which he receives fees. He receives no salary or annual allowance.

33. The Superintendent of Free Schools.-A county superintendent of free schools is elected at the regular election in November, for the term of four years from the first day of July following the election. This is the only function which the county plays in the educational system. The superintendent is required to be a person of good moral character, of temperate habits, literary acquirements, and skill and experience in the art of teaching. He is required to visit each school in his county once in each year; to supervise the work of each school; to note the character and condition of the school houses, furniture, and fixtures, and to make such recommendations to the boards of education and trustees as he may think will contribute to the comfort and progress of the pupils; to promote the organization of institutes for the improvement of the efficiency of the teachers; to conform to the instructions of the state superintendent; to serve as the organ of communication between the state superintendent and the district boards; to make certain important reports to the state superintendent; and to perform a great many other duties calling for knowledge, judgment, skill, and experience of the highest order. It would seem that an officer from whom so much is required, from whom so much is expected, and from whom so much is possible, should be well paid; but he receives a meager salary, depending upon the number of schools in his county, which ranges between three hundred and five hundred dollars.

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34. The County Boards.—In the preceding sections we have pointed out the vast range of powers and duties which devolve upon the county court and the county officers in the administration of public affairs of the county. But there are some instances of local administration by county boards, which are appointed sometimes with and sometimes without the participation of the county court. These local boards are (1) the county board of examiners; (2) the school book board; (3) the

Acts 1901, ch. 69.

county board of health; and (4) the board of jury commissioners.

(1) The County Board of Examiners. For the purpose of examining into the qualifications of teachers in the free schools of the county there is a county board of examiners composed of the county superintendent, who is president of the board, and two experienced teachers of the county. The two members of the board are appointed by the presidents of the boards of education of the districts in the county, upon the nomination of the county superintendent. The qualifications required of members of the board are that each shall have received a teacher's state certificate or a number one county certificate, or shall be a graduate of one of the normal schools. They receive as compensation three dollars a day for each day employed in discharge of their duties, which is paid out of the fees received from the teachers examined.

(2) The School Book Board.-It was formerly the practice of the Legislature to prescribe a uniform list of text-books upon the subjects to be taught in the free schools of the State, and to cause a contract to be entered into for supplying them for a limited period of years, usually five, at a fixed price. But a few years of experience demonstrated the unfitness of a legislative body to deal with a question of this character. Both the Legislature and the people interested in education felt the necessity of reposing this authority in some body of men separate from the Legislature. Many plans were suggested; but in 1897 an act was passed establishing in each county a school book board composed of the county superintendent, who is the secretary, and "eight other reputable citizens and taxpayers of the county," to be appointed by the county court. At least four of the number must be freeholders and not school teachers; and at least three must be engaged in teaching in the county, each holding a number one teacher's certificate or its equivalent. Not more than five of the eight may belong to the same political party. Thus the question has come to be recognized as a

local one to be disposed of by a county board. The plan makes it possible for an intelligent board in each county to adopt such books for use in the schools as may seem to the members thereof, from their experience, best suited to the needs of that particular county.

(3) The County Board of Health.-The county board of health is composed of the president of the county court, the prosecuting attorney, and three other intelligent and discreet persons (one of whom must be a physician qualified to practice medicine) nominated by the county court and appointed by the state board of health for the term of two years. The physieian so appointed is the health officer of the county and the executive officer of the board. He receives for his services a yearly salary fixed by the county court. The other members receive their expenses only when actually employed. The jurisdiction of the county board of health does not extend to any city or town in the county which has its own local board of health. All county and local boards are subordinate to the state board and must act in harmony with it.

The powers and duties of the local boards of health are necessarily almost unlimited within their sphere. They have power to make such regulations as may be necessary and proper to prevent the outbreak and spread of endemic, epidemic, infectious, and contagious diseases, such as cholera, smallpox, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and the like. The board is clothed with the fullest powers to inspect, cleanse, and purify premises; and for this purpose any member may enter upon any premises, at any time except in the night time. Any person who fails or refuses to comply with any lawful requirement of the board, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction may be fined as much as one hundred dollars.

Reports required of physicians. It is the duty of every practicing physician to report promptly to his local board of health all contagious, infectious, endemic, and epidemic

diseases under treatment by him, and the local board is required to report the same to the state board at least once in three months.

Quarantine may be defined as the enforced isolation or separation of any person or place infected with a contagious or infectious disease. The local boards of health may declare quarantine, but immediately upon so doing notice must be given to the member of the state board of health, in the congressional district wherein the quarantine is established. is the duty of the state officer so notified to investigate the necessity for the quarantine. In the meantime, however, all regulations of the local board must be observed until the quarantine is raised. The local board may confine to his own residence any infected person liable to spread contagion or infection; but if he has no residence, then to some place appointed for the purpose, and may employ guards to enforce quarantine. Failure or refusal to obey the orders of the board is punishable by heavy fines. The expenses incurred by the local board are charges upon the county treasury.

(4) The Board of Jury Commissioners.-There are two jury commissioners for each county, appointed by the circuit court for the term of four years. They must be citizens of good standing, residents of the county, and well known members of opposite political parties. They may be removed from office by the court for official misconduct, incompetence, drunkenness, neglect of duty, or gross immorality. They are required to keep a record of their proceedings in a well bound book, which is preserved in the office of the clerk of the circuit court. They prepare lists of persons qualified to serve on juries, from which the juries for each term of court are drawn by lot. No person who requests, either in person or by another, can be placed on this list. The commissioners receive a compensation of two dollars a day for their services.

CHAPTER XXVII.

MINOR CIVIL DIVISIONS OF COUNTIES.

I. The Parish: its Ancient Origin.—The earliest subdivision of the Virginia county was the parish. The beginning of the development of the parish in England dates from the introduction of Christianity into Britian. The Parish was both a civil and an ecclesiastical area. It was both a civil township, with the constable at its head, and a church body, under the presidency of the parish priest. It was the area for the collection of tithes and the disbursement of the fund for the relief of the poor. It was usually identical in area with the township, but it often embraced a number of townships. In Virginia it sometimes included more than one county. The same necessity (that of raising money by a self-taxing body) which produced the English House of Commons, in the thirteenth century, produced also the vestry in the parish meeting with its church wardens and other officers.

2. The Parish in Virginia.—With the establishment of the Anglican Church in Virginia as the state religion, came the reproduction of the contemporary English parish. With the enactment of the statutes proposed by Jefferson for the disestablishment of the Church and the guaranty of religious freedom, it disappeared; and its civil functions came to be administered by the county. The executive officers were the churchwardens, chosen by the vestry or nominated by the county court. They collected the parish levies and disbursed them; watched over the morals of the community; and made presentments to the county court, in the nature of indictments, in some instances, among the number being drunken