Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lambeth]
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namely, in the Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark;
St. Giles and St. George, Bloomsbury; St. James and
St. John, Clerkenwell; St. Luke, Clerkenwell; St. Mary,
Islington; and St. Luke, Chelsea. In ten, a Vestry Hall or
School Room is used for the purpose; but in the other
parishes the enquiry is held at the public house."
Dust Storage and Removal.—On November 28th, upon
the occasion of a scheme for the adoption of the pail system
having been brought to the notice of the Sanitary Committee
by Mr. Andrew, the Medical Officer submitted the following
report:—
"The scheme that has been brought forward by Mr. Andrew
for the modification in the system of dust storage and
removal, and which has for its object on the one hand
the substitution of a small, cleanly, and portable receptacle
in the place of the more capacious dust bin in common use,
and upon the other hand the adoption of a measure for the
frequent and regular removal of house refuse, commends
itself as an advance in the direction of sanitary reform which
may be expected to result in an improved condition in the
public health.
"The dust bin in general use is insanitary. When full, and
when its contents are allowed to remain for some time unremoved,
fermentation heats the central portion, moist with
rain or with organic refuse, and a vapour of an unwholesome
character is generated. When the dust bin is empty the
porous and absorptive brickwork of which its walls in whole
or in part are constructed, throws off an odour as offensive as
that from the accumulated dust previous to its removal. This
nuisance may not be observed when there is a considerable
open space in the rear of the house. But when the houses are
contiguous, and when their backs are closely approximated,