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samples were taken from the top and, from the bottom of the milk in the
churn, and were submitted to bacteriological examination. This examination
showed in the top samples the presence of pus cells, granular debris, and
various kind of micro-organisms, the deposit consisted principally of f œcal
material, granular debris, epithelial cells, and pus, and subsequently a guineapig
inoculated with the material developed tuberculosis. The Council decided
to prosecute, and the case was heard at Marylebone Police Court on April 7,
and at the adjourned hearing, at the Tower Bridge Police Court on May 12,
the defendant, John Roberts, was fined £25 and £5 5s. costs.
Seizure of Unsound Food.—By Section 47 (8) of the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, a person in possession of unsound food is expected to give written
notice to the Sanitary Authority to remove it as trade refuse. To permit a
person neglecting to do this to prevent the officer of the authority from seizing
the food by offering to "surrender" it is a form of procedure unrecognised by
the Act and calculated to defeat it, since the officer by not seizing the food
renders it impossible for the authority to prosecute should they consider it
necessary in the interests of the public, and so the Act might be rendered
inoperative. Whether the possessor of the unsound food or the person who
sold it to him should be the one to be prosecuted, if a prosecution be decided
upon, is a question for the legal advisor of the authority. The essential point
is that an inspector having discovered unsound food intended for human
consumption it is his duty to seize it and not to forgo seizure because the
possessor says " Now you have discovered it I will 'surrender' it!" This
would be reducing the provisions of the Act to a game of hide and seek for
grown up children.
Domestic Contamination of Food.—In Part IV., Sanitation, under § 3,
Dwellings, sub-head (f) "Working Class Flats, and the paragraph relating to
the Revenue Act of 1903, an interesting quotation has been made as to the
construction and management of larder, kitchen, and serving-room in regard
to the prevention of the domestic contamination of food, and the importance
of keeping uncooked and cooked food in separate places, as cooking sterilises
food.
Contamination of Milk Luring Delivery.—A complaint was made that milk
cans were seen by the police to be washed in a horse trough, and Inspector
Auger reported that he saw some milk cans left at the side of a street and a
dog paying them most objectionable attention. The only remedy for this is
the delivery of milk in bottle.
Pollution of Milk in Railway Transit.—The following is an extract from the
Annual Report for the year 1904 of the Intelligence Division of the Board of
Agriculture and Fisheries:—"Numerous complaints have been received by
the Board with regard to the insanitary condition of vans furnished by railway
companies for the carriage of milk. The majority of these were made by the
Central Association of Dairy Farmers, which has 16 affiliated agricultural
bodies interested in milk traffic. Nine specific complaints were inquired into
by the Board, and the condition of milk vans generally on various railways investigated.
The information obtained tended to show that there was a foundation
for the complaints in the fact that fish, or other articles liable to taint milk,
if not actually loaded with the churns, were frequently carried in vans subsequently
used for milk traffic. The question of insanitary vans for milk was one