provides for the co-operation of several communities to carryout some scheme of sanitation in Avhieh all are interested. Another declares that sources of water supply may be con¬ demned and purchased Avith a protecting zone around them by the local authorities. The poAver to condemn insanitary dAvellings and areas is also conferred on the prefect who is held re¬ sponsible for the enforcement of the measures decided on by the departmental board of health. The intervention of the prefect is

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... oned only Avhen the local authorities fail to do their duty within a reasonable interval. He is called on to act when the proportion of deaths in a commune during three con¬ secutive years has exceeded that of the country at large, and also in emergencies. Toulon and Havre haA-e long had typhoid fever endemic and cholera frequently epidemic, and yet nothing has been done to remedy the unsanitary conditions that have prevailed there for centuries. The law heralds a new departure in the history of sanitation, making suit¬ able local measures compulsory. The legislators are now debating on the provision for special assessments for these works, apportioning the expense betAveen the commune and the department. The Laticet of May 21 gives further details of the new law. Marriages.