deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $100.

And any person who shall willfully alter any certificate of birth or death, or the copy of any certificate of birth or death, on file in the office of the State registrar, or any county registrar, local registrar, or deputy local registrar, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than $10 no more than $100, or be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding 60 days or suffer both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.

And any person or persons who shall violate any of the provisions of this subtitle, or who shall willfully neglect or refuse to perform any duties imposed upon them by the provisions of this subtitle, or shall furnish false information to a physician, undertaker, midwife, or informant for the purpose of making incorrect certification of births or deaths, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100.

And any transportation company or common carrier transporting or carrying, or accepting through its agents or employees for transportation or carriage, the body of any deceased person, without an accompanying permit issued in accordancce with the provisions of this subtitle, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $200: Provided, That in case the death occurred outside of the State and the body is accompanied by a burial, removal or transit permit issued in accordance with the law or board of health regulations in force where the death occurred, such burial, removal or transit permit may be held to authorize the transportation or carriage of the body into or through the State.

Each local registrar is hereby charged with the strict and thorough enforcement of the provisions of this subtitle in his registration district, under the supervision and direction of the State registrar. And he shall make an immediate report to the State registrar of any violation of this law coming to his notice, by observation or upon complaint of any person or otherwise. The State registrar is hereby charged with the thorough and efficient execution of the provisions of this subtitle in every part of the State, and with supervisory power over local registrars, to the end that all of its requirements shall be uniformly complied with. He shall have authority to investigate cases of irregularity or violation of law, personally or by an accredited representative, and all registrars shall aid him, upon request, in such investigations. When he shall deem it necessary, he shall report cases of violation of any of the provisions of this subtitle to the prosecuting attorney of the county, with a statement of the facts and circumstances, and when any such case is reported to him by the State registrar, the prosecuting attorney shall forthwith initiate and promptly follow up the necessary court proceedings against the person or corporation responsible for the alleged violation of law.

And the State registrar is further empowered to appoint, designate, or assign a special counsel to assist in the prosecution of violators or alleged violations of this subtitle.

And should any county registrar, local registrar, or deputy local registrar refuse or neglect to execute his duties as provided in this subtitle, the State registrar may, with the advice and consent of the State board of health require him to vacate his office and make a new appointment to fill the vacancy so created. Any county registrar, local registrar, deputy local registrar, or State registrar who shall communicate to any person not authorized to

tion in equity, if they find that entrance or dis waste, refuse, or other substances into said river injurious to the public health, to enforce or mo the provisions of this act, and to enjoin such ceedings to enforce any such order or to obtain instituted and prosecuted by the attorney gen department of public health.

SEC. 4. Nothing in this act shall be held to pr river or any tributary thereof of surface drain streets or the discharge from drains designed for and ground drainage, provided that no sewage therewith, nor shall it be held to interfere with t soil in the ordinary methods of agriculture.

SEC. 5. Chapter 158 of the acts of 1906 is hereb not affect any powers exercisable by the metr under chapter 465 of the acts of 1903 and acts

Acushnet River-Investigation of Sanitary Con

ment of Public Health. (Ch. 32, Reso

Resolved, That the department of public heal vestigate and report upon the sanitary conditi water of Acushnet River and of the streams tr in the towns of Acushnet and Fairhaven and in th department shall ascertain whether the condition of the banks thereof, is injurious or dangerous to of deposits of sewage or of refuse from factories the department finds that any circumstances inj public health exist by reason of deposits of object it shall recommend a plan or plans for the remov report the same to the next general court on or bef

MASSACHUSETTS.

Bubonic Plague-State Department of Public Health Authorized to Report to Legislature Any Measures Necessary for the Prevention and Control of. (Ch. 91, Resolve Dec. 22, 1920.)

Resolved, That the department of public health is hereby authorized, after investigation, to report to the next general court any measures necessary for the prevention and control of bubonic plague, and for this purpose may expend such sum, not exceeding $5,000, as shall be appropriated therefor.

Lepers-State Department of Public Health Authorized to Contract with United States Government for Care of, at Penikese Island. (Ch. 328, Act Apr. 20, 1920.)

The department of public health is hereby authorized to contract with the United States Public Health Service for the reception and care at Penikese Island of lepers.

Tuberculosis-Subsidy from State to Cities and Towns for Care of Cases of. (Ch. 238, Act Apr. 2, 1920.)

SECTION 1. Chapter 597 of the acts of 1911, as amended in section 1 by section 1 of chapter 637 of the acts of 1912, by chapters 57 and 1971 of the General Acts of 1916, and by chapter 2902 of the General Acts of 1917 is hereby further amended by striking out said section 1 and substituting the following: SECTION 1. Every city or town which places its patients suffering from tuberculosis in a county, municipal, or incorporated tuberculosis hospital, or in a building or ward set apart for patients suffering from tuberculosis by a county, municipal, or incorporated hospital shall be entitled to receive from the Commonwealth a subsidy of $5 a week for each patient who has a legal settlement therein, provided that such patient is unable to pay for his support, and that his kindred bound by law to maintain him are unable to pay for the same; but a city or town shall not become entitled to this subsidy unless, upon examination authorized by the department of public health, the sputum of the patient be found to contain bacilli of tuberculosis, nor unless the hospital building or ward be approved by said department; and the department shall not give such approval unless it has, by authority of law or by permission of the hospital, full authority to inspect the same at all times. The department may at any time withdraw its approval. In the case of hospitals having a bed capacity which, in the opinion of the said department, is in excess of the number of beds needed for the localities which these institutions serve for patients exhibiting tubercle bacilli in their sputum, the subsidy above provided for shall be allowed for such patients not exhibiting tubercle bacilli in their sputum as, in the joint opinion of the superintendent of the institution and the district health officer of the district in which the hospital

1 Reprint 406 from Public Health Reports, p. 127.

2 Supplement 37 to Public Health Reports, p. 208.

all health laws of the district or county under t of the State board of health, or its executive co investigation of health problems and recommend as may be necessary, but shall be under the supe diction of the State board of health, or its executiv report to said board of health of all matters conce of his district or county in the manner prescribed or its executive committee.

SEC. 3. The term for which any officer appointe shall not exceed four years, but the State board committee shall remove any officer appointed und such conduct as it may deem improper, or for neg tency, or for any offense which in their judgment welfare, and may summarily suspend any officer a any complaint made of such officer may be fully in of health or its executive committee.

SEC. 4. The board of supervisors shall be author tion for said department of health as may be ne the director or health officer or others that may such work. The board of supervisors of the coun to carry out the duties of this position. Where unite in having a department of health, the amo maintaining and supporting the work shall be ag counties subject to the approval of the State boa committee, and all salaries to be paid shall be reco of health or its executive committee to the board or counties for which the officers are to act. A mended by the State board of health, or its exec aries shall be recommended in the same way.

and of his condition to the overseers of the poor thereof, or, if he is a State pauper, to the department of public welfare.

Dental, Medical, and Health Clinics-Cities and Towns Authorized to Establish and Maintain. (Ch. 100, Act Mar. 3, 1920.)

SECTION 1. Cities and towns may establish and maintain dental, medical, and health clinics, and in connection therewith may conduct campaigns of general education relative to matters of public health.

SEC. 2. Cities and towns, acting through their respective boards of health, may unite and cooperate for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act, and may provide for the maintenance of clinics as aforesaid in one or more of the cities and towns so uniting.

SEC. 3. All appropriations made for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act shall be expended under the direction of the board of health of the city or town, and clinics established hereunder shall be conducted subject to such rules and regulations as the board may establish.

SEC. 4. Chapter 677 of the Acts of 1914 is hereby repealed.

Prenatal and Postnatal Aid and Care for Mothers and Children-Investigation of, by Special Commission. (Ch. 85, Resolve June 4, 1920.)

Resolved, That an unpaid special commission is hereby created to consist of the commissioner of public health, the commissioner of public welfare, and three persons to be appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a physician and one of whom shall be a woman, to investigate the question of participation by the Commonwealth and the cities and towns thereof in medical and other prenatal and postnatal aid and care for mothers and their children, including the subject matter of Senate Document No. 1, House Document No. 306, Senate Document No. 200, House Document No. 1174, Senate Document No. 506 and Senate Document No. 572, and among other things the question of the expense involved, the form and nature of the aid, if any, which should be furnished, what the functions and powers of the Commonwealth should be, to what extent if at all the cities and towns should participate, and whether and to what extent it is advisable that the cities and towns should

share in the expense. Said commission shall report its recommendations to the special session of the general court not later than November 15, 1920, with drafts of such legislation, if any, as is recommended, with an estimate of the expense of carrying out its recommendations, and may expend for the purposes of said investigation and report such sums as the general court shall appropriate.

State District Health Officers-Appointment, Powers, Duties, and Compensation. (Ch. 435, Act May 12, 1920.)

Section 5 of chapter 792 of the acts of 1914 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "into," in the third line, the words "not more than," and by striking out the words " approval of the governor and council, not exceeding $3,500 a year," in the sixth and seventh lines, and substituting the following: "provisions of chapter 228 of the General Acts of 1918 as amended," so as to read as follows:

SEC. 5. The commissioner of health, with the approval of the public health council, shall, from time to time, divide the State into not more than eight

Reprint 279 from Public Health Reports, p. 81.