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42
General Health of the District.
The general health continues good, the mortality being
low, and the brunchitic and influenzal winter affections
subsiding. There is an epidemic of measles now prevailing
and scarlet fever, as the curve shows (opposite page 44) is
somewhat more prevalent than usual. On the other hand
it is satisfactory to be able to report absolute freedom from
small pox, a disease which when epidemic, is apt to show an
increase in April, reaching its seasonal maximum in May.
The Cleansing of Persons Act.
An important report has just been issued by the
London County Council on the Administration of the above
Act.
From this report it is shown that St. Marylebone took the
lead in 1898, Hackney followed in 1902, and St. Pancras in
1904.
In other Boroughs of the Metropolis tramps and dirty
persons can be cleansed in baths, either attached to the
casual wards or forming some part of the poor law
machinery. In the report the fact is clearly brought out
that success in the cleansing of dirty persons is only to be
obtained by making such baths popular, in dissociating them
from poor law administration, and in not worrying applicants
with a number of restrictions. An important extension
of the use of such baths has been initiated by St. Pancras
in cleansing school children affected with lice. It is quite
obvious that since the law compels each child to go to
school, clean children must be protected from contamination
by vermin, and every mother with any experience knows
full well that a chance infection of any child leads to a
marvellous multiplication of such parasites. The chance
of this infection is by no means remote, for according to a
return of two of the St. Marylebone Schools, out of 1,378
children examined, no less than 297 had verminous heads—
that is, about 21.5 per cent. It may be these schools were
exceptional; if they were not, it follows that of the 18,797
Marylebone children going to school, about 4,000 have
dirty heads.