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population of 1911. In Stoke Newington the proportion was one
sample to every 325, being at the rate of 3 per 1,000 of the present
population.
13 of the samples purchased in the Borough in 1911 were not
satisfactory; and, therefore the percentage of non-genuine samples
amounted to about 8.3 per cent., a figure which is markedly above
that of the preceding year, when it was 5.8 per cent. The figure for
the whole country was 8.2 per cent, during the year 1910.
10.7 per cent, of the milk samples were unsatisfactory, as against
9.9 per cent, during the preceding year; but in some cases the deficiency
below the legal limits was very slight. 27 per cent, of the
milk samples were purchased on Sundays. The percentage of
adulteration of milk for the whole country during 1910 was 11.1. In
London the percentage reported against was 9.9.
Many of the samples purchased under the Sale of Food and
Drugs Acts have been obtained through the employment of a deputy,
for the sanitary inspectors are well known to tradesmen and others.
In a few instances we have purchased samples without going through
the formalities prescribed by the Acts; the object being to submit
these to analysis, and, if they proved unsatisfactory, to subsequently
take samples under the prescribed formalities, so that proceedings
might be instituted against the vendor.
All the samples of Milk, Butter, Cream, and Margarine were
tested for antiseptics, with the result that 15 of the samples of Milk,
2 of Butter, 1 of Cream, and 3 of Margarine were found to contain
them. In no case was the amount sufficient to warrant a prosecution,
but in one or two instances the vendors were cautioned. Two
samples of Sausages contained boric acid in amounts which called
for cautionary letters to the vendors.
In London the proportion of milk samples reported against has
shown a fairly steady diminution for some years past, being 8.4 in