London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1924
Sixty-ninth annual report on the health and sanitary condition of the Metropolitan Borough of Islington
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55 [192-4
not accurately dispensed. It so happened that when the Inspector's messenger
presented the prescription his assistant, who was a qualified chemist, was not in
the shop."
The Chairman of the Petty Sessions said that "this case was a much more
serious one that those previous, and the Bench had decided to inflict a fine of £7
and £2 2s. Od. costs. They viewed with considerable alarm the amount of wrong
making up that seemed to take place in regard to prescriptions. If there was one
tradesman to whom the public looked for reliability it was the chemist, and they
hoped that more care would be taken in the dispensing of prescriptions."
Milk.—The qualitative results of the Analyses of the Milk samples, which have now been published for many years, are as follows:—
| No. of Samples. | Solids not Fat. | Fat. | Total Solids. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk purchased on Sundays | 120. | 8.74 | 3.12 | 12.16 |
| Milk purchased on week-days | 399 | 8.78 | 3.48 | 12.26 |
| Milk procured in transit at Finsbury Park Station | 102 | 8.87 | 3.65 | 12.52 |
| Official Standard | — | 8.50 | 3.00 | 11.50 |
Sophistication of Milk.—The particulars as to the genuineness or otherwise of the samples procured or purchased on Sundays, Week-days, and at Finsbury Park Railway Station are as follows:—
| Number taken. | Genuine. | Adulterated. | Percentage Adulterated. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On Sundays | 120 | 1ll | 9 | 7.5 |
| On Week-days | 399 | 381 | 18 | 4.5 |
| At Railway Stations | 162 | 151 | 8 | 4.9 |
| (Farmers' Milks) | - | - | - | - |
| 681 | 646 | 35 | 5.1 | |
| 1924. | No. of Samples Taken. | Genuine. | Adulterated. | Per cent. Adulterated. | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarters. | Sundays. | Weekdays. | Railway Stations. | All Milks. | Sundays. | Weekdays. | Railway Stations. | All Milks. | Sundays. | Weekdays. | Railway Stations. | All Milks. | Sundays. | Weekdays. | Railway Stations. | All Milks. |
| 1st Quarter | 30 | 123 | 35 | 188 | 28 | 116 | 34 | 178 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 6.6 | 5.7 | 3.0 | 5.3 |
| 2nd „ | 30 | 107 | 54 | 191 | 30 | 101 | 48 | 179 | — | 6 | 6 | 12 | — | 5.6 | 11.1 | 6.0 |
| 3rd „ | 30 | 122 | 42 | 194 | 27 | 118 | 41 | 186 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 10.0 | 3.3 | 4.1 | |
| 4th „ | 30 | 47 | 31 | 108 | 26 | 46 | 31 | 103 | 4 | 1 | — | 5 | 13.3 | 2.1 | — | 4.6 |
| The Year ... | 120 | 390 | 162 | 681 | 111 | 381 | 154 | 646 | 9 | 18 | 8 | 35 | 7.5 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
The number of samples of milk purchased was G81, of which 646 were genuine
and 35, or 5.1 per cent., were adulterated.