London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Wandsworth 1873

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Wandsworth District, The Board of Works (Clapham, Putney, Streatham, Tooting & Wandsworth)]

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duly attested by medical certificates. Almost all the
Medical Officers of Health in this District in their Local
Summaries offer remarks deprecatory of the system of
burying those who have died suddenly, or without previous
medical attendance, before the true cause of death had been
ascertained or certified to by qualified medical practitioners,
or, failing in which, by Coroners' inquisitions.
Seventy cases of the kind referred to in one year, is
a large number, and fully justifies, it is submitted, the
strong opinions that have been expressed from time to
time upon this important subject—a subject which it will
be seen has now a most important bearing upon the
measure before Parliament, which contemplates great
improvements in respect to certified births and deaths,
and to registration generally.
Sanitation of the year.—From Table VI., Appendix,
may be gathered all the usual information respecting the
sanitary operations in the District that have been carried
out during the year under the auspices of the Board.
All these operations, it is satisfactory to find, have been
conducted with as little litigation as could possibly suffice
to ensure the due fulfilment of the orders of the Board.
There have been, however, occasions when magisterial
interference has been strongly necessitated upon points
of the greatest importance, but the decisions on one or
more of these points cannot be said to have been of so
satisfactory a character as was anticipated. (Vide remarks
in Local Summaries).
Water Supply.—The most recent report of the
Government Analyst, Dr. Frankland, (May 30th, 1874),
states that the turbidity of many of the supplies of water
of which he had to complain last month, had ceased, and
all the waters were, on the 1 st of May, "efficiently filtered,
and consequently clear and transparent when drawn from
the company's mains." Dr. Frankland further states, in