dren under ten years of age being counted as one per

son.

Vacation of Tenements. If the Medical Officer and Surveyor certify to the Commissioners that any building is unfit for human habitation, the Commissioners may declare it so, and it cannot be inhabitated thereafter until it is made fit to the satisfaction of the Commissioners.

Plans. Every person intending to erect a new building must give notice to the Commissioners and submit the plans for the same which must be passed upon by the Commissioners within 14 days. No building can be commenced until the plans have been approved.

Registration of Tenements. Every tenement must be registered with the Local Authority giving names and residences of the owners and occupiers, the number of persons that can be allowed therein, and a certificate must be issued by the Local Authority, and certificate must be produced on demand to the Medical Officer of Health, or Sanitary Inspector of the Local Authority.

Enforcement. Within a month after the completion of any new building the surveyor must inspect the same. Other tenements are inspected by the Medical Officer or the Inspector of the Sanitary Department.

Paris

The height of buildings in Paris has always been a matter of public regulation, and buildings of great height have never been tolerated. The avenues, boulevards, and principal streets have been lined with houses under rules which fixed the maximum height of fa

çades at 20 metres (651⁄2 ft.), which have prescribed the number of stories, and which, above all things, have compelled private buildings to observe for any given street, in the language of the law, the "raccordement et l'harmonie des lignes de construction," which has secured for Parisian street architecture its air of regularity. The laws also require the periodical repair or repainting of all façades to.assure the neat and fresh appearance of every street.

For several decades there has been in Paris a permanent special body of experts charged with the constant supervision of unsanitary conditions of every character in the homes of the people. This is called the "Commission des Logements Insalubres," and is composed of thirty members, ten of whom are appointed every two years for a term of 6 years, reappointments being the rule. The members of this commission, apart from the prefect of the Seine who is ex-officio president, are not public functionaries, but are as a rule well known citizens-physicians, architects, engineers, and men who are especially qualified to pass upon questions relating to the hygiene and construction of homes. The commission meets weekly. Its members live in different parts of the city and look promptly into complaints. They do not make investigations except upon complaint, because there are various and ample agencies of official inspection in all the arrondissments, and because all tenants are instructed that they may at any time send by mail an unsigned complaint calling attention to the condition of the building in which they live. The commission acts upon these complaints, decides the nature and extent of repairs to be made, or designates as

uninhabitable the houses that are beyond reclamation. It reports to the municipal council which usually confirms them. The owner has a right to be heard, but such is the prestige of the commission that its judgments are seldom reversed. (See Shaw Municipal Government in Continental Europe, pp. 90-92.)

The actual building code of Paris has not been available for this report, but Winthrop E. Dwight, in “The Tenement House Problem," De Forest & Veiller, page 189, is responsible for the following regulations (1903). Height of Houses. This is determined by the width

of the street. Width of street 7.8 metres (25 ft. 7 in.) or under, height of building 12 metres (39 ft. 4 in.); width of street between 7.8 metres (25 ft. 7 in.) and 9.74 metres (31 ft. 11 in.) height of building 15 metres (49 ft. 2 in.); width of street between 9.74 and 20 metres (65 ft. 7 in.) height of building 18 metres (59 ft.); width of street 20 metres, height of building 20 metres (Act of July 23, 1884).

This same act provides that buildings in no case may contain more than seven stories. The height of the first story must be not less than 2.8 metres (9 ft. 2 in.) and the height of other stories not less than 2.6 metres. (8 ft. 6 in.)

Open Spaces. Buildings under 18 metres (59 ft.) the courts upon which apartments used as sleeping apartments open, must not be less than 30 sq. metres (323 sq. ft.), with a least dimension of not less than 5 metres (16 ft. 5 in.) In buildings over 18 metres in height, where the wings of the building are the same height such courts must have a minimum area of 40 sq. metres (430 sq. ft.) with a least dimension of 5 metres.

Where the wings are over 18 metres such courts must contain 60 sq. metres (646 sq. ft.) with a least dimension of 6 metres (19 ft. 8 in.) A court which lights a kitchen only may have a minimum area of 9 sq. metres (97 sq. ft.), whose least diameter must be 1.8 metres (5 ft. 11 in).

Enforcement. The law is administered under the Municipal Council by the Department of Police, which also may make certain regulations. The great central scientific authority upon all questions that relate to the public Health in the Consiel d'Hygiène et de Salubrité. This is a board of health of the highest prestige. The prefect of police presides over it, and besides 24 life members who are appointed specially for their high attainments, and who must be confirmed by the general government, there are ex-officio seats on the board for such men as the dean of the faculty of medicine of the University of Paris, professors of hygiene, the director of the college of pharmacy, the president of the army sanitary board, and director of public works. This is an advisory rather than an administrative body, sets the standards and affords the actual administrative authorities the best attainable enlightenment upon methods and principles. It is consulted upon the treatment of epidemics; the organization of medical relief; upon questions of health regarding workshops, schools and various institutions; upon the adulteration of food supplies; upon the sanitation of new public buildings, and the principles of sanitary construction to be observed in private buildings; upon water supply, drainage and in short every question arising in connections.

with the public health. The body assembles twice a month.

France has many laws intended to encourage and assist the construction of sanitary and model houses for the laboring classes. Such are the laws of 1894, 1902, 1906, and the administrative decrees of 1907.

Berlin

The building regulations of Berlin are contained in the Building Police Act of Aug. 9, 1897. Building may not be done in advance of the sewerage of the ground.

Height of Houses. The height of houses fronting on a street may equal but not exceed the width of the street between building lines, but not higher than 72.18 ft. Rear buildings must never exceed in height by more than 19 ft. 6 in., the width of the open space in front of them. Buildings intended for tenement houses must not exceed five stories nor the floor of the top story be more than 57.4 ft. above the sidewalk.

Open Spaces. These are provided for by the following means. A line is drawn 19 ft. 8 in. distant from the street, and a second line 105 ft. distant. The whole of the space included by the first line can be built upon. Seven-tenths of the space included by the second line may be built upon. Where the lot is deeper than 105 ft., six-tenths of the space back of the second line can be built upon.

Buildings which are separated from each other by lot-line courts instead of party walls, the courts must be at least 8 ft. 2 in. wide, provided there are no open