[Form 9. 6-05. 10,000.] 
CALIFORNIA 
STATE BOARD 
OF HEALTH 
HEALTH LAWS 
OF THE STATE 
OF CALIFORNIA 
INCLUDING LAW FOR THE REGISTRATION 
OF VITAL STATISTICS IN CALIFORNIA 
SACRAMENTO: 
W. W. SHANNON, - - - SUPERINTENDENT STATE PRINTING. 
1905. CONTENTS. 
PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH- PAGe 
State Board of Health 3 
Health and quarantine regulations 6 
REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS- 
Registration of births and marriages 8 
Registration of deaths , 12 
OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY- 
Putting dead animals in streets, rivers, etc 21 
Willful violation of registration and health laws ' .... 22 
Violation of rules relating to quarantine, etc. 22 
Violation of rules relating to pollution of water 22 
Violation of rules relating to pollution of ice 22 
Cubic feet of space in rooms 23 
HYGIENIC LABORATORY 23 
VACCINATION LAW 24 Form 9. 6-05. 10.000. 
HEALTH LAWS OF THE STATE 
OF CALIFORNIA. 
POLITICAL CODE. 
Part III-Of the Government of the State, 
Title VII General Police of the State, 
CHAPTER II-PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH. 
ARTICLE I-STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 
§ 2978. State board of health, appointment and term. 
§ 2979. Powers and duties of board. 
§ 2979a. Duties of boards of health in contagious and infectious 
diseases. 
§ 2980. To report as to the effect of intoxicating liquors. 
§ 2981. Meetings, and election of officers. 
§ 2982. Secretary of board. Salary. Duties. 
§ 2983. Repealed. 
§ 2984. Local boards of health to enforce rules made by state board 
of health. 
§ 2978. The state board of health shall consist of seven 
duly licensed and practicing physicians of this state, 
appointed by the governor for the term of four years. (As 
amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CCCXL.) 
§ 2979. The state board of health shall examine into the 
causes of communicable diseases in man and domestic ani- 
mals occurring or likely to occur in this state. 
It may quarantine or isolate and disinfect persons, animals, 
property and things of whatever nature, and houses, rooms, 
places, cities or localities, -whenever in the judgment of said 
board or pending its meeting, whenever in the judgment of its 
executive officer such action shall be deemed necessary to 
protect or preserve the public health, and said board may 
destroy or cause to be destroyed, bedding, carpets, household 
goods, furnishings and materials, clothing, or animals, when 
in the judgment of said board or that of its executive officer 
such clothing, furnishings, bedding, goods, materials or 
animals are an imminent menace to the public health. 
State board 
of health, 
appoint- 
ment and 
term. 
Powers 
and duties 
of board. 4 
Powers 
and duties 
of board. 
It may establish and maintain places of quarantine or 
isolation. 
It shall have sanitary control of all public buildings or 
places owned, leased or controlled by the state, and no officer 
or person having charge of the erection of any public build- 
ing owned or controlled by the state shall proceed with the 
construction thereof until the state board of health shall, in 
writing, have approved the plans and specifications therefor, 
in so far as the same may, in any way, affect the sanitation 
thereof. 
It shall cause special investigation of the sources of mor- 
tality and the effects of localities, employments, conditions 
and circumstances on the public health, the preparation and 
sale of drugs and food and the adulteration thereof. 
They must perform such duties as are or may be required 
by law for the detection and prevention of the adulteration of 
articles used for food or drink, and for the punishment of 
persons guilty of violation of any law providing against 
such adulteration. 
It shall examine and have power to prevent the pollution 
of sources of public domestic water and ice supply. 
It shall have power to prepare or purchase and distribute 
at cost anti-toxins, vaccine and other approved serums and 
lymphs. 
It shall maintain a bureau of vital statistics under the super- 
vision of its executive officer, where shall be collected and 
recorded all births, marriages and deaths, burials and cre- 
mations within the state. These statistics together with the 
number of cases of communicable diseases, and such further 
comparative statistics and information as may be deemed of 
value to scientists, the medical profession, the general public 
and aid in the maintenance of good health conditions may 
be published by the board in such manner and at such times 
as it may deem proper. 
It shall have power to prescribe and enforce regulations 
for the embalming, cremation, burial, disinterment and 
transportation of the dead. 
It shall have power to prescribe the form of certificates of 
birth and death, and of permits for burial, disinterment, cre- 
mation and transportation of the dead, and provide measures 
for their observance. 
It shall have power to abate public nuisances. It may 
advise all local health authorities, and, when in its judgment 
the public health is menaced it shall control and regulate 
their action. 
It shall have general, power of inspection, examination, 
quarantine and disinfection within the state, provided that 
this act shall in nowise conflict with the enforcement of the 
national quarantine laws. 
It shall have power to commence and maintain all proper 
and necessary actions and proceedings for the enforcement of 
its regulations and for the protection and preservation of the 5 
public health and to defend all actions and proceedings involv- 
ing its powers and duties and in all such actions or proceed- 
ings it shall sue and be sued under the name of the state board 
of health. 
It shall have power to adopt and enforce rules and regu- 
lations for the execution of its duties under this section. 
It shall at each biennial session of the legislature make a 
report with such suggestions as to legislative action as it 
deems proper. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CCCXL.) 
§ 2979a. It is the duty of every local board of health, and 
of each of the members thereof, and of every coroner and 
other public officer knowing, or having reason to believe, that 
any case of Asiatic cholera or of bubonic plague or any other 
contagious or infectious disease exists or has recently 
existed within the city, city and county, town, township or 
county of which he is an officer, or of which such local board 
of health is an official body, to take such measures as may be 
necessary to prevent the spread of such disease and to at 
once report such case to the state board of health, which may 
thereupon take such measures as it may deem necessary to 
ascertain whether such case of cholera or plague, or any other 
contagious or infectious disease, exists, or has so existed, and 
to prevent the further spread of such contagion, and to that 
end, such state board may, if it deem proper, take possession 
and control of the body of any living, or the corpse of any 
deceased, person which is or has been afflicted with either of 
such diseases, and may direct and take such means as it may 
deem expedient to arrest the further spread of such disease 
or diseases. 
§ 2980. The board must examine into and report what, 
in their best judgment, is the effect of the use of intoxicating 
liquor as a beverage upon the industry, prosperity, happi- 
ness, health, and lives of the citizens of the state; also, what 
legislation, if any, is necessary in the premises. 
§ 2981. The board must meet at the capitol of the state, 
at least once in every three months. They must elect from 
their own number a president and a permanent secretary; 
the latter must reside at the capital, and is their executive 
officer. No member, except the secretary, receives any com- 
pensation; but the actual traveling expenses of the members, 
while engaged in the duties of the board, are allowed, and 
paid out of the general fund. 
§ 2982. The secretary of the state board of health shall 
receive an annual salary of $3000.00 and necessary expenses 
incurred in the performance of his duties. He shall enforce 
all orders and regulations of the state board of health, and 
shall vigilantly observe sanitary conditions throughout the 
state, and take all necessary precautions to protect it in its 
sanitary relations with other states and countries. He shall 
keep an accurate record of the proceedings of the state 
board of health and of his own acts, and shall file a written 
Duties of 
boards of 
health in 
contagious 
and infec- 
tious 
diseases. 
To report 
as to the 
effect of in- 
toxicating 
liquors. 
Meetings, 
and elec- 
tion of 
officers. 
Secretary 
of board. 
Salary. 
Duties. 6 
report of the same at each regular meeting. (As amended, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. CCCXL.) 
§ 2983. (Repealed, Stats. 1905, Ch. CCCXL.) 
§ 2984. It shall be the duty of the board of health of 
each municipality and incorporated town within this state, 
and of every chief executive health officer thereof, where 
there is no municipal or town board of health, to enforce 
within such municipality and incorporated town all orders, 
rules and regulations concerning health and quarantine pre- 
scribed or directed by the state board of health; and it shall 
be the duty of such board of health, or chief executive health 
officer to report in writing to the state board of health on or 
before the fifth day of each month all infectious, contagious 
and communicable diseases in man or beast which shall come 
to their or his knowledge, upon blanks furnished by the state 
board of health. Said board of health, or chief executive 
health officer, where there is no board of health, in cases of 
local epidemic of disease shall report to the state board of 
health all facts concerning the disease and the measures 
taken to prevent or abate its spread, infection or contagion. 
Said board of health, or chief executive health officer where 
there is no board of health, shall report to the state board of 
health all violations of the state health laws, and of the laws 
relating to the registration of marriages, births and deaths, 
which shall come to their or his knowledge. (New section, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. LXXXVI.) 
Local 
boards of 
health to 
enforce 
rules made 
by state 
board of 
health. 
To make 
monthly 
reports 
to state 
board. 
ARTICLE V-HEALTH AND QUARANTINE REGULATIONS. 
§ 3059. Boards of supervisors majr adopt Article III. 
§ 3060. Boards of supervisors may adopt Article IV. 
§ 3061. Boards of health established in towns and cities. 
§ 3062. May appoint health officer instead of board. 
§ 3063. Per capita or property tax, how levied. 
§ 3064. Compensation. 
§ 3059. The board of supervisors of any county in which 
there is a port of entry or harbor, for which there is not 
otherwise provided health and quarantine regulations, may 
by an ordinance adopt the whole or any part of the pro- 
visions of Article III* of this chapter, appoint a board of 
health, or health officer, locate quarantine grounds when 
necessary, and provide for the enforcement of health and 
quarantine regulations. 
§ 3060. In like manner the board of supervisors of any 
county in which there is an unincorporated city or towm, for 
which there is not otherwise provided a board of health or 
health regulations in time of epidemics, or the existence of 
contagious or infectious diseases, may by an ordinance adopt 
for such city or town, in whole or in part, the provisions of 
Boards of 
supervis- 
ors may 
adopt 
Article III. 
Boards of 
supervis- 
ors may 
adopt 
Article IV. 
*Health and quarantine regulations for the city and harbor of San 
Francisco, superseded by San Francisco charter. 7 
Article IV* of this chapter, for some definite period of time; 
and appoint therefor a board of health. 
§ 3061. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees, 
council, or other corresponding board of every incorporated 
town and city of this state, to establish, by ordinance, a board 
of health for such town or city, to consist of five persons, 
one at least of whom shall be a practicing physician and a 
graduate of some reputable school of medicine, and one, if 
practicable, a civil engineer. The members of the board 
shall hold their offices at the pleasure of the appointing 
power. Every local board of health established in this state 
must: 
First-Supervise all matters pertaining to the sanitary 
condition of their town or city, and make such rules and reg- 
ulations relative thereto as are necessary and proper, and 
not contrary to law. 
Second-Report to the secretary of the state board of 
health, at Sacramento, at such times as the state board of 
health may require: 
(a) The sanitary condition of their locality. 
(b) The number of deaths, with the cause of each, as near 
as can be ascertained, within their jurisdiction, during the 
preceding month. 
(c) The presence of epidemic or other dangerous, con- 
tagious, or infectious disease, and such other matters, within 
their knowledge or jurisdiction, as the state board may 
require. 
The trustees, council, or other legislative board, by what- 
ever name known, of any incorporated city or town of this 
state may, by ordinance, adopt any portion of Articles III 
and IV of this chapter, or either of them, for some definite 
period of time, as may seem proper for the regulation of san- 
itary matters within their town or city. 
§ 3062. The board of supervisors of each county must 
appoint, in each incorporated city or town of five hundred or 
more inhabitants, a health officer, who has all the duties and 
powers of a board of health and health officer, as specified in 
this and the two preceding articles. 
§ 3063. All necessary expenses of enforcing this article 
are charges against the counties, cities, or towns, respectively, 
for the payment of which the county, city, or town, may levy 
a per capita tax of not exceeding three dollars, or a property 
tax of not exceeding one-fourth of one per cent yearly until 
the same is paid. 
§ 3064. The board of supervisors must fix the salary or 
compensation of boards of health or health officer, and pro- 
vide for the expenses of enforcing the provisions of this arti- 
cle. If the board of supervisors or board of trustees, council, 
or other corresponding board of any incorporated town, neg- 
Boards of 
health es- 
tablished 
in towns 
and cities. 
May 
appoint 
health 
officer 
instead of 
board. 
Per capita 
or property 
tax, how 
levied. 
Compensa- 
tion. 
* Health and quarantine regulations for the city of Sacramento. 8 
lects to provide a board of health or health officer by the first 
day of July, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, the state 
board of health may direct the district attorney of the county 
to begin an action against such board of supervisors, or board 
of trustees, or corresponding board, to compel the perform- 
ance of their duty, or may appoint a board of health, or 
health officer, with the powers of a board of health, for such 
town or city, and the expenses of such board of health or 
health officer shall be a charge against the incorporated city 
or town for which such appointment shall be made; and 
when the appointment is made for unincorporated towns, 
the expenses of the board of health or health officer is a 
charge against the county. 
CHAPTER III-REGISTRATION OF VITAL STATISTICS. 
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND MARRIAGES. 
§ 3074. State bureau of vital statistics. Duty of registrar. 
§ 3075. Statistician, appointment, term of office and salary. 
§ 3076. Registry of marriages performed. 
§ 3077. Registry of births. 
§ 3078. Duty of county recorder and health officer. Report to state 
registrar. 
§ 3079. Fee of recorder and health officer. 
§ 3080. State registrar to prepare blank form and instructions. 
§ 3081. State registrar may require further information. 
§ 3082. Penalty for failure to perform duty. 
§ 3083. State registrar to furnish certified copy of records, which is 
prima facie evidence. 
§ 3074. The state board of health shall maintain, at the 
city of Sacramento, a bureau of vital statistics for the com- 
plete and proper registration of births, marriages and 
deaths, for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes, which 
bureau shall be under the supervision of the secretary of 
the state board of health, who shall be ex-officio state regis- 
trar of vital statistics, and whose duty it shall be, after con- 
sultation with the state board of health, to promulgate and 
enforce all necessary rules and regulations that may be 
required to carry out the provisions of this chapter. (As 
amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3075. The state board of health shall appoint a com- 
petent statistician to assist the state registrar of vital sta- 
tistics and such clerical and professional assistants as may 
be required for the proper discharge of the duties of said 
registrar. Said statistician shall also be an assistant to the 
secretary of the state board of health. The statistician so 
appointed shall hold office at the pleasure of the board 
and shall receive an annual salary of eighteen hundred dol- 
lars payable out of the general fund of the state from 
money not otherwise appropriated at the time and in the 
manner in which state officers are paid. The compensation 
for clerical and professional assistants shall be fixed by the 
State board 
of health. 
Bureau of 
vital s 
statistics. 
State 
registrar, 
duty of. 
Statisti- 
cian, 
appoint- 
ment of. 
Term of 
office and 
salary of 
statisti- 
cian. 
Assistants 
and clerks. 9 
board and shall be payable from its fund for contingent 
expenses provided in the general appropriation act. (As 
amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3076. All persons who perform the marriage ceremony 
in this state shall within three days after the ceremony file 
with the county recorder a certificate of registry of the 
marriage performed by them in such form as may be pre- 
scribed by the state registrar which shall contain among 
other matters as near as can be ascertained, the place and 
date of marriage, sex, race, color, age, name and surname, 
birthplace, residence of the parties married, number of mar- 
riage and condition of each, whether single, widowed, or 
divorced, the occupation of the parties, maiden name of the 
female, if previously married, the names and birthplace of 
the parents of each and the maiden name of the mother of 
each. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3077. Physicians, midwives, nurses and other persons 
assisting at a birth shall return in writing within five days 
thereafter to the county recorder of the county where such 
birth takes place in such form as may be prescribed by the 
state registrar a certificate of registry of such birth which 
shall contain among other matters, the time and place of 
such birth, name, sex, race and color of the child, the name, 
residence, age, birthplace and occupation of the parents and 
the maiden name of the mother, and whether born in or out 
of wedlock, and such other information as may be required 
by the state registrar; provided, however, that in cities 
having a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as 
local registrar and perform all the duties thereof. In case 
the child is not named the recorder or registrar of such 
locality shall deliver to such parent, next of kin, physician, 
midwife or other person furnishing such certificate of birth 
a supplementary blank for report of given name, which 
shall be filled out and returned as soon as the child shall be 
named. In case there shall be no physician, midwife, or 
nurse attending at such birth, then, it shall be the duty of 
the parents of any child born in this state (and if there be 
no parent alive, then the next of kin of said child) within 
ten days after such birth to report in writing to the recorder 
of the county or health officer of cities having a freeholders 
charter where such birth takes place, in such form as may 
be prescribed by the state registrar, the date, place and resi- 
dence, name, sex, race, and color of such child, and the 
names, residence, birthplace and age of the parents, their 
occupations, and the maiden name of the mother, and 
whether born in or out of wedlock, and such other informa- 
tion required by the state registrar. (As amended, Stats. 
1905, Ch. CX.) " 
§ 3078. It shall be the duty of every county recorder to 
receive without fee or charge each certificate of registry of 
marriage and birth; provided, however, that in cities having 
a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as local 
Registry of 
marriages 
performed. 
Registry of 
births. 
Local 
health offi- 
cer to act as 
registrar, 
when. 
Registry of 
births, 
duty of 
parent. 
County 
recorder, 
duty of. 10 
Duty of 
health 
officer. 
registrar for births, and shall receive, without fee or charge, 
each certificate of birth and enter the same in the same man- 
ner as provided for the county recorder; to enter the same 
in separate registers to be known as the "Register of Mar- 
riages," and the "Register of Births," in separate columns, 
properly headed, the various facts contained in the certifi- 
cates and the name and official or clerical position of the 
person making the report. The recorder or health officer 
must carefully examine each report, and register the same 
marriage, or birth but once, although it may be reported by 
different persons. The certificates shall be numbered by 
him and entered in the order in which they are reported to 
him. On or before the fifth day of each month each recorder, 
or health officer, shall transmit by United States mail, 
carefully inclosed in appropriate envelopes or wrappers, 
addressed to the state registrar at Sacramento, or shall 
personally deliver to him at his office in Sacramento, on or 
before the fifth day of each month, the original certificates 
of births and marriages filed with him during the preceding 
month, and shall accompany said certificates with a brief 
statement of the number of such certificates, and the dates 
of their receipt. The state registrar shall thereupon file 
said original certificates of marriage and births, and cause 
the same to be separately and systematically indexed. (As 
amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3079. For their services as required by section 3078 of 
this code, county recorders, or health officers of cities having 
a freeholders charter, shall, in addition to their compensa- 
tion for the other duties of their office, be allowed by the 
board of supervisors, ten cents for each name registered and 
reported to the state registrar, which sum shall be paid out 
of the general fund of the county upon warrants issued 
quarterly and signed by the county auditor and approved 
by the state registrar, which warrants shall specify the 
number of certificates of marriages and births properly reg- 
istered and filed with the state registrar. (As amended, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3080. The state registrar shall prepare a sample form 
and blank for use in registering, recording and preserving 
the reports of marriages and births, and shall prepare and 
issue such detailed instructions as may be required to' 
secure the uniform observance of its provisions and the 
maintenance of a perfect system of registration, and no 
other forms of blanks shall be used than those prescribed 
by the state registrar. Printed blanks in the form pre- 
scribed by the state registrar for the registration of mar- 
riages and births shall be furnished to each recorder or 
health officer by the board of supervisors of each county 
or city and county in sufficient quantities, and each recorder 
or health officer shall furnish without charge a sufficient 
number of copies to each applicant upon whom is imposed 
Report to 
state regis- 
trar by 
recorder 
and local 
health 
officer. 
Original 
certificates 
of mar- 
riages and 
births, 
filing of. 
Fee of 
recorder 
and health 
officer. 
State regis- 
trar to pre- 
pare blank 
form and 
instruc- 
tions. 
Supervis- 
ors to 
furnish 
printed 
blanks. 
Recorder 
and health 
officer to 
furnish 
blanks to 
applicants. 11 
the duty of certifying to a marriage or birth. (As amended, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3081. The state registrar shall carefully examine the 
certificates of marriages and births received monthly from 
the county recorders or health officers, and if any such are 
incomplete or unsatisfactory, he shall require such further 
information to be furnished as may be necessary to make 
the record satisfactory. All physicians, clergymen, judges, 
midwives, nurses, parents, or other informants upon whom 
the duty is imposed of certifying to marriages or births, 
and all other persons having knowledge of the facts, are 
required to furnish such information as they may possess 
regarding any marriage or birth upon demand of the state 
registrar, in person by mail or through the local recorder. 
Whenever it may be alleged that the facts are not correctly 
stated in any certificate of marriage or birth theretofore 
registered, the county recorder shall require a deposition 
under oath to be made by the person asserting the fact, to 
be supported by the depositions of two or more credible 
persons having knowledge of the facts, setting forth the 
change necessary to make the record correct. Having 
received such depositions, he shall file them and shall then 
draw a line through the incorrect statement or statements 
in the certificate, without erasing them, and make the neces- 
sary corrections, noting on the margin of the certificate his 
authority for so doing, and transmit the deposition, attached 
to the original certificate, when making his regular monthly 
returns to the state registrar. If the correction relates to a 
certificate previously returned to the state registrar, he shall 
transmit the deposition forthwith to the state registrar. If 
the correction is first made upon the original certificate on file 
in the state bureau of vital statistics, the state registrar shall 
immediately transmit a certified copy of the original certifi- 
cate, corrected as above, to the county recorder, who shall 
thereupon substitute such certified copy for the copy of the 
certificate in his records. All such corrections and marginal 
notes referring to them shall be legibly written in ink, type- 
written or printed. (As amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3082. Any officer or person upon whom a duty is im- 
posed under this chapter who fails, neglects or refuses to 
perform any of the duties imposed upon him under this 
chapter or by the instructions and directions of the state 
registrar shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon 
conviction shall be punished in the same manner as other 
misdemeanors provided in the Penal Code. (As amended, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
§ 3083. The state registrar shall upon request furnish 
any applicant a certified copy of the record of any marriage 
or birth registered under the provisions of this chapter, for 
the making and certification of which he shall be entitled to 
a fee of fifty cents to be paid by the applicant. Any such 
copy of the record of a marriage or birth when properly 
require 
formation, 
informa- 
furnished 
demand, 
Deposition 
^^facts 
are not 
stated, 
gt°^ected 
ments. 
^naityfor 
perform 
duty' 
furnish 
copyfiofd 
records, 12 
Certified 
copy prima 
facie 
evidence. 
certified by the state registrar to be a true copy thereof 
shall be prim a facie evidence in all courts and places of the 
facts therein stated. For any search of the files and 
records when no certified copy is made, the state registrar 
shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents for each hour or 
fractional hour of time of search to be paid by the appli- 
cant. And the state registrar shall keep a true and correct 
account of all fees by him received under these provisions 
and shall deposit all fees with the state treasurer. (As 
amended, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX.) 
REGISTRATION OF DEATHS. 
§ 3084. (Repealed, Stats. 1905, Ch. CX. Superseded by 
Stats. 1905, Chs. CXIX and CCCXLVI.) 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CXIX. 
Sec. 1. State bureau of vital statistics. 
Sec. 2. State divided into districts for registration of deaths. 
Sec. 3. Registrars of districts. Deputy local registrar. Sub- 
registrars. 
Sec. 4. Permit from local registrar before burial. 
Sec. 5. Stillborn children registered as deaths. 
Sec. 6. Certificate of death. Contents. 
Sec. 7. In case death occurs without medical attendance. 
Sec. 8. Undertaker responsible for certificate of death. 
Sec. 9. Local registrar to supply blanks. Duty of local registrar. 
Sec. 10. If interment be made in district where death occurred, duty 
of registrar. 
Sec. 11. Duty of sexton or other person in charge of burial ground. 
Sec. 12. State registrar to prepare blank forms for all registrars. 
Index of deaths. 
Sec. 13. Corrections in certificate, how made. 
Sec. 14. Fee of local registrar. 
Sec. 15. State registrar to furnish certified copy of records. Fees. 
Sec. 16. Physicians and undertakers to register with local, registrar. 
Sec. 17. Penalties for neglect by attending physician, undertaker, 
registrars and violation of act by common carrier. 
Sec. 18. Local registrars charged with the enforcement of law. 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CCCXLVI. 
Sec. 1. Duties of city clerk and recorder in relation to registration 
of deaths, etc. 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CXIX.-An act for the registration 
of deaths, the issuance and registration of burial and disin- 
terment permits and the establishment of registration dis- 
tricts in counties, cities and counties, cities and incorporated 
towns, under the superintendence of the state bureau of 
vital statistics and prescribing the powers and duties . of 
registrars, coroners, physicians, undertakers, sextons and 
other persons in relation to such registration and fixing 
penalties for the violation of this act. 
[Approved March 18, 1905.] 
The people of the State of California, represented in senate 
and assembly, do enact as follows: 
Section 1. That department of the state board of health 
known as the state bureau of vital statistics shall provide 
for and superintend the complete and proper registration of 
deaths for legal, sanitary and statistical purposes. 
State 
bureau of 
vital 
statistics. 13 
Sec. 2. That for the purposes of this act the state shall be 
divided into registration districts as follows: Each city and 
county, city, and incorporated town, and each county exclu- 
sive of the portion included within cities and incorporated 
towns, shall constitute a primary registration district. 
Sec. 3. That the recorder of each city and county, county, 
and the clerk of each city or incorporated town, shall be 
the local registrar in and for such primary registration 
district and shall perform all such duties of local registrar 
as hereinafter provided; provided however, that in cities 
having a freeholders charter the health officer shall act as 
local registrar and perform all the duties thereof. Each local 
registrar shall immediately appoint in writing, a deputy 
who shall be authorized to act in his stead in case of absence, 
death, illness or disability and when it may appear neces- 
sary for the convenience of the people in any county, the 
local registrar is hereby authorized with the approval of 
the state registrar of vital statistics to appoint one or more 
proper and competent persons to act as subregistrars, who 
shall be authorized to receive certificates of death and to 
issue burial permits or removal permits in and for such 
portions of the county as may be designated. Each subreg- 
istrar shall note in legible writing over his signature the 
date each certificate of death was filed, and shall forthwith 
forward the certificate to the local registrar of the county, 
and in all cases before the eighth day of the following 
month; provided, that all subregistrars shall be subject to 
the supervision and Control of the state registrar of vital 
statistics. 
Sec. 4. That the body or remains of no person whose 
death occurs in the state shall be interred, deposited in a 
vault, grave or tomb, cremated, disinterred or otherwise 
disposed of, or removed from or into any registration dis- 
trict until a permit for burial, disinterment or removal 
shall have been properly issued by the registrar of the regis- 
tration district in which the death occurs. And no such 
burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar 
until a complete and satisfactory certificate and return of 
the death has been filed with him, as hereinafter required; 
provided that in case of any death outside of the 
state, where the body is accompanied by a removal or 
transit permit issued in accordance with the law and the 
health regulations in force where the death occurred, such 
removal or transit permit shall be accepted as of the same 
authority as a permit from the local registrar when such 
removal or transit permit shall have indorsed thereon the 
written approval of the state registrar of vital statistics, or 
when said state registrar otherwise officially notifies the local 
registrar of his approval. 
Sec. 5. Stillborn children, or those dead at birth, shall be 
registered as deaths under this act, and a certificate of death 
and burial or removal permit in usual form shall be required. 
The medical certificate of cause of death shall be signed by 
State 
divided 
into dis- 
tricts for 
registra- 
tion of 
deaths. 
Registrars 
of dis- 
tricts. 
Deputy 
local 
registrar. 
Subregis- 
trars. 
Permit 
from local 
registrar 
before 
burial. 
Certificate 
and return 
of death 
filed. 
When 
death oc- 
curs out- 
side of 
state. 
Stillborn 
children 
registered 
as deaths. 14 
the attending physician or midwife, and shall state the cause 
of death as "stillborn," with the cause of the stillbirth, if 
known, whether a premature birth, and, if born prematurely, 
the period of utero-gestation in months, if known. 
Sec. 6. That the certificate of death shall be of the stand- 
ard form recommended by the United States Census Office 
and the American Public Health Association, and shall con- 
tain the following items: 
(1) Place of death, including state, county, township or 
town, city or village. If in a city, the ward, street, and house 
number. If in a hospital or other institution, the name of 
the same to be given instead of the street and house number. 
(2) Full name of decedent. If an unnamed child the 
surname, preceded by "unnamed." 
(3) Sex. 
(4) Color or race-as white, black (negro or negro de- 
scent), Indian, Chinese, Japanese, or other. 
(5) Conjugal condition-as single, married, widowed, or 
divorced. 
(6) Date of birth, including the year, month, and day. 
(7) Age, in years, months, and days. 
(8) Place of birth; state or foreign country. 
(9) Name of father. 
(10) Birthplace of fathe?; state or foreign country. 
(11) Maiden name of mother. 
(12) Birthplace of mother; state or foreign country. 
(13) Occupation; the occupation to be reported of any 
person who had any remunerative employment-women as 
well as men. 
(14) Signature and address of informant. 
(15) Date of death, including the year, month, and day. 
(16) Statement of medical attendance on decedent, fact 
and time of death, including the time last seen alive. 
(17) Cause of death, including the primary and immediate 
causes, and contributory causes or complications, if any, 
and the duration of each. 
(18) Signature and address of physician or official making 
the medical certificate. 
(19) Special information concerning deaths in hospitals 
and institutions and of persons dying away from home, 
including the former or usual residence, length of time at 
place of death, and place where the disease was contracted. 
(20) Place of burial or removal. 
(21) Date of burial or removal. 
(22) Signature and address of undertaker. 
(23) Official signature of registrar with date when cer- 
tificate was filed and registered number. 
The certificate shall be written legibly in permanent black 
ink, typewritten or printed, and no certificate shall be held 
to be complete and correct that does not supply all of the 
items of information specified above or satisfactorily account 
for the omission of any of said items. 
Certificate 
of death. 
Contents. 
How made 
out. 15 
The personal and statistical particulars (items 1 to 13) or 
such other items as shall be required by the state registrar 
shall be authenticated by the signature of the informant, 
who may be any competent person acquainted with the 
facts. 
The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the 
body shall be signed by the undertaker or person acting as 
such. The medical certificate shall be made and signed by 
the physician, if any, last in attendance on the deceased, who 
shall specify the time in attendance, the time he last saw 
the deceased alive, and the hour of the day at which death 
occurred. He shall further state the cause of death so as 
to show the course of disease or sequence of causes result- 
ing in death, giving the primary and immediate causes, 
and contributing causes, if any, and the duration of each. 
Indefinite and unsatisfactory terms indicating only symp- 
toms of disease or conditions resulting from disease will 
not be held sufficient for issuing a burial or removal 
permit, and any certificate containing only such terms, as 
defined by the state registrar, shall be returned to the 
physician for correction or definition. Causes of death 
which may be the result of either disease or violence shall 
be carefully defined; and, if from violence, its nature 
shall be stated, and whether accidental, suicidal or homi- 
cidal. For cause of deaths in hospitals, institutions, or away 
from home, the physician shall furnish the information 
required under this head, and shall state where, in his 
opinion, the disease was contracted. The cause of death 
and all other facts required shall in all cases be stated in 
accordance with the instructions and directions of the state 
registrar. 
Sec. 7. In case of any death occurring without medical 
attendance, it shall be the duty of the undertaker to notify 
the registrar of such death, and when so notified the regis- 
trar shall refer the case to the coroner for his investigation 
and certification, and the coroner shall within three days 
after the inquest furnish the local registrar where such 
death occurs a certificate in form and substance as required 
by the state registrar and containing as many of the facts 
required by this act as can be ascertained. Said local regis- 
trar shall then forthwith transmit such certificate to the 
state registrar, retaining a copy thereof on file in his office. 
Sec. 8. The undertaker, or person acting as undertaker, 
shall be responsible for obtaining and filing the certifi- 
cate of death with the registrar and securing a burial or 
removal permit prior to any disposition of the body. He 
shall obtain the personal and statistical particulars required 
from the person best qualified to supply them over the signa- 
ture and address of his informant. He shall then present 
the certificate to the attending physician, if any, or to the 
health officer or coroner, as directed by the registrar, for 
the medical certificate of the cause of death and other par- 
Authenti- 
cation of. 
Under- 
taker to 
sign. 
Medical 
certificate, 
by whom 
signed. 
Contents 
of cer- 
tificate. 
Cause of 
death 
carefully 
defined. 
In case 
death 
occurs 
without 
medical at- 
tendance. 
Dutyof un- 
dertaker. 
Duty of 
coroner. 
Duty o 
local 
registrar. 
Under- 
taker re- 
sponsible 
for cer- 
tificate of 
death. 
Dutyof un- 
dertaker. 16 
ticulars necessary to complete the record, as specified in the 
preceding section. And he shall then state the facts required 
relative to the date and place of burial over his signature 
and with his address, and present the completed certificate 
to the registrar within the time limit, if any, designated by 
the local board of health for the issuance of a burial or 
removal permit. The undertaker shall deliver the burial 
permit to the sexton or person in charge of the premises 
before interring the body, or attach it to the box containing 
the corpse, when shipped by any transportation company, 
to accompany same to destination, when it shall be accepted 
by the sexton as authority for the interment of the body. 
Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of the local registrar to sup- 
ply blank forms of certificates to such persons as require 
them. He shall carefully examine each certificate when pre- 
sented for record to see that it has been made out in accord- 
ance with the provisions of this act and the instructions of 
the state registrar, and if any certificate is incomplete or 
unsatisfactory it shall be his duty to call attention to the 
defects in the return and to withhold issuing the burial or 
removal permit until they are corrected. He shall then 
number them in consecutive order, beginning with number 
one for the first death in each calendar year, and sign his 
name as registrar in attest of the date of filing in his office. 
If the certificate is properly executed and complete, he shall 
then issue a burial or removal permit to the undertaker: 
provided, that in case the death occurred from some disease 
that is held by the state board of health to be infectious, 
contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public 
health, no permit for the removal or other disposition of 
the body shall be granted by the registrar except under such 
conditions as may be prescribed by the state and local boards 
of health. He shall also make a complete and accurate copy 
of each certificate registered by him, upon a form identical 
with the original certificate, to be filed and permanently 
preserved in his office as the local record of such death, in 
such manner as directed by the state registrar. He shall, 
on or before the eighth day of each month, transmit to the 
state registrar all original certificates registered by him 
during the preceding month. If no deaths occurred in any 
month he shall, on or before the eighth day of the following 
month, report that fact to the state registrar in such manner 
as the state registrar shall direct. 
Sec. 10. If the interment, or other disposition of the body 
is to be made in the registration district in which the death 
occurred, the wording of the burial permit may be limited 
to a statement by the registrar, and over his signature, 
that a satisfactory certificate of death having been filed 
with him as required by law, permission is granted to inter, 
remove, or otherwise dispose of the body of the deceased, 
stating the name, age, sex and cause of death and other neces- 
sary details upon the form prescribed by the state registrar. 
Local 
registrar to 
supply 
blanks. 
Duty of 
local 
registrar. 
In case of 
death from 
conta- 
gious, etc., 
diseases. 
If inter- 
ment be 
made in 
district in 
which 
death 
occurred, 
duty of 
registrar. 17 
In case the interment, or other disposition of the body, is 
to be made in some registration district other than that in 
which the death occurred, a complete copy of the certificate 
of death shall be attached to and made a part of the permit. 
Sec. 11. No sexton or person in charge of any premises in 
which interments are made shall inter or permit the interment 
of any body unless it is accompanied by a burial, removal, 
or transit permit as herein provided. Each sexton or person 
in charge of any burial ground shall indorse upon the permit 
the date of interment, over his signature, and shall return 
all permits, so indorsed, to the local registrar of his district 
within one day from the date of interment. He shall also 
keep a record of all interments made in the premises under 
his charge, stating the name of the deceased person, place 
of death, date of burial, and name and address of the under- 
taker, which record shall at all times be open to public 
inspection. 
Sec. 12. The state registrar shall prepare a sample form 
and blank for all registrars for use in registering, recording 
and preserving the returns or in otherwise carrying out the 
purposes of this act, and shall prepare and issue such detailed 
instructions as may be required to secure the uniform observ- 
ance of its provisions and the maintenance of a perfect 
system of registration. No other forms of blanks shall be 
used than those prescribed by the state registrar. He shall 
carefully examine the certificates received monthly from the 
local registrars, and if any such are incomplete or unsatis- 
factory he shall require such further information to be fur- 
nished as may be necessary to make the record satisfactory. 
All physicians, informants, or undertakers connected with 
the case, and all other persons having knowledge of the facts, 
are hereby required to furnish such information as they 
may possess regarding any death, upon demand of the state 
registrar, in person, by mail, or through the local registrar. 
He shall further arrange, bind and permanently preserve the 
certificates in a systematic manner, and shall prepare and 
maintain a comprehensive index of all deaths registered, 
showing the name of deceased, place and date of death, 
number of certificate, and the volume in which it is con- 
tained. He shall inform all registrars what diseases are to 
be considered as infectious, contagious, or communicable, 
and dangerous to the public health, as decided by the state 
board of health, in order that when deaths occur from such 
diseases proper precautions may be taken to prevent the 
spreading of dangerous diseases, and all rules and regula- 
tions made by him for carrying out and enforcing the pur- 
poses of this act shall, when promulgated, have the same 
force and effect as if enacted by law. 
Sec. 13. Whenever it may be alleged that the facts are 
not correctly stated in any certificate of death theretofore 
registered, the local registrar shall require a deposition under 
oath to be made by the person asserting the fact, to be sup- 
Duty of 
sexton or 
other per- 
son in 
charge 
of burial 
ground. 
State regis- 
trar to pre- 
pare blank 
forms 
for all 
registrars. 
No other 
forms of 
blanks to 
be used. 
Informa- 
tion to be 
furnished 
local reg- 
istrar, 
by whom. 
Index of 
deaths. 
Deposi- 
tion taken, 
when. 18 
When facts 
are not 
correctly 
stated. 
ported by the depositions of two or more credible persons 
having knowledge of the facts, setting forth the changes 
necessary to make the record correct. Having received such 
depositions, he shall file them and shall then draw a line 
through the incorrect statement or statements in the certifi- 
cate, without erasing them, and make the necessary correc- 
tions, noting on the margin of the certificate his authority 
for so doing, and transmit the deposition, attached to the 
original certificate, when making his regular monthly returns 
to the state registrar. If the correction relates to a certifi- 
cate previously returned to the state registrar, he shall 
transmit the deposition forthwith to the state registrar. If 
the correction is first made upon the original certificate on 
file in the state bureau of vital statistics, the state registrar 
shall transmit a certified copy of the original certificate, 
corrected as above, to the local registrar, who shall there- 
upon substitute such certified copy for the copy of the 
certificate in his records. All such corrections and marginal 
notes referring to them shall be legibly written in ink, type- 
written or printed. 
Sec. 14. Each local registrar shall be entitled to be paid 
the sum of not exceeding twenty-five cents for each death 
certificate properly and completely made out and registered 
with him, and by him returned to the state registrar on or 
before the eighth day of the following month, which sum 
shall cover and include the making out of the burial permit 
and the copy of the certificate to be filed and preserved in 
his office. And in case no deaths were registered during any 
month, the local registrar shall be entitled to a sum not ex- 
ceeding twenty-five cents for each report to that effect, 
promptly made in accordance with the directions of the state 
registrar: provided, however, that all such compensation for 
such services shall be fixed by the board of supervisors, 
city council, or other governing body of such local registra- 
tion district. All amounts payable to registrars under the 
provisions of this act shall be paid by the treasurer or other 
lawful officer, out of the funds of each registration district, 
upon warrants drawn by the local auditor or other proper 
local officer of such district, which warrants shall specify 
the number of certificates properly registered and reports 
promptly returned where no deaths are registered, with 
the amount due for each: provided, however, that no war- 
rant shall be issued to any local registrar, or, if issued, shall 
be paid where notice is previously given by the state regis- 
trar to the auditor, treasurer or other proper officer of such 
registration district that the local registrar has failed to 
comply with the rules and regulations of the state bureau 
of vital statistics and the instructions of the state registrar. 
Sec. 15. The state registrar shall, upon receipt, furnish 
any applicant a certified copy of the record of any death 
registered under provisions of this act, for the making and 
certification of which he shall be entitled to a fee of fifty 
Filing 
of deposi- 
tions. 
Correc- 
tions in 
certificate, 
how made. 
Fee of local 
registrar. 
Compensa- 
tion of 
local 
registrar, 
how fixed. 
How paid. 
State regis- 
trar to 
furnish 
certified 
copy of 
records. 19 
cents, to be paid by the applicant. And any such copy of 
the record of a death, when properly certified by the state 
registrar to be a true copy thereof, shall be prima facie evi- 
dence in all courts and places of the facts therein stated. 
For any search of the files and records, when no certified 
copy is made, the state registrar shall be entitled to a fee of 
fifty cents for each hour or fractional hour of time of search 
to be paid by the applicant. And the state registrar shall 
keep a true and correct account of all fees by him received 
under these provisions, and turn the same over to the state 
treasurer. 
Sec. 16. Every physician and undertaker, residing in, at 
the date of this act or thereafter establishing a residence in, 
any registration district, shall forthwith register his or her 
name, address, and occupation, with the local registrar of 
the district in which he or she resides, and they shall there- 
upon be furnished by the registrar a copy of this act and 
such rules, regulations, and instructions as may be prepared 
by the state registrar with relation to their duties under this 
act. 
Sec. 17. If any physician who was in medical attendance 
upon any deceased person at the time of death shall neglect 
or refuse to make out and deliver to the undertaker, sexton, 
or other person in charge of the interment, removal, or 
other disposition of the body, upon request, the medical 
certificate of cause of death hereinbefore provided for, or 
shall willfully or knowingly make a false certification of 
the cause of death in any case, he shall be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor. If any undertaker, sexton, or other person 
acting as undertaker shall inter, remove, or otherwise dis- 
pose of the body of any deceased person without having 
received a burial or removal permit as herein provided, he 
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any registrar, 
deputy registrar or subregistrar who shall neglect or fail 
to enforce the provisions of this act in his district, or shall 
neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties imposed upon 
him by this act or by the instructions and directions of the 
state registrar, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 
And any person or persons who shall violate any of the pro- 
visions of this act, or shall willfully neglect or refuse to 
perform any duties imposed upon them by the provisions of 
this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Any 
transportation company or common carrier transporting 
or carrying, or accepting through its agents or employes for 
transportation or carriage, the body of any deceased person 
without an accompanying permit, issued in accordance with 
the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less 
than fifty nor more than two hundred dollars. 
Fee for cer- 
tified copy. 
Fee for 
search of 
records. 
Physicians 
and under- 
takers to 
register 
with local 
registrars. 
Rules 
furnished 
by local 
registrars. 
Neglect of 
attending 
physician; 
penalty. 
Neglect 
of under- 
taker, etc.; 
penalty. 
Neglect of 
registrars; 
penalty. 
Violation 
of this act; 
penalty. 
Viola- 
tion by 
common 
carrier; 
penalty. 20 
Local 
registrars 
charged 
with the 
enforce- 
ment 
of law. 
Sec. 18. Local registrars are hereby charged with the 
strict and thorough enforcement of the provisions of this 
act in their districts under the supervision and direction of 
the state registrar. They shall make an immediate report to 
the state registrar of any violations of this law coming to 
their notice by observation or upon complaint of any person 
or otherwise. The state registrar shall have authority to 
investigate cases of irregularity or violation of law, person- 
ally or by accredited representative, and all registrars shall 
aid him, upon request, in such investigations. When he shall 
deem it necessary, he shall report cases of violation of any 
of the provisions of this act to the prosecuting attorney or 
other proper officer of the county or municipality, with a 
statement of the facts and circumstances, and when any 
such case is reported to them by the state registrar all prose- 
cuting attorneys or officials acting in such capacity shall 
rjrthwith initiate and promptly follow up the necessary 
court proceedings against the parties responsible for the 
alleged violations of law. 
Sec. 19. All acts and parts of acts in conflict or incon- 
sistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CCCXLVL-An act to amend 
Chapter 1 of an act entitled "An act to provide for the 
organization, incorporation and government of municipal 
corporations," approved March 13, 1883, and acts amend- 
atory thereof, by adding a new section thereto, to be num- 
bered section 9, relating to the powers and duties of city 
clerks and city recorders, respecting the registration of 
deaths and the issuance and registration of burial and dis- 
interment permits. 
[Approved March 20, 1905.] 
The people of the State of California, represented in senate 
and assembly, do enact as follows: 
Section 1. Chapter I of an act entitled "An act to pro- 
vide for the organization, incorporation and government of 
municipal corporations" approved March 13, 1883, and acts 
amendatory thereof, is hereby amended by adding a new sec- 
tion thereto, to be numbered section 9 thereof, to read as 
follows: 
Section 9. The city clerk of each municipal corporation 
and the city recorder of each municipal corporation where 
there is no city clerk shall have the powers and shall perform 
the duties of a registrar within such municipality which are 
prescribed and required by the provisions of an act entitled, 
"An act for the registration of deaths, the issuance and reg- 
istration of burial and disinterment permits, and the establish- 
ment of registration districts in counties, cities and counties, 
cities, and incorporated towns, under the superintendence of 
the state bureau of vital statistics and prescribing the powers 
Municipal 
Corpora- 
tions. 
City clerk 
and 
recorder, 
duties of 
in relation 
to registra- 
tion of 
deaths,etc. 21 
and duties of registrars, coroners, physicians, undertakers, 
sextons and other persons in relation to such registration and 
fixing penalties for the violation of this act." 
Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict or inconsist- 
ent with this act are hereby repealed. 
Sec. 3. This act shall take effect March 31st, 1905. 
PENAL CODE. 
Part I-Of Crimes and Punishments. 
TITLE X-OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND 
SAFETY. 
§ 374. Putting dead animals in streets, rivers, etc. 
§ 377. Willful violation of registration and health laws. 
§ 377a. Violation of rules of state board of health relating to quaran- 
tine, etc. 
§ 3776. Violation of rules of state board of health relating to pollution 
of water. 
§ 377c. Violation of rules of state board of health relating to pollu- 
tion of ice. 
§ 378. Neglecting to perform duties under state law. 
§ 401a. Cubic feet of space in rooms. 
§ 374. Every person who puts the carcass of any dead 
animal, or the offal from any slaughter-pen, corral, or butcher 
shop, into any river, creek, pond, reservoir, stream, street, 
alley, public highway, or road in common use, or who attempts 
to destroy the same by fire within one fourth of a mile of any 
city, town, or village, except it be in a crematory, the con- 
struction and operation of which is satisfactory to the board 
of health of such city, town, or village; and every person who 
puts any water-closet or privy, or the carcass of any dead 
animal, or any offal of any kind, in or upon the borders of any 
stream, pond, lake, or reservoir from which water is drawn 
for the supply of the inhabitants of any city, city and county, 
or any town, in this state, so that the drainage from such 
water-closet, privy, carcass, or offal may be taken up by or in 
such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir; or who allows any 
water-closet or privy, or carcass of any dead animal, or any 
offal of any kind, to remain in or upon the borders of any 
such stream, pond, lake or reservoir within the boundaries of 
any land owned or occupied by him, so that the drainage 
from such water-closet, privy, carcass, or offal may be taken 
up by or in such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir; or who 
keeps any horses, mules, cattle, swine, sheep, or live stock of 
any kind, penned, corraled, or housed on, over, or on the 
borders of any such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir, so that 
the waters thereof become polluted by reason thereof; or who 
Putting 
dead ani- 
mals in 
streets, 
rivers, etc. 22 
bathes in any such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir; or who 
by any other means fouls or pollutes the waters of any such 
stream, pond, lake, or reservoir, is guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as prescribed 
in section three hundred and seventy-seven. (As amended, 
Stats. 1905, Ch. DLXXIII.) 
§ 377. Every person who is charged with a duty relat- 
ing to the registration of deaths, under chapter three, title 
seven, of the act to establish a Political Code, approved 
March twelfth, 1872, and amended March 18 and 20, 1905 
(Stats. 1905, Chs. CX, CXIX and CCCXLVI), who- 
1. Willfully fails to keep a registry of the name, age, resi- 
dence, and time of death of a decedent; or, 
2. Willfully fails to register with the county recorder a 
certified copy of such register, as is provided for in said 
chapter; or, 
3. Willfully inters, cremates, or otherwise disposes of any 
human body, in any city, county, or city and county, with- 
out having first obtained a permit, as provided for in said 
chapter; or, 
4. Willfully grants a permit for the interment, cremation, 
or disposition of a dead human body, without the certificate 
provided for in said chapter; or, 
5. Willfully violates any of the laws of this state relating 
to the preservation of the public health; 
Is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is, unless a different pun- 
ishment for such violation is prescribed by this code, punish- 
able by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one 
year, or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by 
both such fine and imprisonment. 
§ 377a. Every person who after notice shall violate, or 
who, upon the demand of any public health officer, shall 
refuse or neglect to conform to any rule, order or regulation 
prescribed by the state board of health respecting the quar- 
antine, or disinfection of persons, animals, things or places, 
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (New' section, Stats. 1905, 
Ch. CXLIV.) 
§ 3776. Any person who shall violate or refuse or 
neglect to conform to any sanitary rule, order or regulation 
prescribed by the state board of health for the prevention of 
the pollution of springs, streams, rivers, lakes, wells, or other 
w'aters used or intended to be used for human or animal con- 
sumption shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (New7 section. 
Stats. 1905, Ch. CXXXV.) 
§ 377c. Any person who shall violate, or refuse, or 
neglect, to conform to any sanitary rule, order or regulation 
prescribed by the state board of health for the prevention of 
the pollution of ice or the sale or disposition of polluted ice 
offered, kept or intended for public use or consumption, shall 
be guiltv of a misdemeanor. (New section, Stats. 1905, Ch. 
CXXXVI.) 
Willful 
violation 
of regis- 
tration 
and health 
laws. 
Violation 
of rules of 
state board 
of health 
relating to 
quaran- 
tine, etc. 
Violation 
of rules of 
state board 
of health 
relating to 
pollution 
of water. 
Violation 
of rules of 
state board 
of health 
relating to 
pollution 
of ice. 23 
§ 378. Every person charged with the performance of 
any duty under the laws of this state relating to the preser- 
vation of the public health, who willfully neglects or refuses 
to perform the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
§ 401a. Every person who owns, leases, lets, or hires to 
any person any room in any building, house, or other struc- 
ture. within the limits of any incorporated city, or city and 
county, for the purpose of a lodging or sleeping apartment, 
which room or apartment contains less than five hundred 
cubic feet of space in the clear for each person occupying 
such room or apartment, and every person found sleeping or 
lodging in, or who hires or uses for the purpose of sleeping or 
lodging in any room or apartment which contains less than 
five hundred cubic feet of space in the clear for each person 
so occupying such room or apartment, is guilty of a misde- 
meanor. (New section, Stats. 1905, Ch. DLXXIII.) 
toeperCtins 
health law. 
rooms, 
GENERAL LAWS. 
HYGIENIC LABORATORY. 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CCXXIII. 
Sec. 1. State board of health to manage hygienic laboratory. 
Sec. 2. Apparatus, etc., how purchased. 
Sec. 3. Director of laboratory, qualifications. 
Sec. 4. Appropriation. 
Statutes 1905, Chapter CCXXIII.-An act to establish and 
maintain a state hygienic laboratory for bacteriological and 
chemical analysis for the use of the state board of health, 
providing for the appointment of a director thereof, and 
assistants; making an appropriation therefor and prescribing 
the duties of the state controller and state treasurer in- 
relation thereto. 
[Approved March 18, 1905.] 
The people of the State of California, represented in senate 
and assembly, do enact as follows: 
Section 1. There shall be established and maintained at 
the University of California at Berkeley, for the use of the 
state board of health, a state hygienic laboratory for bac- 
teriological and chemical analyses, which shall be under the 
management of the state board of health. 
Sec. 2. The regents of the University of California shall 
from the money hereby appropriated, purchase suitable 
equipments, apparatus, chemicals and supplies for the main- 
tenance of such laboratory in the existing laboratories of the 
University of California at Berkeley. 
State hoard 
of health 
to manage 
hygienic 
laboratory. 
Apparatus, 
etc., how 
purchased. 24 
Director of 
laboratory, 
qualifi- 
cations. 
Sec. 3. The regents of the University of California shall 
appoint a director of said laboratory from the existing 
instructing staff of the university. Said director shall be a 
skilled bacteriologist and chemist and shall have general 
supervision of the performance of all duties required by the 
state board of health. The regents of the University of Cali- 
fornia, shall appoint one or more assistants, whose time shall 
be exclusively devoted to the work designated by the state 
board of health, under the supervision of the director of the 
laboratory. 
Sec. 4. The sum of four thousand dollars ($4,000) is 
hereby appropriated out of any money in the state treasury 
not otherwise appropriated, for salaries and for the purchase 
of equipment, apparatus, chemicals and supplies for the main- 
tenance of said laboratory, and of the office expenses in con- 
nection with the same. Of the amount herein appropriated, 
the sum of two thousand dollars ($2,000) shall be available 
during the fiscal year nineteen hundred and five and nineteen 
hundred and six; and two thousand dollars ($2,000) during 
the fiscal year nineteen hundred and six and nineteen hun- 
dred and seven. 
Sec. 5. The state controller is hereby authorized to draw 
his warrants, for the sums herein appropriated, in favor of 
the treasurer of the regents of the University of California, 
and the state treasurer is hereby directed to pay the same. 
Appoint- 
ment of 
assistants. 
Appropri 
ation. 
VACCINATION LAW. 
Statutes 1889, Chapter XXIV. 
Sec. 1. Exclusion of children from schools unless vaccinated. 
Sec. 2. Notice by school trustees. 
Sec. 3. List of children not vaccinated. 
Sec. 4. Expenses for, how paid. 
Sec. 5. Annual report of trustees. 
Statutes 1889, Chapter XXIV.-An act to encourage and 
provide for a general vaccination in the State of Cali- 
fornia. 
[Approved February 20, 1889.] 
The people of the State of California, represented in senate 
and assembly, do enact as follou's: 
Section 1. The trustees of the several common school 
districts in this state, and boards of common school govern- 
ment in the several cities and towns, are directed to exclude 
from the benefits of the common schools therein any child 
or any person who has not been vaccinated, until such time 
when said child or person shall be successfully vaccinated; 
provided, that any practicing and licensed physician may 
certify that the child or person has used due diligence and 
cannot be vaccinated so as to produce a successful vaccina- 
Exclusion 
of children 
from 
schools 
unless vac- 
cinated. 25 
tion, whereupon such child or person shall be excepted from 
the operation of this act. 
Sec. 2. The trustees or local boards, annually, or at such 
special times to be stated by the state board of health, must 
give at least ten days' notice, by posting a notice in two or 
more public or conspicuous places within their jurisdiction, 
that provision has been made, for the vaccination of any child 
of suitable age who may desire to attend the common schools, 
and whose parents or guardians are pecuniarily or otherwise 
unable to procure vaccination for such child. 
Sec. 3. The said trustees or board must, wdthin sixty 
days after the passage of this act, and every year thereafter, 
ascertain the number of children or persons in their respec- 
tive school districts, or subdivision of the city school govern- 
ment, being of an age suitable to attend common schools, 
who have not been already vaccinated, and make a list of the 
names of all such children or persons. It also shall be the 
duty of said trustees or board to provide, for the vaccination 
of all such children or persons in their respective school dis- 
tricts, a good and reliable vaccine virus wherewith to vac- 
cinate such children or persons who have not been vaccinated. 
And wThen so vaccinated to give a certificate of vaccination, 
which certificate shall be evidence thereof for the purpose of 
complying with section one. 
Sec. 4. The necessary expenses incurred by the provisions 
of this act shall be paid out of the common school moneys 
apportioned to the district, city, or town. And if there be 
not sufficient money, the trustees must notify the board of 
supervisors of the amount of money necessary, and the board 
must, at the time of levying the county tax, levy a tax upon 
the taxable property in the district sufficient to raise the 
amount needed. The rate of taxation is ascertained by 
deducting fifteen per cent for delinquencies from the assess- 
ment, and the rate must be based upon the remainder. The 
tax so levied must be computed and entered upon the assess- 
ment roll by the county auditor, and collected at the same 
time and in the same manner as state and county taxes, and 
when collected shall be paid into the county treasury for the 
use of the district. 
Sec. 5. The trustees of the several school districts of this 
state are hereby required to include in their annual report, 
and report to the secretary of the state board of health, the 
number in their several districts between the ages of five and 
seventeen years who are vaccinated and the number unvac- 
cinated. 
Sec. 6. This act shall take effect immediately. 
Notice by 
school 
trustees. 
List of 
children 
not vac- 
cinated. 
Vaccine 
virus to be 
supplied. 
Expenses 
for, how 
paid. 
Rate of 
taxation, 
how ascer- 
tained. 
Annual 
report of 
trustees.