Annual Report of the Medical Officer of the Otago Benevolent Institution.

For The Year 1871.

I am glad to be able to report that during the past year the health of the inmates of the Institution has been, on the whole, good. Five deaths have occurred during the year; the first from consumption, in the case of Ellen Griffiths, a girl of thirteen years of age, who had suffered from that affection for two or three years previously; the second from effusion on the brain and convulsions, in the case of Henry Bateman; the third from inflammation of the lungs, in Robert White, aged 8 years; the last two from violent diarrhoea in very young infants.

The epidemics of influenza and scarlet fever, which have been so prevalent in the town, have fortunately not extended to the Institution; indeed every sanitary precaution has been taken to prevent as far as possible the occurrence of disease. All the children are vaccinated. Great credit is due to the Matron and to the others having charge of the children for the constant attention they pay to the important matters of cleanliness and ventilation. Lastly, a great deal of medical relief has been afforded to the outdoor recipients of the Charity.