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Laving such dwellings disinfected. A shelter, with day accommodation
for two families, was provided by the late Vestry in 1892. This
building was taken over by the Electric Lighting Department in 1900,
since which period the Borough has been without a day shelter.
Although the class for whom the accommodation was provided made
very little use of the shelter, to comply with the Act will necessitate the
election of these premises on some suitable spot. The question also
of providing housing accommodation for the officers employed as disinfectors
might bo considered at the same time.
Unwholesome Food.—The Inspectors have continued to visit the
markets on Saturday nights in order to prevent the sale of stale or
unwholesome food. Twenty-three pieces of bacon were seized by
Inspectors Hudson and Leverton on one of these occasions from a stall
in High Road, Kilburn, and were submitted to me and found to be unfit
for consumption. The bacon was subsequently condemned by the
Magistrate and ordered to be destroyed. Stale and preserved fruits in
tins, stale groceries, &c., were also seized during the year.
Samples of Milk for analysis have been taken at Stations, Public
Institutions, Hospitals, &c., and on Sunday mornings in the streets, in
addition to those taken in the ordinary course in shops.
The food of children under one year of age is largely composed of
milk, and the milk of cows sometimes contains the tubercle bacillus.
Cows are subject not merely to tubercle of the lungs, but also to
tubercle of the udder. When tuberculous milk is ingested by children
it is apt to affect the mesenteric glands, and produce the disease known
as consumption of the bowels. Milk may also be the medium for the
conveyance of the poisons of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria. It is stated
that the British are the only civilized people who habitually consume
raw milk.
It cannot be too often repeated that to destroy the tubercle bacillus
and other poisonous germs in milk, it is only necessary to boil the milk
for a few minutes, or, for those who dislike the flavour of boiled milk,
the same object can be attained by sterilizing the milk by raising the
temperature to 160 degrees, and maintaining it at that heat for 30 or 40
minutes, and allowing it to cool gradually.