A,—4A

1.3. Soil-pollution. As among all primitive peoples, so in Samoa, there is much soil-pollution. The Samoan is intelligent and receptive to measures for his benefit, and where these privies over the water have been installed this condition is rapidly being improved. The villages in the interior will each offer a problem for the health authorities. 14. Garbage Regulations. The regulations as to rubbish and refuse containers require that all householders must have a flv-proof metal container in which shall be deposited all garbage and rubbish that can not be easily destroyed on the premises. This is emptied twice weekly by the Government garbage-collector. 15. Public Nuisances. All public nuisances that are deleterious to public health are provided for in the Samoan Health Ordinance. Other nuisances are provided for in the Police Offences Ordinances. 16. Public Health Hygiene. The systematic study in the schools of public-health hygiene has only commenced this year. The Department of Education publishes a quarterly school journal in which articles supplied by the Department of Health are inserted. This journal and its articles is used as a text-book in all Native schools. This medium offers an opportunity for the inculcation of the principles of public and personal hygiene. The Government monthly publication for the Natives has so far only been used for the campaigns against yaws and hookworm disease. 17. School Hygiene. Dental inspection of children attending Government schools was begun in 1924. Medical inspection of school-children has not yet commenced. Forms have been received from New Zealand, and the work will be undertaken when a Medical Officer can be spared from other health work for this programme. An inspection of the Government school-children shows them to be clean-skinned and healthy in appearance. A few cases only of eye infection were noted at this inspection. 18. Vital Statistics. Up to the Ist January, 1923, the records of vital statistics can only be taken as approximate. Since that time there have been two independent sources of vital statistics, which must check against each other. First, there is the Pulenu'u, or Mayor of the village, who sends in a record weekly of the births and deaths in his village, each one on a separate form ; second, there is the Faamasino, or Native Judge of the district, who must also get his record from the individual responsible for notification under the regulations and forward it weekly. These two records are checked against each other. This makes an accurate collection of vital statistics. 19. Mortality in Samoa. In 1923 the births of 1,701 living children (Samoan) were registered in Western Samoa, as against 1,622 in 1922. The birth-rate was thus 50-49 per thousand of mean population, as against 48-2 per thousand for 1922. The number of live births in 1923 is the second highest recorded, the highest being 1,792 in 1912, with a population of 24,239. Stillbirths, of which twenty-one are recorded, are not included either as births or deaths. There were registered sixteen pairs of twins, of which both were males in seven instances, both females in six. The number of deaths registered during the year was 1,398, as compared with 899 in 1922. The increase was due to an epidemic of dysentery. The crude death-rate was 41-5 per thousand of mean population. Of the 1,398 deaths, 719 were of children who had not reached the age of two years. Nine women died in childbirth. E-pidemic Years. —A comparison of the returns for 1923 with other years when the country suffered from epidemics may be of interest : —

* Measles first visited Samoa in 1893, and caused a large number of deaths, but, as records were not kept at that time, no definite figures are available. Its second appearance was in 1911,

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Excess of | Excess of Year. Population. Births. Deaths. Births over j Deaths over Epidemic. Deaths. Births. I I I I 1 1907 .. 33,354 ! 1,389 1,584 .. 175 Dysentery. 1911 .. 33,639 ; 1,453 1,827 .. 374 Dysentery and measles.* 1915 .. 35,554 j 1,611 1,451 160 .. j Measles. 1918 .. 38.093 I 1,509 8,437 .. 6,928 Influenza. 1923 .. 33,685 ! 1,701 1,398 303 .. Dysentery (shiga). I . !