London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Islington 1872
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Metropolitan Borough of]
This page requires JavaScript
2
it and the air of the house, but let the area be dry for a few days, or
the sink disused, and then the small quantity of water is very soon
evaporated, and the foul air rises up as if there were no trap at all,
while the inhabitants think themselves secure as "the trap is on."
Nay, more than this, water does not run easily through these traps, so
it is quite usual for servants to take off the tops to let the water run
away, and then they are of course often left off, perhaps for a whole
night, and the sewer is ventilated into the area, or even into the house.
As I walked along a street in Islington the other day, I saw that the
tops of nearly all the bell-traps had been taken off during the heavy
rains of the previous day, and were left lying in the areas, and this
induced me to make the above remarks.
Almost any trap is better than the bell-trap, but I think that on
the whole, the glazed earthenware syphon traps now made are the best
for areas, as they hold a large quantity o f water, and if the top is broken
or left off it matters little, as the trap is still effective; these traps are also
easily cleaned. Where sink pipes cannot be taken outside and made to
end on the surface of the yard they should have a syphon bend on them.
These matters are of essential importance, especially at a time when the air in the sewers is liable to be unusually foul.
METEOROLOGY OF JULY.
| Thermometers 4 feet from ground. | Degree of Atmospheric Humidity, Saturation being represented by 100 | Rain in inches read at 9 a.m., Collected on the ground. Sum. | Number of days on which Rain fell in appreciable quantity. Sum. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean of Daily Values. | Mean of Highest Tempera -tures. | Mean of Lowest Temperatures. | Mean Daily Range of Temp. | ||||
| Week ending July 6th | 65.2 | 79.6 | 54.9 | 24.7 | 58 | 0.53 | 2 |
| „ „ 13th | 63.6 | 75.8 | 57.2 | 18.6 | 78 | 1.02 | 6 |
| „ „ 20th | 61.9 | 75.0 | 53.4 | 21.5 | 71 | 0.17 | 3 |
| „ „ 27th | 72.1 | 87.1 | 61.6 | 25.6 | 65 | 1.48 | 4 |
| Means. | 65.7 | 79.3 | 56.7 | 22.6 | 68 | Sum. 3.20 | Sum. 15 |
The highest day temperature, observed on July 25th, was 92.5°
The lowest night temperature, observed on June 30th, was 47.3°
Thunder Storms on July 11th, 12th, 13th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th.
W. H. CORFIELD,
M.A., M.D., (Oxon).
Medical Officer of Health
Vestry Offices,
August 3rd, 1872.