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there should be a plentiful supply of hot and cold water. The common hot water pot
should be done away with and a large urn put in its place. Head rests should be made
of impervious material and wiped after every customer with a damp cloth and some
disinfectant. The barber himself should keep his hands clean and wear some sort of
linen overall.
Passing on to special regulations all razors should be dipped into some disinfectant
solution before shaving, and then into hot water. There is a great difference of
opinion among barbers as to the effect of hot water on the razor, but I have it
from one of the foremost manufacturers that it does the edge good, and from another
that it does no harm. The brush is more difficult to deal with. It should be
dipped in boiling water and cleansed after each customer and boiled at night for the
next day. There are cheap brushes made with the hair right through and bound with
cord, which will stand boiling without doing any harm. I do not know, at present,
of any cheap effective disinfectant which would be likely not to irritate the skin of the
face. The best solution for regular customers would be for them all to provide
themselves with shaving pot, brush and soap. This is done in most of the places at a
charge of twopence per shave, but one man at least, who charged one penny, said he
could do it just as well for this fee if his customers would have it, as the only expense
was the initial outlay. Clean towels should be used to dry the face with afterwards,
but I do not insist on the necessity for a clean one for every customer as the price paid
would not admit of it.
The only styptic should be a little powdered alum and not a common piece for all.
The powder puff should be done away with and in its stead a spray for powder or liquid
used. This is already being done in many of the small places. In haircutting and
dressing the brushes used should be washed daily, the combs dipped frequently in some
disinfectant, and the clippers run through the bunsen flame before using, and scrupulous
cleanliness observed in every operation of the business.
There is not a single regulation suggested here which could not be carried out in
the poorest shop, and, as pointed out, is carried out already in some with the exception
of the antiseptics.
As to how this could be done is another matter. The City of London are effecting
this in conjunction with the Guild of Hairdressers, by giving a certificate to those who
carry the regulations out.
As the regulations are printed and posted up in the shop the customers are a check
on the barbers and can demand the precautions.
Some similar method could be adopted here, and there is no doubt that those who
did not have a certificate would soon find that it would be to their interest to comply
with the regulations as their cleaner and more aseptic brethren would tend to draw the
custom.
The second method would be legislation empowering the Borough Councils to
make regulations to the like effect as those sketched above, and I do not doubt that
something of this kind will take place in the future.
Your obedient servant,
R. K. BROWN, M.D.
In connection with the 17 shops which were found in a dirty condition, the following
action was taken: —
Notices given—
Verbal 3
Written 2
Premises found cleaner on reinspection 8
No improvement found 4
17
The proprietors promised to he more careful in the future in five cases. In the tour in
which no improvement was found, the premises were not sufficiently dirty to serve a notice.
Food and Drugs.
In Tables XVII. and XVIII. of Appendix will be found a list of the samples taken in 1905,
and the action taken. There were 990 samples taken compared with 844 in 1904. Of these
8.7 per cent. were found adulterated compared with 8.2 per cent. in 1904.
During the past year an alteration has been made in the administration of the Food and
Drugs Acts. For the purpose of administering these, the District Inspectors' districts have been
changed so that they do not at present take samples on their own districts.
It was thought by the Committee that the Inspectors were too well known on their own
districts to discover adulteration efficiently, so the Medical Officer of Health and the Chief
Sanitary Inspector were given instructions to see that some alteration was made. Accordingly
we arranged that the Inspectors should have different districts and these be changed every six
months.
This arrangement has been found advantageous since a larger number of offences
committed under these Acts have been brought to light, especially as regards the commoner
articles of food. For instance, the percentage of adulteration in milk has increased. This is