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"As regards change in the biological composition of the water in the
"River Thames from Barking and Crossness downwards towards the
"open waters of the estuary, all that need be said is, that whereas at
"Barking and Crossness the number of bacillus coli per c.c. of water
varied usually from 100 to 1,000, no appreciable improvement was
"noticeable at Purfleet (about 5 miles below Crossness), but slight
"improvement at Grays (about ten miles below Crossness), and that it is
"not until Mucking (20 miles below Crossness) is reached that the
"quality of the water is so far improved as to vie with the water in the
"Upper Thames at Sun bury and Hampton. At Mucking the number of
"bacillus coli per c.c. varies usually from 1 to 10, and about five miles
"lower down (at the Chapman Light) it is so far improved that about
"one-half of the samples contained only one-tenth of this amount.
"It will be seen that, notwithstanding the daily discharge in dry
"weather into the Thames at Barking and Crossness of 230,000,000
"gallons of treated sewage, each cubic centimetre of which contains
"about 100,000 bacillus coli, and the daily discharge of 7,000 tons of
"sludge into the Barrow Deep, each gramme of which may contain over
"a million bacillus coli, one-half of the samples of water at Chapman
"Light (about 25 miles below Crossness) and in Barrow Deep were not
"found to contain one bacillus coli per cubic centimetre."
FOOD INSPECTION.
Table VII. is a summary of the quantities of unsound food destroyed or
otherwise disposed of in order to prevent the sale or use of the same for the
food of man.
No large seizures of unsound meat have been made. This, of course, means
that cargoes of frozen meat have on the whole arrived and been landed in
good condition.
The quantity of frozen meat imported during the year was reduced as from
Australia, but largely increased imports were received from New Zealand and
the Argentine Republic. According to returns issued by the Meat Trade, the
import of frozen mutton and lamb into the United Kingdom from all sources
during 1903 showed an increase of 960,380 carcasses over the aggregate of the
previous year. "This marks the greatest expansion which has taken place in
any one year since the trade commenced."
The increased import of frozen mutton and lamb into the Port of London
during 1903 amounted to 936,448 carcasses, or 97.5 per cent. of the total
increase of trade.