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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MEDICAL OFFICER OF
HEALTH FOR THE YEAR 1905,
To the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Commons
of the Corporation of London.
Public Health Department,
Guildhall, E.C.,
March, 1906.
Gentlemen,
In conformity with the requirements of the Local Government
Board, I have the honour to present my sixth Annual Report as Medical
Officer of Health for the City of London. Some of the more important
matters dealt with by my Department in the year under review are briefly
referred to in the following introductory observations.
Much attention has been given to the character of the milk supply to the
City, which, unfortunately, has again been shown to leave much room for
improvement in the manner of its control and distribution. On p. 31 will be
found the result of a further series of bacteriological analyses of milk samples
from 22 different Counties from which milk is sent to the City. These again
show unmistakeably the great need for a stricter supervision of dairy farms.
With regard to contamination of shellfish by sewage, a case of much
importance to the public has quite recently been the subject of litigation. In
this suit the lessee of some shellfish layings was successful in obtaining
damages from a seaside local authority, together with an injunction restraining
them from polluting layings with sewage. This decision will, it is stated, be
the subject of appeal to a higher Court, and as the details will, no doubt, be
fully discussed in the public Press, the matter is not further referred to in
this Report.
An active administration of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts has been
continued, and some tables will be found herein showing how the City
compares with other Metropolitan districts with regard to the amount of
adulteration practised in each locality. Some account is also given of the
methods of manufacture of sophisticated butter, which supporters of a Pure
Butter Bill would do well to give attention to.
The question of warranties has been much in evidence during the year,
and unscrupulous traders find them a ready means of evading the consequences
of their acts. In no less than nine instances last year in the City the
production of a warranty by defendants led to the cases against them being
dismissed. Similar defences have been successful elsewhere, and it is clear
that unless some amendment or repeal of the existing warranty clauses of the
Sale of Food and Drugs Acts are made, adulteration, especially of milk, will
flourish exceedingly.
In the course of the year the Corporation was asked to subscribe to a
recommendation to transfer the administration of the Vaccination Acts and