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amount of carbonic acid in the air of 12 workshops and factories and found the atmosphere highly
polluted in seven of them, the air of one room containing no less than 48 parts of carbonic acid in 10,000
of air. "The high results obtained," he says, "were all due to the combustion of large quantities of
gas and the failure to put in use means of ventilation which were available, and would have been
adequate if employed." Unventilated gas stoves are, the medical officer of health of Paddington
states, being banished from workshops of all classes. Laundries are mentioned among premises which
are reported to be in better condition, and small laundries where unsatisfactory conditions were often
found are gradually giving way to large laundries in which steam power is employed. In the same
way the inspector of Islington states that it may be expected that work now done at home will be
increasingly done in workshops owing to the larger use of mechanical power for sewing machines and
the employment of more elaborate machinery.
At the end of 1903 the standard of cubic space per head required in bakehouses was raised by
order of the Secretary of State to 500 cubic feet in underground bakehouses, and to 400 cubic feet in
other bakehouses where work is carried on at night by artificial light other than electric. The number
of underground bakehouses is reported to be decreasing, and great improvements have been effected
in those which have been certified; in numerous instances certificates were refused for those which
were not improved. At the end of 1904, there were in London 2,802 bakehouses, of which 1,416 were
underground.
Among the workplaces inspected were those in which food is prepared for sale, and hence the
kitchens of restaurants and other similar places came under observation.
In many districts women are now employed as inspectors, evidently with good results and,
further, the practice of allotting one or more of the male inspectors solely for duties under this Act has
made progress. An arrangement of this sort undoubtedly gives better results than where the duties of
workshop inspections is shared by inspectors who are employed in districts in all the duties which have
to be undertaken under the Public Health Act.
The Medical Officer of Health of Westminster states that since the appointment of two women
inspectors in the autumn, it was possible for him to overtake the work; and the Medical Officer of
Health of Hackney mentions the appointment of a woman inspector in 1904. In two annual reports
the insufficiency of the staff of inspectors is pointed out, thus the Medical Officer of Health of Islington
urges the appointment of another inspector for duties under the Factory and Workshop Act, and the
Medical Officer of Health of Bermondsey states that his application for the appointment of a female
inspector for this purpose was not adopted by the borough council.
Unsound Food.
In his report to the Corporation of the City of London on the meat supplied to the Central
Market, Dr. Collingridge states that "the home-produced supplies continue to diminish and we are
more than ever dependent upon Colonial and foreign meat." Meat, moreover, is brought longer distances
and has, therefore, in larger proportion than before arrived at the market in an unsatisfactory condition.
He comments, also, on the large export to foreign countries of the finest breed of cattle in this
country, and quotes a statement of "The Meat Trades Journal" that the beef cattle of England
itself wants "grading up." There has been, he says, a superabundance of second-class and imperfectly
prepared meat in the market and a lessened demand for the home-grown product. The seizure of diseased
and unsound meat during the year amounted to 1,156 tons, 2 cwt. and 1 qr., including 440 tons, 10 cwt.,
3 qrs. and 10 lbs. of imported frozen and chilled meat Among the seizures made during the year were
that of 10,322 rabbits brought from Australia in the s.s. Medic and most of which were seized in the Union
Cold Air Stores beneath Cannon-street Station. A box of immature kids was also brought to the notice
of the inspector by a salesman in the Central Meat Market. The box was labelled "rabbits" and was
sent by a small trader who resided at Baarle-Nassau who had the intention of sending a hundred weekly
to the market. There were nine prosecutions during the year and eight convictions. Concerning the
case in which the summons was dismissed, that of a butcher who dressed and sent to market the carcase
of a sheep belonging to a farmer and which had died in a field, the ownership of the meat by the butcher
was not proved. Dr. Collingridge remarks that "at present the owner escapes because he has no
knowledge and the butcher because he is not the owner," and he suggests that "the person or persons
under whose control the meat was" should be made liable under Section 47 of the Public Health
(London) Act.
In Finsbury is situated the "Extra Metropolitan Meat Market," a market carried on in streets
bordering on the City market, and in which a large amount of meat is sold. An inspector is appointed
especially for the inspection of food in this market and in other parts of the borough. Inspection of
food in other parts of the borough is also made by the " district inspector," and during the year 76 tons,
19 cwt., 3 qrs. and 13 lb. of meat were seized; 60 tons, 5 cwts., 1 qr. and 13 lb. being decomposed and
16 tons, 14 cwts. and 2 qrs. being diseased meat, besides other articles of unwholesome food, poultry,
cheese, eggs, vegetables, etc. There were 17 prosecutions and 16 convictions during the year. Three
of the convictions related to the sale of tuberculous pork—in one instance a pig's head.
In Islington, where a special food inspector is also employed, the slaughterhouses were
visited at the time of slaughter. The weight of unsound meat destroyed during the year was 3 tons,
2 cwt. 11 lbs., and that of unsound fruit, etc., 2 tons, 6 cwt., 3 qrs. and 3 lbs., and in three cases there
were prosecutions and convictions.
In Paddington, where meat is inspected in slaughterhouses, food stuff was seized or surrendered
as follows, 1,740 lbs. in slaughterhouses, 2,348 lbs. in butchers' shops, 218 in fishmongers' shops, and