BILL OF HEALTH, a document given to the master of a ship by the consul or other proper authority of the port from which he clears, describing the sanitary state of the place. A bill of health may be either "clean," "suspected," "touched" or "foul." A "clean" bill imports that at the time the ship sailed no disease of an infectious or contagious kind is known to exist, a "suspected.' or "touched" bill, that no such disease has as yet appeared, but that there is reason to fear it ; a "foul" bill, that such a disease actually exists at the time of the ship's departure. Bills of health are necessary where the destination of the ship is a country whose laws require the production of such a bill before the ship is allowecLinto port, and where, in default of such production, the ship is subjected to quarantine.