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7
carry out this work. When the new Council House was built,
at my request you set aside a most suitable room for a laboratory,
and even fitted it with gas and water-supply. But unfortunately,
money has never been provided to purchase necessary apparatus
and a workshop without tools is useless. I would urge you to
realise the practical benefit as well as the scientific interest of
having a periodical analysis made of the effluent from each filter
bed, and to supply my successor with the means of doing the
scientific work of what is essentially a scientific system of sewage
disposal. A properly equipped laboratory would also be of the
greatest use to him for analysis of samples of water and also for
simple examinations of many articles of food, both objects for
which the idea of having a laboratory at the Council House was
originally adopted.
The appointment of a County Medical Officer of Health by
the Middlesex County Council, only indirectly affects this district,
as the only public health questions in it under the control of the
County Council are the administration of the Midwives and some
parts of the Food and Drugs Acts. But Dr. Young's efforts to
obtain more co-ordination amongst the different Medical Officers
of Health in the County and greater uniformity in interpretation
of bye-laws and annual reports, have already been of value and
will lead to increased efficiency in the future. His annual report
is a most useful work, as it contains a summary of the work of
each district in the County and enables interesting comparisons
to be made.
Amongst the various local regulations that have been adopted
and come into force during the past eight years, three appear to
be of great practical importance.
In 1901 and the early part of 1902, the Council was engaged
in drawing up a new set of building bye-laws, and included one
making it compulsory that all drains connecting houses with
sewers should be laid on a firm foundation consisting of a minimum
depth of cement.