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satisfactory provision had been made for the disposal of fish offal, but in many cases the wooden
benches on which the fish are gutted were in an objectionable state. The substitution of some
impervious material will remedy the nuisance which inevitably arises when fish are dealt with on a
bench made of an absorbent material such as wood. In many fried fish shops the hoods are placed
unnecessarily high above the furnace and so permit the acrid fumes generated in the process of
frying to escape into the shop and from the shop into the street. Should the proposed bye-laws be
sanctioned in their present form, it will unfortunately only be possible to require the hood to be
placed in a more effective position on premises which were not in use as fried fish shops on
August 1st, 1908.
Underground Bakehouses.— The number of underground bakehouses in use at the end of
the year was 75. Some difficulty has arisen in regard to stall board ventilation which was prohibited
by the Council in the regulations under which certificates were granted in 1902. Eleven bakehouses
were found to be admitting air through openings in the stall board situated a few inches above or
in one case actually below the pavement level. It is unnecessary to point out that air admitted at
this level cannot fail to be contaminated with the dust from road sweepings which inevitably alights
on the dough itself or on various surfaces with which the dough comes in contact in the course of
preparation for the oven. In response to representations from the Public Health Committee the
stall boards in these bakehouses have now been closed.
Slaughter Houses.— At the end of the year there were ten slaughter houses in the Borough.
Applications for the licensing of eleven slaughter houses were received by the London County
Council in October. Ten were granted and one was refused on the ground that no slaughtering
had been carried out on the premises in respect of which the application was made for a period of
more than 6 months. Periodical inspection of the slaughter houses shows that the amount of
killing done in the Borough is insignificant.

Unsound Food.—Applications were made for the removal of the following articles of food
which were unsound and unfit for the food of man :—
Bullock's liver 1.
Coal Fish 1 case.
Skate 1 case.
Oranges 20 boxes.
No food was seized under Section 47 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891.
SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACTS.
Each of the ten Sanitary Inspectors is appointed as an inspector under the above Act and is
instructed to take samples in any place in the Borough which is not within his own sanitary district.
During the year the Inspectors collected 700 samples, of which 50 (or 8 per cent.) were adulterated.
Proceedings were taken against 19 persons for adulteration or other offences under the Act, the
fines and costs inflicted amounting to £'27 13s.