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discharge into sewers any refuseproducts of gas manufacture;
of which, from time to time, complaints had been made,
connected with the gas works at Kensal Green, until
structural alterations were made thereat, with a view to
prevent recurrence of the cause of complaint. No such
provision is contained in the Act, but such nuisances could
no doubt be dealt with successfully, at much cost of time,
trouble and money, under the 21st clause quoted in the
previous section on nuisance from brick-burning.
SLAUGHTER-HOUSES (METROPOLIS) ACT, 1874.
Section 55 of the Metropolis Building Act, 1844,
provided for the abolition of slaughter-houses in London, in
1874. These establishments were then numerous, and for
the most part unsatisfactory in nearly every respect: few
of them had been built for the purpose— only one in
Kensington out of 48. But Parliament, upon the report of a
Select Committee of the House of Commons, appointed, in
1873, to consider the subject of this and other "noxious
businesses," decided that, subject to proper regulations,
slaughter-houses might be allowed to remain, and so the
above-named Act was passed. In view of probable legislation,
I had read a paper before the Society of Medical
Officers of Health (March 21st, 1874), on "Private Slaughterhouses
considered with reference to the Report of the Select
Committee on Noxious Businesses." In this paper, after
describing the unsatisfactory state of the slaughter-houses,
and expressing my preference for the abattoir system, I
specified the requirements of a sanitary slaughter-house;
indicated the conditions necessary to be enforced by bye-laws;
foretold that suitable regulations would lead to a large
reduction in the number of slaughter-houses, and insisted on
the necessity for a heavy irreducible penalty for breach of
the regulations. In due couse the Slaughter-houses Act
was passed; the late Metropolitan Board of Works was