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41
Of this number only 187 inspections were made as the result
of complaints by householders and others, and this circumstance will
serve to accentuate the importance of prosecuting a fairly constant
system of house-to-house inspection in at least the poorer parts
of the Parish. It is difficult to over-estimate the value such a
measure has in preventing the origin and spread of preventable sickness.
The Slaughter-houses, Bake-houses, Cowsheds and Dairies situated
in the Parish were all duly inspected throughout the year.
The Factories and Workshops have also been inspected during
the year, and I have kept the list of out-workers up to date.
I have repeatedly made analysis of the drinking water supplied
to the Parish by the New River Water Company and the results have
invariably been satisfactory.
FOOD AND DRUGS.
Under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 48 samples of Food and
Drugs were taken and analysed. The results are shown in Table C.
It will be seen that seven of the samples were not genuine, and
therefore the percentage of non-genuine samples amounted to 14.5—
a figure which is higher than that for the country generally.
Including two cases where margarine was sold in contravention to
the provisions of the Margarine Act, six vendors were prosecuted
during the year. Five of the vendors had to pay, in addition to
costs, £10 for fines, and the prosecution in the sixth case was
dismissed because the vendor (of milk) produced a warranty that he
sold it as he received it from another vendor. I found this sample
to be deficient in fat to the extent of 16.7 %, and as the correctness
of the analysis was disputed, the third sample was sent to Somerset
House, the authorities of which agreed with my results.
The Sale of Food and Drugs Act was passed in 1875, and of the
articles analysed in 1877,19.2% were adulterated. From 1877-1881
the adulterated samples averaged 16.2%; from 1882-1886, 13.9%;