ADMINISTRATION. Paris is divided int.) twenty arrondissements for purposes of administration. 'Ile Prefect of the Seine is the chief of the municipal government. and is appoioted by the national Ooverninent. There is a municipal coun cil, eompo,ed of eighty members. four franc arrondissement. chosen by popular election. Each arrondissement ha. a mayor and two assistant councilors. The arrondissement is the unit of municipal organization for all administrative purposes. It registers all the birth- and dcatl s within its boundaries; keep- the registration of voters and jurors; attends to the assessment and collection of all taxes; reeeives applieatifm tor licenses and privileges; serve- as an agency in floating municipal or State loans: administers the schools and libraries; and form- the decal centre for all modes of charity work. The whole work of the municipal administrative machine is greatly facilitated by the admirable system of civil service regulating all the appoint ments and promotions of city official-. The prefect of police is at the head of the civic guard or the fire brigade, and the de la paix. or city police. who are armed with swords. The number of policemen has been eon staidly increasing. At the elms' of the last cen tury there were nearly 9000 men on the police force. or 35 to 10.000 population.
l'aris is abundantly supplied with water, the chief sources being the Seine, the Canal d'Ourcq. the _Marne, the Dhuis, and a vast natural reser voir. underlying the Paris Basin; the latter is tapped by artesian the most famous of which is the well of Grenelle, 1S00 feet deep, and surmounted by a tower I03 feet high. The clean ing, sewerage, and water supplies are under the charge of the prefect. The sewerage system is admirable; the total length of the underground channels is over 615 miles, and they are kept so clean and well ventilated that an hour's n through the sewers or r'youts is one of the ordi nary experiences of visit..rs to Paris. the journey being male partly in boats and partly by cleetri• trolleys. l'aris has a sewage farm. five miles
from the city limits I in the forest), which has proved a suceess from an agricultural point of view. without in the least injuring the health of the community in that region. The paving of the city leave- nothing to be desired. and the street. lighting is admirably carri -.1 out by means of electric and gas lights furnished by private companies, a. explained below.
The administrative in Paris is for municipal ownership of all works suppl? ing wants and directly affecting public health.
The Conseil d'Ily!.iene ct de Sainbrit(.. or Boa rd of Health. is composed of men for Ho ir high attainments in science, and incIndes physi cians. city engineers. and men win •se tcclinical training enables them bcst to deal with sanitary problems. Within the scope of its work come not only eases of disease and epidemic.. but t he sanitary of workshops. school-. and dIvellirrs: prevention of adulteration of food; -aid+ a ry aspects of the water-supply. drainage. and cemetery management. In addition t t • at central body there are twenty 'commissions d'hy ,, b tene' one for each arrondissement, and a 'com mi-sion des logements insalubres,' composed of physicians, architects, and engineers, whose duty it is to pass upon the sanitary conditions of dwell ings; tiny can recommend sanitary improve ments or condemnation of houses, and their re commendations are as a rule favorably acted upon by the municipal council. There is a special service of sanitary police which enforces all the health laws.
In addition to the activities enumerated above, the municipality owns all markets, cattle-yards, and slaughterhouses, from which it derives a considerable income. The municipal markets and abattoirs facilitate the inspection of the meat supply, and the municipal laboratory has done a great deal in checking adulteration of milk, bread, wine. and other food of common use, and has served greatly to reduce the death rate.