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43
or that in Stoke Newington. The child was promptly removed to
hospital, where it died. Although there has been nothing approaching
an epidemic of this disease in London, the disease is still compulsorily
notifiable in the Metropolis.
CLEANSING OF PERSONS ACT, 1897.
At the close of 1906. the Public Health Committee decided, in
response to a letter from the Education Officer of the London County
Council, to undertake to treat children with verminous bodies and
clothing as verminous persons have hitherto been treated under the
Act. Such children are excluded from school, and often lose the
advantages of education for several weeks as a consequence, when
it is difficult or impossible for the mother to free the child from
vermin. The facilities for such cleansing are not what they might
be in Stoke Newington. We have to avail ourselves of the Hackney
Borough Installation, which is a long distance from us; and one
welcomes the prospect that in the future we may have a very central
disinfecting station in connection with the Destructor which has been
erected near the Town Hall, and that then suitab'e arrangements may
be made for the cleansing of verminous children and adults. During
1907 we disinfected a considerable number of premises and their
contents which were infected wfth fleas; but, although I gave
several persons permission to do so, no one went to Hackney to be
cleansed.
DISINFECTION.
From the standpoint of the municipal practice of disinfection
it may be stated without fear of contradiction that the past few
years have witnessed a levelling-up tendency. The various methods
of procedure adopted have been characterised by a slowly diminishing
range of variety and a more scientific appreciation. If less disinfectant
is used on some cases than was formerly the case, the loss