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(February 26th, 1902), as disclosure of the consistence and
character of the article being sold. The same Justices have held
that the substance is not margarine, and that it may be sold
without prejudice to the purchaser if due notice is given.
Daring the year the Finsbury Borough Council, acting on the
recommendation of the Public Health Committee, memorialized
the Board of Agriculture, requesting the Board to determine the
standard of water permissible in butter.
On April 22nd, 1902, the Board of Agriculture, in exercise of
the powers conferred on them by section 4 of the Sale of Food
and Drugs Act, 1899, made the following regulation to come into
force on May loth, 1902, and to extend to Great Britain:—
"Where the proportion of water in a sample of butter exceeds
"16 per cent, it shall be presumed for the purposes of the Sale
"of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1899, until the contrary is
"proved, that the butter is not genuine by reason of the excessive
"amount of water therein." I am informed that a large production
and sale of this milk-blended butter still continues.
After the regulation of the Board had come into force, an
examination was made for excessive amounts of water in butter.
In three samples out of 133 excess was detected, but the amount
was so small that no action was taken.
ICE-CREAM.
The sale of ice-cream as carried on from barrows in
London streets is largely in the hands of Italians, and the
cream is for the most part made upon the premises where the
barrow men live. In London there are, according to the Census
(1901), Italians to the number of 10,889. Of this total, 1,065
live in the Borough of Finsbury. Most of these persons reside
in what is called the "Italian Quarter," and many of them are
engaged in the manufacture of ice-cream.
The "Italian Quarter" includes certain streets, alleys and
courts situated in a triangular area, bounded on the south by
Clerkenwell Road, and on its other two sides by Rosebery
Avenue and Farringdon Road. A portion of this area is within