I was at my wits' end to know what to do, but old Spanish law can usually be relied upon in emergencies, and the attorney-general discovered a provision couched in very general terms, which provided against disobedience to the authorities.

It was only necessary for an "authority" to have read to an ordinary person a statement setting forth what that person must not do; then if the order was violated, such person could be made to suffer pains and penalties.
I accordingly prepared a most impressive order prohibiting the Queen of Taytay from further engaging in the practice of medicine, had her followers drawn up in battalion formation, placed myself at the front and centre, caused the Queen to be brought before me, and read her my communication, at the same time charging the good people of Taytay not to tempt her again to try her hand at healing, for the reason that if they did she would surely get into serious trouble.

They marched away with the Queen and I have not heard of her since.
Hardly a year goes by that some similar miraculous healer does not set up in business, and the supply of dupes seems to be unending.
While it is comparatively easy to combat disease in a place like Manila, what of the provinces, where in many cases there is not one physician to two hundred thousand inhabitants?
To meet this difficulty we have an organization of district and municipal health officers.

A district may include a single province or several provinces.

A district health officer is invariably a physician who has had reasonably thorough practical training in the work of public sanitation, usually at Manila.
He is supposed to spend his time in sanitary work rather than in treating sick individuals, but it is, of course, impossible for him always to refuse to treat such persons, and we encourage gratuitous work for the poor when it can be carried on without interfering too seriously with more important duties.
Presidents of municipal boards of health may exercise jurisdiction over a single municipality or over several.