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52
While children are placed upon the school dinner list by care committees as soon
as there is social need, and before malnutrition has time to develop, additional
nourishment in the shape of milk or cod liver oil is given to the children who are
specially in need of it, irrespective of financial or social necessity, on the advice of
the school doctors.
These children are kept under continuous and careful observation and are
weighed regularly by the school nurses.

Over and above the "official" scheme detailed above, there is a very large
number of "clubs" on a voluntary basis in the schools for the provision of milk.
In a report made during the year it is stated that there are no less than 1,248
such "clubs" in the elementary and special schools conducted on the lines of the
Milk Publicity Council's scheme, by which milk is provided for 78,000 children
daily, each child having a separate bottle. Furthermore, there are 152 "clubs"
supplying 10,000 children not under the " bottle "scheme.
Samples of meals, as served, are taken from time to time for examination in
the central laboratory at County Hall. Seven such samples have been taken during
the year, six of which were found to be satisfactory; the remaining meal was somewhat
deficient in protein content and calories, and attention was directed to this fact.
During the year under review the quality of the milk supplied under the Council's
contracts for necessitous children has been kept under control by systematic
examination.
The total number of samples chemically examined in the public health department
during the year was 1,517. of this number nearly 90 per cent. were found to
be satisfactory, the remaining 10 per cent. being found to be unsatisfactory, by reason
either of the presence of extraneous matter (dirt), deficiency of fat, or by the addition
of water.
A comparison of these results with those of the previous year shows a marked
improvement in the general quality of the supply; the number of samples indicating
an addition of water or an abstraction of fat being only 33 (2.2 per cent. against
7.1 per cent. for 1930).
It is regrettable, however, that this improvement in the quality of the supplies
was less marked as regards the presence of extraneous matter, the results of examination
showing 8.1 per cent.as unsatisfactory in 1931, against 11.5 per cent. in 1930.
The presence of dirt in the milk supplied, which is largely due to careless handling
between the cow and the school, is receiving special attention. All cases in which an
excessive amount of extraneous matter is found are brought to the notice of the
supplies department for appropriate action—regardless of the chemical composition
of the milk.
With very few exceptions milk supplied for necessitous children is not required
by the contracts to conform to any bacterial standards, such as are required by the
Milk (Special Designations) Order, 1923, made by the Minister of Health under
Statute in respect of graded milk, it being subject only to the proviso that it shall
be, inter alia, "Pure, new milk clean and perfectly sweet on delivery."
With a view to securing better control, however, the scheme has been extended
during the year so as to include bacteriological examinations, for which purpose
arrangements were made for samples in duplicate to be collected on delivery at the
schools, one sample being forwarded for bacteriological examination at the Southern
group laboratory at the Park hospital, or, alternatively, to the bacteriological
laboratory at County Hall; the other being submitted for chemical examination.
In order to co-ordinate the work and to avoid overlapping in the examination
of milk supplied to schools throughout the county, the co-operation of the medical