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
Paddington 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]
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82 OFFICE WORK.
and shops, 13 were adulterated, equal to 5.6 per cent. (5.3 and 5.4 per Cent. in 1903 and
1904). The samples at the railway are taken only at the request of the consignees who
have found the consignments adulterated before communicating with the Department.
Hence a larger proportion of adulterated samples is always obtained.
The "warranty" provisions of the Acts continue to be a grave impediment to fixing the
responsibility for adulteration. In thirty (30) cases taken into Court, 8 dismissals took place
on proof of warranty. A certain proportion of vendors, having been once caught, and
convicted for lack of warranty, enjoy a practical immunity against conviction by providing
themselves with that (to them) necessary defence. There were no "warranty" provisions
in the earlier Adulteration Acts, and it does appear to be necessary with a view to securing
a pure food supply that the law should go back to the earlier system. (See Legal
Proceedings.)
TABLE 50.
Summary of Articles submitted to the Public Analyst during the year 1905.
| Total. | Found Adulterated. | Percentage Adulterated. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 316* | 24 | 7.6 |
| Butter | 119 | 7 | 5.9 |
| Coffee | 33 | 2 | 6.1 |
| Lard | 9 | — | — |
| Mustard | 9 | — | — |
| Pepper | 9 | — | — |
| Skim Milk | 3 | — | — |
| Baking Powder | 1 | — | — |
| Bloater Paste | 1 | — | — |
| Brandy | 1 | — | — |
| Cocoa | 1 | — | — |
| Jam | 1 | — | — |
| Shrimp Paste | 1 | — | — |
| Whisky | 1 | — | — |
| 505 | 33 | 6.5 | |
| * Including 87 taken at Paddington (G.W.R.) Terminus in course of delivery; 11 adulterated. | |||
Office Work.
The work of the Clerical Staff does not lend itself to statistical tabulation, but some
idea of the registerable, and more or less routine, duties during the past two years is given
by the appended figures. The multifarious duties relating to the preparation of reports,
entering up work done by the other officers of the Department, keeping records of statistics
and getting up cases for the Courts cannot be recorded numerically. It must suffice to say
that the work is steadily increasing year by year.
Letters received 3,672 (3,234) Complaints received 729 (800)
,, despatched 2,342 (1,632) Plans dealt with 431 (408)
Entries in postage book 7,932 (6,908) New openings in Journals 942 (1,263)
Cases of infectious disease
(a) Entered in Register
(b) Reported to Asylums 564 (974) Disinfection Orders 2053(1429)
Board, Guardians (duplicate)
and other
Notices of Infectious disease Notices to abate nuisances 376 (315)
sent to Public Library, 3,707 (2,804)
Schools, Baths, &c.
Figures for 1904 in parentheses.