No. 4.
To the diplomatic and consular officers of
the United States at sea-ports.
Washington , August 21, 1878.
Gentlemen: The Secretary of the Treasury has requested, under date of the 31st ultimo, that the Treasury Department may be informed, for the official use of the Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital Service, of such foreign commercial and sanitary reports as can be obtained by you, showing important lines of water communication and land transportation routes between various countries; the number, nationality, &c., of vessels entered and cleared at large ports; the population statistics, and all health and quarantine reports published, together with the health and quarantine laws and regulations now in force in the countries in which you respectively reside.
You are, therefore, requested to obtain and forward to this department the foregoing information, as far as it may be practicable for you to obtain it, at your earliest convenience.
I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
Acting Secretary.