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Disinfection.
Bedding, clothing, etc., are disinfected at the Council's Disinfecting Station at Wood Lane by
exposure to steam under a pressure varying between 15 and 20 lbs. above atmospheric
pressure for fifteen minutes. Soiled linen is disinfected by boiling under a pressure of 10 lbs. above
atmospheric pressure for ten minutes in a rotary washing machine. A formalin cupboard is used
for the disinfection by formalin of leather, furs and other articles which cannot be exposed to high
temperatures.
Rooms vacated by persons suffering from infectious disease are disinfected by gaseous
formaldehyde, which is generated by the votalisation of paraform tablets, 20 tablets being used
for each 1,000 cubic feet of room space. Verminous rooms are disinfected by the burning of 3 lbs.
of sulphur for each 1,000 cubic feet.

* This table does not include the work carried out at Wood Lane on behalf of the
Paddington Borough Council.
The total weight of the bedding, clothing, etc., of Kensington residents disinfected was 47
tons 14 cwts. 3 qrs. 18 lbs. The number of articles disinfected only was 22,044 and the number
disinfected and washed, 961.
The laundry work for the Medicinal Baths is performed at the Disinfecting Station and this
work involved in 1930 the washing of 10,775 towels, 250 sheets and 38 other articles.
The Paddington Authority have entered into an agreement with the Council for the disinfection
of all articles removed from Paddington homes to be performed at the Kensington Disinfecting
Station. As the Paddington Council require certain of the articles to be washed after disinfection,
the charge was fixed at 20s. 0d. per cwt. of articles dealt with, but there is a proviso in the agreement
that the minimum payment per annum is to be £600.
The weight of Paddington articles disinfected in 1930 was 29 tons. 17 cwts. 1. qr. 24 lbs.
The number of articles disinfected was 7,416 and the number disinfected and washed was 2,689.
Disinfection of Library Books.
In view of the difficulty of securing efficient disinfection of books, the Libraries Committee
authorise the Medical Officer of Health to destroy all Public Library volumes removed from
infected houses; this gives Kensington borrowers protection from infection from the Council's
books.
The number of books from the Kensington Public Libraries destroyed during the year by the
officers of the Public Health Department was 61. The number of private subscribing library books
destroyed was 23; and the number disinfected by formalin and returned to the householders was 12.
Bacteriological Work.
In order to secure a linking-up of the work of pathology and bacteriology in the borough
generally, and to obtain close co-operation between St. Mary Abbots Hospital, the Princess Louise
Hospital and the Borough Council, the Council, in 1928, appointed the pathologist at St. Mary
Abbots Hospital as their bacteriologist on condition that he became honorary pathologist at the
Princess Louise Kensington Hospital for Children. Dr. Keith, the present pathologist, commenced
his duties under the Council on the 1st November, 1928.
At the present time, the Council have a full bacteriological service and are able to assist local
medical practitioners in any branch of bacteriology and pathology. In fact, all medical men
attending poor patients in the borough may receive for these patients the same advantages in
regard to bacteriology and pathology as may be obtained in the best private practices and at the
general hospitals.