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safety. In this connection I would suggest that all dairy farms and
dairies should be under stringent sanitary control by a combined rural
and urban authority. As to the supply of sterilized milk to the poor, I
would suggest the establishment of a public service of sterilized milk,
where poor people could obtain a daily supply at a cost that although
small, could bo made to cover expenses. This experiment has been
carried out successfully at St. Helen's, Lancashire, and in several
American towns.
Diarrhoea is one of the epidemic diseases that has shown no tendency
to decrease with the advance of public sanitation in this country. That
it is preventable cannot be doubted, although hitherto it has eluded our
grasp. As our special knowledge of the subject becomes greater we may
hope to remove this scourge from our town populations.
Whether the theory of the origin of the malady be true or not, there
can be, I think, no question as to the practical value of the sterilization
of milk, which in a poor district like that of St. George the Martyr, can
be made generally available only by the efforts of the local sanitary
authorities.
Measles.
Measles is the next most deadly complaint in your parish, and leads
to a lamentable waste of life.
As frequently pointed out by me before, I think that the compulsory
notification of capes of measles throughout London, with subsequent
hospital treatment and disinfection, could not fail, in a poor parish like
St. George's, to result in a great saving of life.
Diphtheria Mortality.
There has been a decrease in deaths from diphtheria, a fact that is in
accordance with the the general fall in the whole of London, and is probably
to a great extent due to the modern treatment by anti-toxin.
There can be no doubt that the density of population and the modern
system of Board School education have a considerable influence upon the
prevalence of this highly preventable disease. As I have said in previous
reports, it would be prudent, I think, to consider the desirability of the
frequent and systematic inspection of all schools. It is in such places
that early and undetected cases of diphtheria, in the sore throat stage, are
to be found under circumstances that afford every opportunity for the
spread of infection.