OTAGO UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS.

THE following Scholarships will be open for competition to the Students for the Ministry, of the Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, on the 5th day of June next:—

1. The Synod Scholarship. Value, £25 per annum for three years.

2. The Lang Scholarship. Value, £16 per annum for three years.

3. The Knox Church Scholarship. Value £30 per annum for three years.

The Competitive Examination will be held in the Class-room of Knox Church, Dunedin, on the day above named. Intending competitors, who must not be under 16 years of age, are required to leave written notice, accompanied by certificate of character, not later than the 15th May, with the undersigned, who will afford any needful information as to the subjects of examination.

E. B. Cargill,
Convenor of University Committee of Synod.

TEACHER WANTED,

for the Side School, Trotter’s Creek, Moeraki. Salary, £75 per annum, with Rent-allowance and School-fees. Applications, with testimonials, to be lodged on or before the 7th April, 1871, with W. L. Leggatt, Esq., Trotter’s Creek.

NOTICE.

NEW MAP of the re-united Province of Otago, which includes Stewart’s Island, now ready for sale at Land Office, and the various agencies—price 10s. 6d.

O N and after the first proximo, proceedings will be taken against all persons who have neglected to comply with the provisions of “The Weights and Measures Act 1868.”

James Nimmo, Inspector.
Weights and Measures Office,
Dunedin, 21st March, 1871.

HOW TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF SCARLET FEVER.

THE attention of the Government of Otago having been called to the spread of the disease known as Scarlatina in this Province, desires to direct the public attention to the following extract from the Otago Daily Times of the 4th instant, which contains most valuable suggestions as to the mode of procedure to prevent its propagation, and the particular necessity of destroying the infected garments and bedding of those who unhappily are affected by it.

Provincial Government Offices,
Dunedin, 17th March, 1871.

As many are inquiring the best way to prevent the spread of Scarlet Fever, I offer the following suggestions as embodying the measures relied upon at the present time:— The contagious matter in Scarlet Fever is probably evolved from the air passages, the excretions, and the particles separated from the skin during the process of desquamation. It will be necessary, therefore, that the patient should be secluded as completely as possible from all who have not had the disease, or who have to mix with those who have not had it; and also that all excretions should be disinfected forthwith. A person who exhibits symptoms of Scarlet Fever should be at once placed in a well-ventilated room (the higher in the house the better), having a sheet hung across the door, which should be kept moist with a solution of Condy’s disinfecting fluid. He should be attended by a nurse, who ought not to hold any intercourse with other members of the family. All carpets, curtains, and bed-hangings should be removed from the room, the air of which should be warmed, if needed, by a fire, and kept changed by an open window—the patient being most carefully protected by the position of the bed from any draught. To all excretions carbolic acid is to be added at once. Food and dishes should be left outside the door, to be taken in and removed without any communication. A basin containing carbolate of lime powder should be placed near the patient for him to spit into. Small pieces of rag (to be burned as soon as used) should be substituted for pocket-handkerchiefs. These measures should be supplemented by others required to counteract the effects of what Dr Budd so emphatically terms “the death-giving brood”—to wit, the results of the desquamation or peeling of the skin. About the fourth day of the eruption the white efflorescence becomes faintly marked. To prevent the diffusion of the particles of which it consists, Dr Budd has suggested the anointing of the body with olive oil from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, twice a day. The end in view will be more perfectly accomplished by adding carbolic acid to the oil in the proportion of one part of acid to one hundred of oil. This should be continued until the patient is well enough to have a warm bath, when he should be thoroughly lathered with carbolic soap, dried, warmed before a good fire, and put back to bed. During the rest of the time occupied by desquamation, it will be advisable every day, or every other day, according to the amount of particles of skin being thrown off, to repeat this process—i.e., an anointing in the morning, followed by a warm bath, with carbolic soap washing in the evening. After recovery—that is, after desquamation has entirely ceased—the dresses of the nurse and the clothing worn by the patient during his illness and convalescence should be destroyed, or washed in a manner that will disinfect them. Destruction is, of course, the most certain agent in preventing further contagion, but when this is not practicable the clothing and bedding should be exposed to a very high temperature—not under 212°. Things which can be washed may be boiled in water in which a little carbolic acid has been added, and then washed with carbolic acid soap. Dr. Budd, of Clifton, who brought these suggestions prominently into notice some years ago, says that, having adopted them for twenty years, he has never known Scarlet Fever spread beyond the sick-room in a single instance, and but very rarely within it.

All articles of clothing and bedding which cannot be boiled can be disinfected by being exposed for two hours in an oven at a temperature of 250° Fahr. The rooms which have been occupied by the sick should have burnt in them a couple of ounces or more of sulphur, all openings being closed, for a few hours. The clothes of the sick should be frequently changed, and disinfected by boiling or baking.

BEAUFORT LOCAL ROAD BOARD hereby intimate their intention of applying at the first meeting of the General Road Board, to be held in April, for authority to levy a Highway Rate of 4d. per acre for the current year, in the above District.

The Assessment Roll is open for inspection at my house for fourteen days from date. Sundays excepted.

James Runciman,
Clerk to the Local Road Board.
Kakanui Mills, 18th March, 1871.