"Girls detained in prison shall, on the first symptoms of syphilis, be transferred to the Dispensary for treatment, after which they shall be remanded to prison to serve the remainder of the time." "The physician of the Dispensary shall not only treat patients in that establishment, but shall pay _periodical, accidental, and all necessary visits_ to the prostitutes, who are hereby subjected to such visits. He shall visit the Dispensary twice a day, from 7 to 9 A.M. and from 3 to 4 P.M. He shall enter upon his memorandum-book, and upon the pass-book of the girl, the result of all accidental or necessary visits. He shall receive a salary of two thousand francs."[250] This law is in force at the present time, and is said to have led to great inconvenience. Police agents are accused of levying black mail on the prostitutes to an enormous extent, in the shape of fines, dues for going to balls, hush-money for escaping the visit to the Dispensary, presents to the policeman on the birth of his children, etc. The product of the tax is inordinately large, amounting, independently of fines, to one hundred and twenty francs, or twenty-four dollars per annum for each girl. Several administrators have recommended its diminution or total suppression, but it is still retained.[251] In the year 1838, when the present law was passed, the number of women inscribed on the police register was 320, the total population of Algiers being 34,882, of whom two thirds were Africans and one third Europeans; but the mayor of the city gave it as his opinion that this figure (320) was in reality far below the truth. In 1846 measures were taken for enforcing the police regulations more strictly than before, and some care was used to procure correct statistics of population and prostitution.[252] We compile the following table from several given by Dr. Duchesne: +-------------------------------------------------+ | |Registered | POPULATION. | |Year.|Prostitutes|-------------------------------| | |(average). | African |European.| Total. | | | |(estimated).| | | |-----|-----------|------------|---------|--------| |1847 | 442 | 25,000 | 42,113 | 67,113 | |1848 | 387 | 25,000 | 37,572 | 62,572 | |1849 | 395 | 25,000 | 37,572 | 63,072 | |1850 | 479 | 26,000 | 29,392 | 55,392 | |1851 | 342 | .... | .... | 55,392 | +-------------------------------------------------+ To these figures, some of which are only approximative, must be added the number of French soldiers in the garrison at Algiers. At times the effective force has been as large as twelve or fifteen thousand men.