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61
It is curious what a predilection our forefathers had fof Underground
bakehouses. From a sanitary point of view, there is no
comparison between the two types of building. An underground
bakehouse is dark and difficult to keep clean and in some, artificial
light has to be used in the day. The only point in favour of the
underground bakehouse which I heard from its occupants is the
fact that it is easier to keep it at an equable temperature. When
the dough is made it is placed in a wooden receptacle for some time
and fermentation takes places. In order to obtain the best results,
a warm equable temperature is necessary, and this is secured,
according to the advocates of the underground bakehouse, more
easily where no dcors lead directly from the open air to the baking-room.
The intractable and relapsing skin eruptions sometimes asso-
dated with the baking and confectionery trade have recently;,
attracced considerable notice in both the medical and lay press,
and according to the report of the Conference of operative Bakers
and Confectioners held last August, the Secretary of their Union
stated that there were twenty cases of baker's dermatitis to-day
where only one existed a few years ago. This statement may be
true of some districts, but it certainly is not true of London and
Greater London.
I have made careful inquiries about the health of the bakers
in this district, and I came across only one man who suffered from
dermatitis or eczema. Over 200 men are employed in the baking of
bread and pastry in the district. I have recently come across cases
, of dermatitis in other occupations than bakers, and many authorities
group all these eruptions under one generic term—occupational
dermatoses. In a discussion which took place at the Royal Society
of Medicine in April, 1925, the view was generally expressed that
there is no eruption specific to, or distinctive of, the industries of
bakers and confectioners.
Evidence suggests strongly that the majority of these cutaneous'
disorders were incidents rather than consequences of the work.
This statement is combated by Dr. Mummery, the Medical
Officer to Messrs. Lyons' employees at Cadby Hall. He thinks
that there is a definice dermatitis to which persons engaged in
factories manufacturing bread and confectionery are liable. To
what part of the process the disease is due is doubtful. Sometimes
the disease is called " Baker's Itch," but mites are rarely found
in English milled flour.