London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Giles (Camberwell) 1884
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell]
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The results were as
follows:—
| Dr. R. | Somerset House | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31.1.85. | 2.2.85. | 14.285 | 28.2.85 | |
| Total solids | 10.94 | 10.80 | 11.17 | 10.57 |
| Water | 89.06 | 89.20 | 88.83 | 89.43 |
| Fat | 2.59 | 2.51 | 2.68 | 2.50 |
| Solids, not fat | 8.35 | 8.29 | 8.49 | 8.07 |
| 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
I had given the milk as containing six per cent. of
added water. The verdict from Somerset House was as
follows:— "the per centage of fat and of non-fatty solids,
after making due allowance for decomposition through
keeping, are lower than those found in mixed milks of
poor quality. From a full consideration of these and other
results obtained, we are of opinion that the milk contained
not less than three per cent. of added water."
I would again direct attention to the point which I
have always contested, viz.:—as to the possibility of a
correct judgment of a fresh, to be inferred from a stale
milk. I consider myself justified in my opinions when I
refer to a case adjudicated in November, 1883. Judging
from the fresh sample, I had found nine per cent. of added
water: the authorities at Somerset House, after making
the addition for natural loss arising from the milk through
keeping, gave a certificate that the milk contained 14 per
cent. of added water.
There is a clause in the Sale of Food and Drugs Act
Amendment Act, 1879, which requires the Analyst to