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regulations for the control and supervision of the milk-traffic.
Fortunately these efforts were successful, for in the spring
of this year (1879) the Privy Council, acting on the
34th section of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act
1878, made an order empowering the Metropolitan Board
of Works (as " the Local Authority") to issue regulations
affecting the control of the milk-traffic. The Board were
not slow to act upon the authority, and have issued a set of
regulations providing for the lighting, ventilation, cleansing,
drainage, and water supply of the Cow-sheds and Dairies.
These are very good,—in fact, as existing arrangements
go, somewhat stringent,—but, as the Gazette informed
us recently, the order has to be operative only in the case
of fresh licenses, and I fear they will not at present be of
much service to us. The amount of air-space demanded is
800 cubic ft. per cow. In the cases above cited considerably
less than one half that amount was provided. Our demands
in these cases were very far short of the regulations
now imposed.
The Water Supply.—" Only once during the eleven
years, 1868-78, has the Thames water been so much polluted
by organic matters as during the year 1878. The
Thames was often in high flood, even in summer, and
much filthy matter, ordinarily retained in sewers and
cesspools during the summer months, was swept into the
river." . . . . " The organic matters greatly exceed
the standard fixed upon by the Rivers Commissioners for
water fit for dietetic purposes."
The quotations above are from Dr. Frankland's Report,
published in the Registrar-General's Annual Summary,
1878 (pp. 40 and 42). Of this disgusting water we drank
during the past year, and still imbibe during the present,
filtered by a Company which has the reputation of filtering
it worse than any other, and which uses the water during
floods for want of reservoirs. Mr. Bateman, of Loch
Katrine fame, assures us that we could have pure water in
abundance from Wales for £470,000 annually, covering