The Department of Health had charge of all
births, marriages and deaths, and could order the cremation of any dead
body when it believed that it would be to the benefit of the health of
the community to do so. The Department of Health was also required by
law to make a physical examination of children when they were born and
to take care of them if the mother was unable to do so and to send all
illegitimate children to the Government Orphan College. It superintended
the sale of all medicine and drugs, having a Government physician at
every Government warehouse where they were sold. It had also charge of
all idiots and insane persons as well as dangerous criminals.
The Superintendent and two Assistant Superintendents of the lunatic
asylums (of which there were only two, one for males and one for
females) were required by law to castrate male lunatics and emasculate
females who had become insane through masturbation or other vicious
habits and to chloroform dangerous lunatics who had homicidal
tendencies. Those three physicians in committee examined every dangerous
lunatic and two of them could order the person chloroformed if in their
judgment it was necessary.
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