72
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

Honorable the Colonial Secretary, in pursuance of
the provisions of the twenty-second section of the
said Act, I have the honor to signify to Your
Excellency that I do not dissent to the prayer of
that Petition.

I have, &c.,
W. S. MOORHOUSE,
Superintendent of Canterbury.

His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 29th January, 1868.

IT is hereby notified that the
INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS,

has been appointed a member of the Local Board of
Examiners at Southland, for the examination of
candidates for the Civil Service, under "The Civil
Service Act, 1866."

E. W. STAFFORD.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 1st February, 1868.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

ARTHUR DAVID HARVEY, Esq.,

to be the Deputy of the Registrar of Marriages, and
of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, for the District of
Dunstan, as the same is defined in proclamation of
20th January, 1868, and published in New Zealand
Gazette No. 5, of 23rd January, 1868. This
appointment to take effect on the 2nd March, 1868.

E. W. STAFFORD.

Native Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 29th January, 1868.

THE following Memorandum by Dr. Cusack on the
epidemic of measles, is published for general
information.

J. C. RICHMOND.

MEMORANDUM BY DR. CUSACK ON THE EPIDEMIC
OF MEASLES AMONG THE NATIVES.

Having undertaken, on behalf of the Medical
Board, to furnish such information on the present
epidemic of measles as may be useful to the Native
Department, it will be convenient—First: To give a
short history of the disease as it appeared in July
and August last among the Natives in the Nelson
District, in language sufficiently free from techni-
calities to be understood by the officers of the
Native Department. Second: To give an outline for
the use of the Natives of the kind of treatment
which my experience of that epidemic leads me to
believe will be most useful and available in future
similar attacks.

First: Last spring a number of Natives were
assembled in Nelson on some land question, they
were very closely crowded together, and one hundred
and twenty of them contracted measles, which was
then prevalent in the town, and came under my
care. A return of their names and the duration of
the disease in each case was furnished by me to the
Nelson branch of the Native Department. The
disease commenced with lassitude, cold in the eyes
and nostrils, and similar symptoms to those experi-
enced by Europeans. In those with a very dark
skin the rash was not very distinguishable, but in
the majority it was plainly visible, and in nearly all
could be seen in the mouth and throat. In about
eighty-five per cent., it ran a very rapid and
favourable course. In about fifteen per cent., it
extended either to the digestive organs, causing
pain and diarrhea, or to the air passages, causing
bronchitis or inflammation of the lungs. All,

however, excepting one who became consumptive,
recovered, and are, so far as I can trace them now,
well.

For treatment, the chief reliance was placed on
constant and judicious nourishment; they were
advised to discontinue their ordinary dietary of shell
fish and potatoes, and were amply provided with
meat, from which they were directed to prepare beef
tea or mutton broth, a small cup of which was to be
taken every two hours during the first invasion and
feverish stage of the disease until the tongue became
clean and there was a craving for and capacity of
digesting solid food. As medicine, they were given
twenty (20) drops of dilute Muriatic Acid (as sold
at all chemists) in a wineglass of water four times a
day, to which was added, in cases of painful diarrhea,
fifteen (15) drops, and, in cases of bronchitis, five
(5) drops of Tincture of Opium (Laudanum). In
some cases, it was found convenient to supply them
with Tooth's Extract of Meat from which to make
beef tea, and they readily understood its use, and it
was found most efficacious. A few of them, who had
not come early under treatment, fell into low fever
and required a moderate amount (six ounces daily)
of wine. All, excepting one lad who became con-
sumptive, recovered, and I attribute this recovery,
and the absence of a low or typhoid state, to the
systematic use of continuous liquid nourishment.
They were all fairly supplied with warm clothing of
their own, but it was impossible to avoid over-
crowding or place them in a perfectly favourable
sanitary state.

Two very important inferences arise from a consi-
deration of the late Nelson epidemic.

First: That a febrile epidemic (such as measles)
need not necessarily act more unfavourably on
Natives than Europeans.

Second: That when an epidemic of one of the
Enanthemata (diseases attended with rashes, such as
measles, scarlatina, smallpox, &c.,) does affect an
aboriginal population severely its severity may be
due, not as has hitherto been supposed to any
intrinsic weakness in the individuals, but possibly to
bad food, or perhaps absolute deprivation of any
nourishment which the stomach can digest—a cause
often in operation and producing most fatal results
in highly civilized communities.

From the above observations it will be seen that
the treatment of measles is very simple, and the
following very brief rules for its treatment will
convey every information of use to non-medical
persons.

Rules for the treatment of Measles and other febrile
Epidemics among the Natives.

1. Measles is a contagious or catching disease,
   and, during its prevalence, communication between
   infected and healthy communities should if possible
   be prevented.

2. When the disease is prevalent, if any one (who
   has not previously had it) is taken with pains in the
   limbs and head, and watering of the eyes and nose,
   and feels sick and weak, he is probably taking the
   disease.

3. When a person is thought to have the disease
   he should avoid everything depressing, such as
   starvation, long walking, or over-fatigue; he should
   be warmly clothed so as not to feel cold, and should
   take liquid nourishment such as beef tea, mutton
   broth, or extract of meat, every two or three hours
   in small quantities so as to maintain his strength
   and be able to go through the disease without falling
   into a state of debility, the stomach at this time not
   being able to digest vegetable food excepting perhaps
   a little bread or corn flour.

4. If No. 3 recommendations are carried out