boston was organized under the statutes and in conformity with the ordinance of the city, passed December 2, 1872, and amended January 10, 1873.1 The Board of Health have and exercise all the powers vested in, and perform all the duties prescribed to, the City Council or the Board of Aldermen as a Board of Health, under the statutes and ordinances now in force. It has the superintendence of all burial grounds except those under the control of Trustees. They appoint, subject to the approval of the Mayor, and have under their control, the Superintendent of the Health Department, the City Physician, and Port Physician. The Board has its office in the City Hall. Office hours 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. 1 The city ordinance passed in 1869, under which matters of health were conducted up to January, 1873, was abolished on the adoption of the new ordinance. Members of the Board. S. H. Durgin, M. D., Chairman. H. G. Crowell. Clerk of the Board - C. E. Davis, Jr. City Physician - A. W. Boardman. -S. A. Green, M. D. Assistant, J. H. McCollom, M. D. Office at Charity Bureau, Chardon Street: hours from 10 to 12 daily. Port Physician In charge of Quarantine Department, A. S. Wallace, M. D., resident at Deer Island. Assistant, Thomas Kittredge, M. D. The quarantine grounds comprise those parts of Boston Harbor lying between Deer Island and Gallop's Island; the hospital for this department is located on Gallop's Island, in charge of G. T. Ranlett. Superintendent of Lunatic Hospital — C. A. Walker, M. D. - Medical Inspectors in Service of Board of Health — W. L. Richardson, M. D., F. W. Draper, M. D. City Registrar- N. A. Apollonio. Office at City Hall: office hours from 9 A. M. to 5 P. M. on Sunday from 10 to 12 A. M. The City Registrar records the births, deaths, and marriages, and grants certificates of all intentions of marriages. The number of births in the city of Boston in 1875 was 11,020. The number of deaths was 8,958, of which number 684 were caused by cholera infantum, 1,357 by consumption, 632 by pneumonia, &c. Board of Directors for Public Institutions — The Board have charge of the Houses of Industry and Reformation, the House of Correction, and the Lunatic Hospital. Application is to be made through the Clerk of the Board, for commitments to the City and State Lunatic Hospitals. Office at 30 Pemberton Square. Examining Physician - T. W. Fisher, M. D. Office hour 11 to 12. CAMBRIDGE. Board of Health - The Mayor and Board of Aldermen. CHELSEA. Board of Health - The Mayor and Board of Aldermen. FALL RIVER. Board of Health - The Mayor and Board of Aldermen. FITCHBURG. Board of Health - The Board of Overseers of the Poor. HAVERHILL. Board of Health - Committee from City Council. GLOUCESTER. Board of Health Committee from City Council. LAWRENCE. Board of Health - The Mayor and Board of Aldermen. LOWELL. Board of Health The Mayor and Committee from City Council. City Physician-H. J. Smith, M. D. Board of Health - The Mayor and Board of Aldermen. Physician to the Board of Health and Quarantine Physician — C. L. Swasey, M. D. |