duly verified, of one or more united persons or corporations assessed, and claiming that they are, or will be, injured by the alleged illegal, erroneous, or unequal assessment. This writ is only allowed by a justice of the supreme court in the judicial district, or at a special term of the court in the judicial district in which the assessment complained of was made, and is made returnable at a special term in said district. A new

assessment or correction of an assessment, made by order of the court, has the same force and effect as if it

had been so made by the proper assessing officers within the time originally prescribed by law for making such assessment. Disobedience to a writ or order in any proceeding under the laws of 1880, chap. 269, may be punished by the court as for a contempt. All issues and appeals under this Act have preference over all other civil actions and proceedings in all courts.

There are some special provisions regarding taxation, &c., applicable to certain cities, towns, wards, and counties.

Quarantine for the protection of the public health is established in and for the port of New York for all vessels, their crews, passengers, equipage, cargoes, and other property on board of the same, arriving thereat from other ports; and the quarantine establishment consists of (1) warehouses, wet docks, and wharves; (2) anchorage for vessels ; (3) floating hospitals; (4) boarding station; (5) burying ground; (6) residence for officers and men. Vessels arriving are subject to quarantine as follows: First, All vessels from any place where disease subject to quarantine existed at the time of their departure, or which have arrived at any such place and proceeded thence to New York, or on board of which during the voyage any case of such disease has occurred, arriving between the first day of April and the first day of November, shall remain at quarantine for at least thirty days after their arrival, and at least twenty days after their cargoes have been discharged, and shall perform suck and further quarantine as the quarantine commissioners may prescribe, unless the

health officer, with the approval of the quarantine commissioners, shall sooner grant a permit for said vessel or cargo, or both, to proceed. Second, from any place (including islands) in Asia, Africa, or the Mediterranean, or from any of the West Indies, Bahama, Bermuda, or Western Islands, or from any place in America, in the ordinary passage from which they pass south of Cape Henlopen, and all vessels on board of which during the voyage, or while at the port of their departure, any person has been sick, arriving between the first day of April and the first day of November; and all vessels from a foreign port not embraced in the first subdivision shall, on their arrival at the quarantine ground, be subject to visitation by the health officer, but shall not be detained beyond the time requisite for the examination and observation, unless they have had on board during the voyage some case of quarantinable disease, in which case they shall be subject to such quarantine and regulations as the health officer and the quarantine commissioners may prescribe. Third, all vessels embraced in the foregoing provisions, which

are navigated by steam, are subject only to such length of quarantine and regulations as the health officer enjoins, unless they have had on board during the voyage some case of quarantinable disease, in which case they are subject to such quarantine as the health officer and the quarantine commissioners prescribe.

Persons with insufficient evidence of effective vaccination, and known to have been recently exposed to small-pox, are vaccinated as soon as practicable, and detained until the vaccinia has taken effect. No other well persons are detained in quarantine any longer than necessary to secure cleanliness. Such vaccination and disposal of persons vaccinated is made under regulations fixed by the quarantine commissioners and health officer. The only diseases against which quarantine applies are yellow fever, cholera, typhus or shipfever, and small-pox, and any new disease not known, of a contagious, infectious, or pestilential nature, at the discretion of the quarantine commissioners and health officer.

For the purpose of sanitary measures, merchandise is arranged in three classes (1) merchandise to be submitted to an obligatory quarantine and to purification—to wit, clothing, personal baggage, and dunnage, rags, paper rags, hides, skins, feathers, hair, and all other remains of animals, cotton, hemp, and woollens; (2) merchandise subject to an optional quarantine to wit, sugar, silks, and linen and cattle; and (3) merchandise exempt from quarantine-to wit, all merchandise not enumerated in the other two classes. With existing quarantine disease on board, or if there have been any such disease on board within the ten days last preceding, merchandise of the second class is landed at the quarantine warehouse. Merchandise of the second class may be admitted to pra

tique immediately or transferred to the warehouses, according to circumstances, at the option of the health officer, with due regard to the sanitary conditions of the port. Merchandise of the third class is delivered free, and admitted without unnecessary delay. Admission to pratique is preceded by as many visits to the vessel as the health officer may judge necessary. A vessel has the right, before breaking bulk, of putting to sea in preference to being quarantined. On arrival of infected vessels, all well persons have their freedom as soon as possible, consistently with regulations; sick persons are immediately transferred to the floating hospital, or other hospitals appropriated for their reception, and the vessel is unladen, purified, and admitted to pratique as soon as possible. All merchandise is placed in the warehouses and there freely exposed to the air, and moved from time to time to ensure its perfect ventilation. In no case shall persons sick with different diseases be put in the same hospital.

The health officer for the port of New York is nominated by the governor, and appointed by him with the consent of the senate, and holds office for two years, and until his successor is duly qualified. He must be a doctor of medicine of good standing, and of at least ten years' experience in the practice of his profession, and also be practically familiar with the diseases subject to quarantine. The governor nominates, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoints three discreet persons, citizens of the state, who are residents of the metropolitan police district, as commissioners of quarantine, who hold office for three years, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. Their salary is $2500 each.

The commissioners of quarantine

are authorised and empowered to commute with the owner, consignee, or master of any ship or vessel for the charges and expenses which may be made or incurred in the care, treatment, maintenance, cleansing of baggage, or burial of any person under quarantine who shall arrive in the port of New York upon such ship or vessel, by receiving from such owner, consignee, or master such a sum for each person arriving in such ship or vessel as the said commissioners deem

to be just and proper. The amount so paid is in lieu of all charges and expenses authorised by law to be collected, and all persons under quarantine for whom commutation money is so paid are taken care of and maintained at the expense of the funds provided for defraying the expenses of the quarantine so received by the commissioners.

There are regulations for the preservation of public health in other ports and places of the state, and regulations generally applicable throughout the state which remain in force, though perhaps they might be held to have been superseded by subsequent legislation.

It is the duty of the common council of every city in the state, except the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Yonkers, and Buffalo (which have special provisions), to appoint a board of health for such, to consist of six persons who are not members of said council, and who are appointed for three years, and so that two are appointed each year. At least one shall be a competent physician. The mayor of the city is a member ex officio of the board of health, and is its president. When duly organised, the board appoints a competent physician (not a member of the board), who is health officer for the city. And it is the duty of the trustees of every incorporated village in the state to appoint, once

in each year, a board of health for such village, to consist of not less than three nor more than seven persons (who are not village trustees), to hold office for one year, or until their successors are appointed, from which board are elected a president and secretary; and the board thus constituted appoints a competent physician to be the health officer of such village, who shall not be a member of the board. The supervisor and justices of the peace and the town-clerk, or a majority of them, of each town in the state, together with a citizen of such town, of full age, to be elected by them, are the board of health for such town for each year, and they appoint some competent physician, not a member of the board, to be the health officer for such town. They have cognisance of the causes of injury or danger to the public health, and meet upon call of the supervisor. Also, whenever in the judgment of the state board of health, or (if the said board be not in session) of the president and secretary thereof, it is necessary, and the public good requires it, the supervisor of such town, upon reasonable notice being given to him from the state board of health, or its president and secretary, immediately convenes the town board of health to take such proceedings as the public health in that vicinity may require, and concerning which it has been so notified. When vacancies occur in any city, village, or town board of health, and there are less than the statutory number of members, it is the duty of the county judge of the county in which such town, village, or city is situated, or an adjoining county, upon being satisfied thereof, to appoint in writing one or more competent citizens to fill such vacancies and to perform the duties of said office. This written appointment is filed in the office of

the clerk of the county. The several boards of health, except as stated, meet in their respective cities, villages, and towns, and (1) fix and determine the period of quarantine to which vessels, vehicles, or persons arriving in such city, village, or town shall be subject, but can, after an examination, reduce the period of such quarantine if they deem it safe to do so. It is the duty of the several boards of health to (2) prescribe the duties and powers of the health officer, direct him from time to time in the performance thereof, and fix his compensation; (3) make orders and regulations in their discretion concerning the place and mode of quarantine; the examination and purification of vessels, boats, and other craft not under quarantine; the treatment of vessels, articles, or persons thereof; the regulation of intercourse with infected places; the apprehension, separation, and treatment of emigrants and other persons who have been exposed to any infectious or contagious disease; the suppression and removal of nuisances, and all other orders and regulations, as they think necessary and proper for the preservation of the public health; (4) regulate and prohibit or prevent all communication or intercourse with all houses, tenements, and places, and the persons occupying the same, in which there is any person who has been exposed to any infectious or contagious disease; (5) receive and examine into the nature of complaints made by any of the inhabitants concerning causes of danger or injury to the public health, within the limits of its jurisdiction, and to require such isolation and quarantining of persons, vessels, and sources of infection as are in its judgment necessary; also to release from such isolation or quarantine when it deems it safe to release, making a record of the facts in the case (quarantin

ing and releasing), and of the reasons for the action taken. It is also the duty of the board to procure suitable places for the reception of persons and things infected with malignant, contagious, or infectious diseases, and in all cases where sick persons cannot otherwise be provided for, to procure for them medical and other attendance and necessaries; and to take cognisance of and report every case of small-pox or varioloid occurring within said board's jurisdiction; also to make all needful provisions for immediately obtaining the necessary means for thorough and safe vaccination of all persons within its jurisdiction who may need the It is also the duty of the board

same.

of health in each town, village, and city in the state to have the supervision of the registration of deaths, diseases, and the causes of death, and findings of coroner's juries, and to designate the persons who shall grant permits for the burial of the dead, and to prescribe sanitary regulations for such burials; and to supervise and make complete the registration of births, deaths, and marriages within the limits of its jurisdiction, and the cost of so completing the said registration is a charge upon such town, village, or city, and shall not exceed 50 cents for each completely verified and registered record of a birth, death, or marriage; but the town-clerks and the registering clerks provided by law in villages and cities may still keep all records of births, deaths, and marriages, as required by chap. 512, laws of 1880. (6) To publish from time to time all such orders and regulations of general obligation as they have made, in such manner as to secure early and full publicity thereto; and to make, without publication thereof, such orders and regulations in special or individual cases, not of general application, as

they see fit, concerning the suppression and removal of nuisances, and concerning all other matters in their judgment detrimental to the public health, and to serve copies thereof upon any occupants of any premises whereon any such nuisances or other matters aforesaid exist, or by posting the same in some conspicuous place on such premises. (7) To issue warrants to any constable of their respective cities, villages, or towns, to apprehend and remove such persons as cannot otherwise be subjected to the orders and regulations by them adopted; and whenever it is necessary to do so, to issue their warrants to the sheriff of their respective counties to bring to their aid the power of the county; all which warrants shall be forthwith executed by the officers to whom they are delivered, who possess the like powers, and are subject to the like duties in the execution thereof, as if the same had been duly issued out of any court of record in the state. (8) To employ all such persons as are necessary to enable them to carry into effect the orders or regulations they have adopted, published, and made, and the powers vested in them, and to fix their compensation. (9) To impose penalties and maintain actions to collect them, not exceeding $100 in any one case, or to restrain by injunction, or otherwise enforce their orders and

regulations. All expenses incurred by the several boards of health in the execution and performance of their duties are a charge only on their respective cities, villages, and towns, and are audited, levied, collected, and paid in the same manner as other town charges.

The trustees of the several common school districts in the state, and the proper local boards of common school government in the several cities, can, under the provisions of chap. 438, laws of 1860, exclude from the bene

fits of the common schools therein any child or any person who has not been vaccinated, and until such child or person shall have been vaccinated.

Chap. 322, laws of 1880, directed the governor to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, three state commissioners of health, two of whom should be graduates of legally constituted medical colleges, and of not less than seven years' practice of their profession. These commissioners, together with the attorney general, the superintendent of the state survey, and the health officer of the port of New York, who are ex officio members of the state board of health, and three other persons designated and appointed by the governor, one of whom shall be a commissioner of health of the board of health of the city of New York, and the others members or commissioners of health of regularly constituted and organised boards of health of cities of the state, constitute the board of health of the State of New York. The three commissioners so appointed take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution for state officers, and receive from the secretary of state certificates of their appointment. They hold office for three years. The state board of health meets at least once in every three months, and as much oftener as they deem necessary, their annual meeting being held within two weeks after the 1st of May. No member except the secretary receives any compensation, but the actual travelling and other expenses of the members and officers while engaged in their duties are allowed and paid out of the appropriation made for its support. One of their number is annually elected president, and they also elect from among their own members, or otherwise, a person of skill and experience in public health