AC 432 (3) ST. MARY ISLINGTON 88880 isl 42 REPORT on THE SANITARY CONDITION of the Parish of St. Mary, Islington, DURING THE YEAR 1874-5 by CHARLES MEYMOTT TIDY, M.B., F.C.S., joint-Lecturer on chemistry and professor op medical jurisprudence and Public Health at the London Hospital;—Master op Surgery;— Fellow op the Medical Society;— Late Deputy Medical Officer of Health and Food Analyst for the City of London;— and MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH AND FOOD ANALYST FOR THE PARISH. J. & I. TIREBUCK, STEAM PRINTERS & LITHOGRAPHERS, Monkwell Street, E.C., and Islington. 1875. TABLE OF CONTENTS. page. Marriages 3 Births 3 Deaths 4 Mortality at different ages 4 Causes of Death 5 The Weekly Mortality Returns 9 The Mortuary 12 "What shall we do with our Dead?" 13 Dirty Roads 15 "A Focus of Deadly Miasma" 20 Dwellings of the Poorer Classes 26 Adulteration Act 31 Water Analysis 32 Metropolitan Slaughter Houses 34 Islington Slaughter and Cow Houses 40 Sanitary Work of the year 41 Summonses 43 The Dusting of the Parish 45 Conclusion 49 TO THE VESTRY OF SAINT MARY, ISLINGTON. Gentlemen, 2080 marriages, 8669 births, 4680 deaths are the records of your losses and gains in Islington last year. MARRIAGES.—Table No. I. Nos. of Marriages. Marriage Rate per 1000 of the Population. In quarter ending March, 1874 371 = 12.4 ,, ,, June, ,, 570 = 19.2 ,, ,, Sept., ,, 576 = 19.4 ,, ,, Dec., ,, 563 = 19.0 The marriage rate, therefore, in Islington for the whole year is 17.5 Per 1000 of the population. In the United Kingdom it was 14.4 for the first quarter; 16.1 for the second; 14.6 for the third; and 17.3 for the fourth. The marriage rate for the whole year was therefore 15.6. In England and Wales alone, the marriage rate was 17.1 per 1000 of the population. For the first quarter it was 14.2; for the second, 17.9; for the third, 16.4; and for the fourth, 19.6. In Austria the persons married are at the rate of 17.5 per 1000; in France, 15.58 per 1000; and in Spain, 15.10 per 1000 of the population. BIRTHS.—Table No. II. West District. East District. Whole Parish. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female. Total. 1st Qtr. 472 492 964 600 607 1,207 1,072 1,099 2,171 2nd „ 478 480 958 570 562 1,132 1,048 1,042 2,090 3rd „ 473 522 995 549 587 1,136 1,022 1,109 2,131 4th „ 552 462 1,014 622 641 1,263 1,174 1,103 2,277 Total 1,975 1,956 3,931 2,341 2,397 4,738 4,316 4,353 8,669 4 Of the 8669 births registered in Islington 4316 were boys and 4353 girls, or in the proportion of 100 males to 100.85 females. That the females should thus preponderate over the males is unusual, and, as the above table will show, is confined to the eastern part of the district. The birth rate for the whole district is 36.5 per 1000 of the population, against 38.5 of last year. The average birth rate during the past ten years is 37.34. The birth rate for all England is 36.1 per 1000, and for the United Kingdom, 34.5 per 1000. Although, therefore, our birth rate has somewhat diminished during the past year, it is still above the general birth rate of England. In Austria the birth rate is 39.9; in Spain, 37.2; and in France, 26.3 per 1000 of the population. DEATHS. Table No. IX presents you in detail with the causes of the 4680 deaths registered in the parish. These are exclusive of those of non-residents in the various hospitals, which I have not considered it needful to take into calculation, our data for their estimation being so imperfect that any attempt to do so, is very little better than a guess. Of the 4680 deaths, 2225 were males and 2455 were females. 2008 deaths occurred in the western district, of which 950 were males; and 2672 in the eastern, of which 1275 were males. The death rate of Islington was, therefore, for the year 1874, 19.7 against 19.3 for 1873. The death rate in the United Kingdom for 1874 was 21.6 per 1000, whilst in England alone it was 22.25. MORTALITY AT DIFFERENT AGES.—Table No. III. Showing the number of deaths at different ages in Islington, in the year 1874. Under 1 year old 1278 From 1 to 2 442 „ 2 to 3 183 „ 3 to 4 111 „ 4 to 5 69 Under 5 2083 „ 5 to 10 142 „ 10 to 15 44 „ 15 to 20 81 Under 20 2350 From 5 to 20 267 5 From 20 to 40 588 ,, 40 to 60 682 From 20 to 60 1270 ,, 60 to 80 870 ,, 80 upwards 190 Table No. IV. Proportion of deaths at different ages in every 1000 deaths. 1873. 1874. Under 1 year old 266.7 273.0 From 1 to 5 years old 172.1 172.0 „ 5 to 20 53.5 54.9 „ 20 to 40 119.5 125.8 „ 40 to 60 153.7 146.8 „ 60 to 80 192.8 186.9 At 80 and over 41.7 40.6 Total 1,000.0 1,000.0 CAUSES OF DEATH. I have little to add to the information which may be gathered at a glance from Tables Nos. V., VI., & IX. There is nothing in these that calls for detailed notice, with two exceptions—first, that the deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs were unusually numerous, this, to my mind, being amply accounted for by the circumstance that the winter was so unusually severe and long. The other matter is more important, and I refer to it only from a strong feeling of duty. 26 cases of death from puerperal fever are recorded as having occurred during the past year, as well as 35 cases of peritonitis, some of which it is not at all unlikely were cases of puerperal peritonitis. This is a very much larger number than usual. The necessity for never relaxing care, may be the lesson our profession should learn from these facts, and I trust I may be pardoned referring to what perhaps may be now and then, I do not say, forgotten, but by pressure of work, overlooked. It is clearly our duty to watch with jealous eye every possible inlet through which disease may find its way into the body. Our profession is doing a great work when it busies itself in curing disease, but it is doing an infinitely greater work in endeavouring to prevent it. Of curative medicine it may be said that it has saved its 6 thousands: but of preventive medicine that it has saved its tens of thousands. Through every possible crack and crevice and when we least expect it disease finds an entrance. Of course we see plainly enough how it gets in when it comes through the widely-opened door. But this is not its usual way, and it is more difficult to be on the alert when it comes in an unexpected manner and at an unexpected time. We see, moreover, the open door clearly enough when other people leave it open, but we do not see it quite so readily when we leave it open ourselves. Churches, chapels, schools, large assemblies of every kind, the waiting rooms of hospitals and dispensaries, public conveyances, perchance even circulating libraries, books or tracts, may have much or little to answer for, but the medical profession must remember the possibility that they may themselves act as the carriers as well as the curers of disease. I wish I could feel that it was unnecessary to mention so ugly a fact, but the remedy is only to be found in thoroughly grasping the difficulty. It is folly to preach that we as a profession possess any peculiar or special immunity to disease ourselves, and the day I hope has for ever gone by when we should attempt to persuade the public that we are in the possession of some secret drug—some alchemical elixir—some patent nostrum whereby we alone of all men, fail to spread disease in the course of our daily rounds. We carry with us no charmed life, no supernatural existence, rendering us exceptions to the ordinary laws of disease governing the lives of men generally. I have been painfully impressed with certain cases of late which leave me but little reason to doubt what has been the true cause of an outbreak of infectious disease in a family known to me. Of course, the physician must visit more than a patient a day, and he must be at the bedside of infectious cases; but the least he can do after seeing a patient suffering from a disease possible of communication, is to adopt every means in his power to prevent his being the innocent cause of its spread, and more especially should this be the case when he is called to the bedside of one who is peculiarly ready to receive the seeds of diseases which prove in her case so invariably fatal, and so rob her of life at the very moment she is giving life to another. Some of the statistics in the two followingTables, (Nos. V & VI), have been referred to, and need no further comment. Table No. V. Shewing the deaths during the past ten years from the several diseases specified, and the number of deaths before and after five years of age. Estimated Population. Deaths from the principal diseases of a Zymotic nature. Deaths from Tubercular Diseases. Deaths from Diseases of the Respiratory Organs Deaths from Diarrhoea. Deaths from Diseases of the Digestive Organs. Deaths from Violence. Total. Total. Total. Total. Total. Total. 1865 177,925 before 5 years 386 588 204 634 342 675 204 226 31 175 37 67 after 5 „ 202 430 333 22 144 30 1866 183,695 before 5 years 505 703 203 677 375 692 142 165 30 195 42 64 after 5 „ 198 474 317 23 165 22 1867 189,652 before 5 years 310 495 193 598 398 711 158 170 37 181 43 70 after 5 „ 185 405 313 12 144 27 1868 195,802 before 5 years 472 632 204 641 365 737 256 274 33 199 35 58 after 5 „ 160 437 372 18 166 23 1869 202,152 before 5 years 624 828 190 606 393 796 201 223 27 165 42 70 after 5 „ 204 416 403 22 138 28 1870 209,057 before 5 years 532 868 214 668 371 818 218 241 29 186 27 45 after 5 „ 336 454 447 23 157 18 1871 214,932 before 5 years 530 943 199 665 384 872 210 235 20 197 41 62 after 5 „ 413 466 488 25 177 21 1872 221,902 before 5 years 457 570 210 665 413 791 204 222 27 168 33 59 after 5 „ 113 455 378 18 141 26 1873 229,071 before 5 years 377 430 233 700 484 983 258 273 32 215 46 64 after 5 „ 53 467 499 15 182 18 1874 236,899 before 5 years 384 501 257 728 503 1022 185 202 27 216 48 81 after 5 „ 117 471 519 17 189 33 TABLE No. VI. The Estimated Population, Registered Deaths and Registered Births, compared with the Birth and Death-rate of London during the past Ten Years Year. Estimated population in the middle of each year. Deaths registered in Islington, excluding Non-residents. Deaths in hospitals Ac., not accounted for in previous column, and calculated on population. Total Deaths registered with corrections for deaths in hospitals. Death-rate per 1000, excluding deaths in hospitals. Death-rate per 1000, inclusive of deaths in hospitals. Death-rate per 1000, in London, estimated by Registrar-General. Total Births in Islington. Males. Females. Proportion of Females to every 100 Males. Birth-rate per 1000 of the Population in Islington. Excess of Registered Births over Regis'ered Deaths in Islington. Marriages in Islington. Marriage Rate per 1000 in Islington. Marriage Rate per 1000 in England. 1865 177,925 3813 222 4035 21.4 22.7 24.6 6747 3409 3338 97.9 37.9 2934 1866 183,685 4172 252 4424 22.6 24.1 26.5 6908 .... .... .... 37.0 2736 1867 189,652 3760 249 4009 19.7 21.1 23.0 7374 8831 3543 92.5 39.0 3614 1868 195,802 4210 247 4457 21.4 22.3 23.5 7718 3S74 3744 94.2 39.3 3508 1869 202,152 4265 237 4502 21.1 22.3 24.7 7483 3820 3663 95.8 37.0 3218 1870 209,057 4370 248 4618 20.9 22.0 24.1 7616 3881 3735 97.5 36.4 3246 1871 214,932 4626 297 4923 21.5 22.9 24.7 7655 3824 3831 100.1 35.6 3029 1760 16.2 16.8 1872 221,902 4030 201 4231 18.2 19.6 20.4 8000 4051 3949 97.4 36.2 3970 1952 17.6 16.8 1873 229,071 4393 244 4637 19.3 20.4 22.3 8522 4364 4158 95.2 38.5 4129 1998 17.6 16.6 1874 236,899 4680 * * 19.7 * 22.2 8669 4316 4353 100.85 36.5 3989 2080 17.4 17.1 9 THE WEEKLY MORTALITY RETURNS. Having thus stated in detail such statistical information as I usually place before you in my reports, this may be the time to offer an explanation as to why my report did not appear in July last. I feel it my duty to state the facts exactly in the order they occurred, inasmuch as very considerable difficulties have been thrown of late in your way as a sanitary authority—difficulties which, in the interests of the public and of their representatives in the several metropolitan boards and vestries, should never have been allowed to occur. It has for many years, indeed since the passing of the "Metropolis Local Management Act" in 1855, been the custom of the Registrar General to forward to the various metropolitan medical officers of health, after he had done with them, the returns of the causes of death supplied to him by the several registrars of their districts. These have been of great service to your sanitary department, inasmuch as from these we have derived our information as to the whereabouts of such infectious diseases as had proved fatal, and enabled us to take such active and prompt measures as occasion required to carry out the necessary disinfection. In a circular letter dated June 19th, 1874, addressed to the various district boards and vestries, the Registrar General drew their attention to the fact that he had received complaints from the metropolitan registrars, that the returns furnished by them to the central office were forwarded and made use of by the several local authorities, after he had done with them, and without the local registrars being paid any extra remuneration. The Registrar General expressed himself as fully aware of the important primary use made by him of these returns, but suggested that their secondary use by the local authorities ought to be still further paid for. He therefore offered to continue sending these same returns as formerly, after they had been put to their primary use at his office, provided that £1. was paid quarterly to each of the registrars by the Local Authority for the returns of death up to 50, and 1d. for each entry over and above 50, per quarter. It will be seen, therefore, that the Registrar General still proposed to send them as formerly, provided this arrangement was acceded to. 10 The Vestry, on August 1st, decided to decline acceding to the suggestion of the Registrar General, feeling that they were fairly entitled to the returns for which virtually they had already paid, their use involving no extra labour to the District Registrars. On October 9th, 1874, a letter was addressed to me as Medical Officer by the Registrar General, informing me that he declined after the 21st inst. sending me the Weekly Returns, and that, therefore, I must make arrangements for the necessary information with the district registrars, the Local Authority paying for any extra trouble thus imposed upon them. On October 21st the Sanitary Committee communicated with the Guardians asking what control they had over the registrars who were appointed and paid by them, pointing out that the 28th section of "The Births and Deaths Registration Act" of 1874 merely referred to the relation of the registrars to those sanitary authorities created by the "Public Health Act" of 1872. To this letter the clerk of the Guardians replied (October 22nd) that the Guardians considered they had no control in the matter, but much regretted the action taken by the Registrar General. On November 13th your Vestry asked for an interview with the president of the Local Government Board on the question, and on the 24th received a reply stating that the Board had no control over the Registrar General, and urging that, inasmuch as the local registrars were paid in the country for these returns, they might just as well be paid in London. But more extraordinary still, although the Registrar General offered in his letter of June 19th to continue sending the returns he himself received, provided the Local Authority agreed to pay for them, he now alleged that the reason he refused to furnish the returns to the Local Authority made to him by the registrars, was that he needed the returns as office documents. This letter being so pre-eminently unsatisfactory, the Vestry, on December 23rd, urged once more for an interview with the president of the Local Government Board, in company with representatives from St. George's, Hanover Square, Camberwell, Clerkenwell, St. George's in the East, Mile End Old Town, and St. Saviour's, Southwark. No answer being sent to this communication, another letter was sent on March 13th, 11 1875 to the same effect, to which an answer was vouchsafed, dated March 16th, 1875, fixing the 19th for an interview. A very large deputation waited on the president on the day named, when Mr. Layton and myself, in introducing the deputation, urged that the returns were used solely by the different local authorities in the interests of the public health—that forwarding them to the local authority involved no extra labour or expense, and that the local registrars in forwarding the returns to the Registrar General were only performing duties for which they were paid out of the rates of the parish. Mr. Sclater Booth promised to give the matter his consideration and to communicate with the Vestry after he had consulted with the Registrar General on the subject. No answer being received by May 14th, 1875, another letter was addressed to the president, and this again meeting with no response, another letter still, dated June 16th, 1875, was written, urging the importance of some speedy settlement of the question. On June 21st, 1875, a letter was received to the effect that the Registrar General still considered these returns should be retained by him, and that there would be no difficulty in obtaining the returns from the registrars upon payment according to the scale fixed by the "Registration Act" of 1874, which Act it should be particularly noted does not apply to the Metropolis at all. All attempts, it will be seen, therefore, to obtain a restitution of your rights seemed hopeless; and your Vestry therefore decided to pay the local registrars for the information which it was incumbent we should have, and from the absence of which, for so long a period, I cannot but fear our sanitary work has suffered to a considerable extent. The above is nothing more than a plain, unvarnished statement of the facts of the case. For myself, I consider that all statistics in the hands of the Registrar General are public property, and intended to do the greatest amount of good in the greatest possible number of ways. You, as a body have paid for these returns (for the local registrars are appointed by, and paid by the Guardians of the parish), and you as a body have a right to them. They are not the private papers of a member of a firm—they are not the debtor and creditor accounts of a private business enterprise which demands 12 secrecy—they are not the results of* the hard toil of an underpaid official—they are not intended for the top shelf of a registrar's office, to be bound up with red tape and put aside and forgotten—they are not intended as a mere toy and plaything for some one favoured individual employed in a Government office to toy with in idle hours —they were not paid for to swell the waste-paper basket of a Registrar General—but they are your property, they are your ledger as a public body, the records of your profit and loss by death and birth, the means whereby you may be in a position to discover the source of any extra expenditure, the cause of that expenditure and its remedy. They were intended (and you have a right, I say, not merely to ask, but to demand, that they should be put to their legitimate use) that every conceivable advantage that can be gained from them, should be gained from them. Let me remind you that in pressing on the various authorities our need of these documents which had been taken from us, we asked for no new favour, but merely for the restoration of an old favour which we deemed nothing short of a right. For this is the long and the short of the matter. These records are for the use of those to whom they can be of use. Paid for by the public, and collected by public officers, it is passing strange that any question can be raised whether or no the public have a right to them. And yet, whatever may be said to the contrary, this is the true question, and the only question, at issue between the Boards and Vestries of the Metropolis and the Registrar General. With no personal feeling whatsoever other than a desire to deal with the subject fairly, I earnestly, as a Metropolitan medical officer, protest against such an act of arbitrary power as their withdrawal. THE MORTUARY. From August 9th, 1874, to the end of June, 1875, 366 bodies have been received at the mortuary, and in post-mortems have been made in the post-mortem room. As many as 97 inquests have been held in the coroner's room, from December 9th, 1874, to the end of June, 1875; and the fees received for the use of the same, amounting to £16 7s. 6d., have been paid to the Vestry. I cannot help expressing my own conviction of the immense value of a public mortuary and I can only trust that some day it will be far more 13 used by the general public than it is. No doubt great prejudices have to be overcome in the matter, but we may hope in time that they will be overcome. With Dr. Hardwicke I fully agree that the removal of the Coroner's Court from the atmosphere of gin and smoke, will tend to a furtherance of justice, and to the dignity of a court which too often is sadly found to need dignity. WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR DEAD? This question has of late been agitating society, and I venture to say a few words on it in this report, inasmuch as it is a subject of enormous interest to us as sanitarians. A few noisy and shortsighted advocates have been urging on cremation or burning, in place of burial. Let me say, that I have no sympathy whatsoever with a small religionist section who seem to imagine that the belief in a body resurrection, (the very belief in which presupposes the belief in a miracle) can be dependent on the disposal of the body after death, be it by rotting or burning. I mention this because I should be the first to allow that such feelings ought in any great reform to be consulted, but in this matter I cannot allow that such a necessity exists. There is no need for any religious arguments in the case, and it is to be regretted that such arguments have been allowed for a single moment to be introduced into the discussion, and especially that they have been adduced by one whose learning commands the highest respect for every word he says. Nor is there any need, moreover, for those pages of arguments of a sentimental nature, against the practice of cremation, that we read in the various daily papers, although I am disposed to think that they are even more entitled to attention than the former. It is not an absurd sentimentalism, although it may be sentimentalism, which renders us indisposed to commit to the flames the bodies of friends we loved. But is there really any need for all this upstir? One thing, I think, is clear, that there will be no want of earth room for the burial of our own bodies and of those of our children and our children's children. And let that suffice. In the matter of burial no doubt great reforms are needed, and, without question, the suggestion of wicker coffins is not unworthy of attention. Perhaps their greatest enemies have been their friends. Still the absurdity of leaden coffins and of brick vaults, as though our object was to cheat death as long as possible 14 and as much as possible, must be apparent to every one. Such things are marks of selfishness and of "dog in the manger" action. Let earth go to earth and dust to dust. We were formed out of earth and dust, and they were lent to us when we needed them. Let us give them back with a good grace when we want them no longer. At most you can only keep them a few short years, and during that time they will pay no interest. We were formed out of earth when we were made "living souls," let earth go back to earth when we become "dead men." I will not trouble you with what appears to me a long list of arguments against cremation, but I shall content myself with but one, and until it be answered satisfactorily, the advocates of cremation should hesitate in the course they are adopting. Very frequently, after a person is dead, a suspicion of foul play is suggested, and the question is raised whether the cause of death was natural or unnatural. At this point an appeal is made to the chemist, who, in many cases proving the absence of poison, removes at once a terrible stigma which would otherwise attach itself to a perfectly guiltless person, and might not improbably be the curse of of a life. But, on the other hand, we know that such things as a dose of strychnia may be administered intentionally. And we are pretty sure that there are people who would not mind administering the dose, but they would not like it to be known. What stops the dose of strychnia being given? we may ask, Not the fear of doing wrong, so much as the fear of the powers of chemistry and the possible consequences. Burial unfortunately for the poisoner does not finish the story, nor restore peace of mind where there is discomfort. For a secretary of state may still order the body to be exhumed, and the chemist may still hunt out the poison, and a judge and jury may see fit why society should be rid of a poisoner. No wonder cremation has its advocates. It is the very thing for men who value their own comfort at a higher price than other peoples' lives. After death the body would be burnt, and in many cases all trace of the poison destroyed. The urn has no story to tell like the coffin, and men think there is more chance of recovery from an uneasy conscience than from the effects of the gallows. And a week, and it may be less, would end the chances of the one, for once the fire has done its work the guilty conscience, so long as it holds its tongue, 15 snaps its fingers at burial clubs, insurance offices, chemists, magistrates, judges, and juries. With a considerable experience in the course of my practice in questions bearing on Toxicology, I do not hesitate to state that if cremation becomes common, poisoning cases will increase. Let a baronet, if he pleases, burn the remains of his wife. Let us be sensible enough not to follow a bad example. There is such a thing as a love of peculiarity and of trying to do things differently to other people. I envy no one such a love. There is, too, in some men, a most inordinate desire to shock the sensibilities of others by the saying outrageous things and by the doing outrageous deeds. To make one shudder by the assertion of bold impieties or by the commission of wild extravagancies, seems to some men the perfection of pleasure. They are a despicable class. They imagine impertinence can take the place of knowedge, and that uncultured rudeness is the mark of a gentleman. I have sufficient confidence in the good sense of the English people to believe, that they hate a retrograde step from civilization to barbarism, as much as they love an onward step to a more perfect civilization. DIRTY ROADS. Amongst the many subjects of consideration that have been brought before you as the Sanitary Authority, has been the condition of certain muddy roads and specially of the Upper Cottenham Road. On this matter an extreme pressure, I must say, of a somewhat unjustifiable nature, was brought to bear on myself as an officer of the parish, to advise the Sanitary Committee to take action on the ground that a dirty road was a sanitary nuisance. A deputation waited on the committee in reference thereto, headed by a gentleman who urged startling scientific opinions to rouse the authority, as he believed, to a sense of its duty. On this matter I placed my views before the committee in writing, and I shall content myself, without saying more, by printing my report as well as the report of the Sanitary Committee submitted to the Vestry in reference thereto. These will be sufficient to show that I had fully and frequently considered the subject, but was unable to advise action because I was convinced such action would not be successful. 16 To the Sanitary Committee. Gentlemen, With reference to the purpose of your meeting this evening, I beg to remind you that the bad condition of the unmade, or newly formed, roads of the Parish has, from time to time, and for many years past, been a fruitful subject for complaint, especially during the winter season. The question is, therefore, no new one to the Sanitary Committee who, in exceptionally bad cases, have frequently recommended the Highways' Committee, they having the charge of the making of these roads, to give precedence to such places. So far as I am aware no proceedings have ever been taken on the ground of nuisance, nor do I know that you as a committee have ever deviated from this course. So recently as February 1st, 1875, upon my recommendation, the Committee passed a resolution suggesting to the Highways' Committee, that the making of the Upper Cottenham Road should be proceeded with without delay. As, however, it is now urged upon the Committee that some steps other than this should be taken, I deem it my duty to lay my opinions before you in writing, in respect to this particular road, so that no misapprehension can arise as to the ground I am compelled to take. The Upper Cottenham Road is an unmade road, muddy as unmade roads must be: and in as disgraceful a state, as an unmade muddy road could possibly be in wet weather. At this season of the year, of course, the mud accumulates, and, in this particular instance, accumulates in the centre of the roadway, from which it is scraped to the sides where it lies in heaps; and I would direct your attention to the fact that these heaps become in time solid hard mud banks. I am far from saying that objectionable smells may not have been at times noticeable by other persons, but I am bound to say that I have myself upon several occasions visited this road, without being able to discover any smell or stink from it, with one single exception, and that exception was at one spot near the bridge on the occasion of the visit of the Committee on Wednesday last. 17 I may add that, in company with Mr. Collingwood, I moat carefully examined the road on the day previous to the visit of the Committee, and upon that occasion there was no such smell or any smell whatsoever discoverable. I mention the existence of the smell on this one occasion, and the visit of the Committee, as a coincidence worthy of note. The Committee should not confuse certain smells in the road due, I know, to soapsuds, with smells supposed to arise from the mud itself. I did, in several places pointed out to me by one or other of the numerous visitors who seemed specially interested in our visit, notice certain smells, but these, I knew, were not smells due to the mud, but were entirely due to the soap and soapsuds that had been thrown upon the road. There can be no second question that the road is a great eyesore and, in the popular sense of the word, a great nuisance. Such a state of things should not for one moment be allowed, in my opinion, to exist. The road is simply deplorable and impassable, and traffic should, if possible, be prohibited until the road has been made. But in the sense of a nuisance injurious to health, as defined by " The Nuisances Removal Acts,'' under which you, as a nuisance authority, act, it is my duty to advise you that I do not consider it such a nuisance. Only upon one occasion was any smell discoverable, and at but one point. If I were to recommend the Committee to take proceedings upon every occasion when I could detect a stink, sanitary work would itself be a public nuisance, and your Committee would frequently have longer lists of sanitary nuisances to deal with, than at the present time are your lists of dusting neglect. I am unable to trace any case of fever whatsoever to the state of the road. All the cases I have heard of are scarlet fever, occurring not actually in the Upper Cottenham Road itself, but in several houses in the Hanley Road West, the road adjoining. Moreover, most of these cases occurred in November last when the Committee visited the road, or at an earlier period when the road was in a better state than it is at present, and when a severe epidemic of scarlet fever was in progress. Lastly, it is my duty to refer to what was said upon a previous occasion by the spokesman of the deputation that waited on your Committee, respecting the state of the road, and when remarks were 18 put forward by the deputation as important scientific evidence to urge you to take action. They are (I consider in a peculiar manner) specially open to the criticism of your professional adviser; I would not venture otherwise to criticise anything that was said by a member of a deputation that waited upon you, for such a thing would, I consider, be far apart from my duty, but when such statements are put forward by the leading member of a deputation (as the voice of the deputation) and urged with a species of authority from one who pretends to speak with scientific precision, it then becomes my duty to tell you that the discoveries that he states he has made, "the extraction of the seedlings of disease,'' (to use his own words) "such as the seeds of typhoid fever, the seeds of low fever, the seeds of the black fever, and the seeds of numerous other fevers, in samples of the mud," is proof, to say the least, that he is in possession of processes very far in advance of any yet known to the greatest and most distinguished analytical chemists and physicians of the day. I therefore challenge him to the proof. At present I am bound to tell you that no reliance whatever need be placed on such emphatically unscientific evidence. As a teacher of chemistry for the past ten years at one of the largest hospitals in London, I unhesitatingly state that, the scientific evidence brought before you at your meeting on Monday last is unintelligible to any chemist, and is not in accordance with, and cannot be sanctioned by, the state of this particular branch of knowledge at the present time. With respect to the other places viewed by the Committee, namely, Birkbeck Road, Upper Durham Road, Wells Terrace, Clifton Terrace, and the field in front of Clifton Terrace, I am even more strongly of opinion that there is still less cause for complaint on the ground of nuisance, although it is certainly desirable that the roads named as well as the Upper Cottenham Road, should be made as soon as practicable. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, (Signed) C. MEYMOTT TIDY, February 19th, 1875. Medical Officer of Health. 19 To the Vestry of Saint Mary, Islington. Gentlemen, Your Sanitary Committee report that, on February 15th, 1875, their attention was (not for the first time) specially called to the bad condition of the Upper Cottenham Road by a deputation from Upper Holloway, who attended their meeting of that date and were introduced by members of your Vestry. The deputation particularly alleged that the state of this unmade road had already caused disease, and was in such a condition as to warrant the belief that it was imminently dangerous even to life, and your Committee were strenuously urged to take immediate proceedings under "The Nuisances Removal Acts;" whereas your Medical Officer of Health at the same time reported that, in his opinion, there existed no such nuisance as to be injurious to health, although it was very desirable that the road should be made. Your Committee then resolved to view the Upper Cottenham Road and, having met there for that purpose, they visited, on the same occasion, the Birkbeck Road or Red Cap Lane, Upper Durham Road, Wells Terrace, Clifton Terrace, and the field in front of Clifton Terrace, all of which places had also been either the subject of complaint or of public comment as being in a state more or less likely to prove injurious to health. Having subsequently taken into consideration both the state of these places and their own obligations as a Sanitary Committee in respect to them, and having had the benefit of your Vestry Clerk's advice as to the legal powers of the Committee to take proceedings under "The Nuisances Removal Acts," and your Medical Officer of Health having also reported to them upon the subject in writing, your Committee, after deliberation, resolved that, it would.be inadvisable to take legal proceedings on the ground of nuisance, even in the case of the Upper Cottenham Road, which was certainly, by many degrees, in a worse condition than the other places; but being desirous that the distinct issue raised by the deputation 20 ferred to and the decision of your Committee thereon should be the more clearly understood, they recommend that, the said Report of your Medical Officer of Health, which is attached hereto, should be read to the Vestry. All which is submitted. (Signed), CORNELIUS WEST, Chairman, Sanitary Committee. Vestry Offices, February 19th, 1875. A FOCUS OF DEADLY MIASMA. This startling title being given to a spot in our parish, associated as it was with the fact that cases of Typhoid Fever had occurred in a house near, necessarily attracted the attention of the Vestry. The whole matter was gone into with great care, and I cannot do better than print the report sent up to the Vestry after a prolonged and careful inquiry by the Sanitary Committee. The report was adopted by your Vestry, and it may therefore be permitted to me to express much more emphatically than a committee could possibly do, my strong conviction that this was simply the muddy and unmade road question over again, the harmless but unsightly field in front of Clifton Terrace being made a scape goat. There was never in my opinion the slightest foundation for the assertion that the field had been in an unsanitary state at all, the extravagant charge made against it being simply ridiculous, in spite of its alarming tendency. The evidence which supported the theory of the "Deadly Miasma" was to use no stronger term, so contradictory, as to make it utterly untenable and worthless in any judicial proceedings, as my experience in medical jurisprudence enables me to state most positively, and as I think will be seen on reference to the report which follows. The cases of Typhoid Fever it is true gave perhaps something like speciousness to this singular and fanciful indictment of the field, but they occurred exclusively, as acknowledged, in one house only, and as I believe in one family only; but whether that be so or not, the cause, in my opinion, is fully established by the fact that the first case was that of a girl who went daily to 21 work in the neighbourhood of Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell, with its courts at the rear, and who would naturally contract the disease in a place near which it had existed, and most frequently does exist. This opinion is very strongly supported, as there was no other case for several weeks afterwards. Indeed, it is no unusual circumstance in connection with our sanitary enquiries, to find that the victims of Typhoid and Typhus Fever in Islington are far oftener to be found among those who necessarily spend a portion of their time in business, or in recreation, away from the parish, or the metropolis, than among those who are mostly at home and are not obliged to mix with numbers of persons in factories or workshops in order to obtain a livelihood. If our sanitary work is to progress, it cannot be by making far-fetched and sensational or even unscrupulous statements, which break down as soon as they are investigated, bursting or crumbling to pieces whenever they are touched; this is indeed to hinder sanitary work, by alienating from the cause its best friends. It is not easy to see a single good effect resulting from such a procedure, and it is easy to see many bad ones, not the least being that the cry of wolf, wolf, thus raised, may some day be unheeded when danger is not far off. To the Vestry of Saint Mary, Islington. Gentlemen, Your Sanitary Committee report that, in pursuance of the Vestry reference of March 5th, 1875, directing your Committee "To inquire and report on the alleged unsanitary state of the Great Northern Railway Company's field in front of Clifton Terrace," two of your inspectors were instructed to make a house to house visitation of the immediate neighbourhood of the field, with the view of ascertaining the general state of the health of the locality, and the existence, or otherwise, of any cases of illness which might be even popularly attributed to the alleged unsanitary state of the field. The detailed answers to these inquiries in respect to the forty-eight houses visited are given in the Schedule A attached to this report, the result being that, with the single exception of No. 4, Clifton Terrace (where the fever had been, as every one knew), no other case of fever was found to have occurred at any of these houses. Upon the whole the general health of the neighbourhood would 22 seem to have been most satisfactory, at any rate, judging from the statements of the inhabitants themselves, who had no complaints to make either of the past or of the present condition of the field, although the formation of a coal depot seems generally objected to. It was reported to your Committee that two complaints only had been received upon this subject in your Sanitary Office, previous to the date of this reference from the Vestry, the first being from a resident in Cilfton Terrace on August 14th, 1874, and the second on January 22nd, 1875, from a gentleman residing in South Hornsey, who subsequently wrote to explain that his complaint was not a personal one, so much as on account of the neighbourhood. The same gentleman also renewed his complaint on March 10th, 1875. The purport of each complaint was that dust refuse, mixed with vegetable matter, was being deposited upon the field in such quantities as to give rise to offensive smells. The several reports of your inspectors in respect to these two specific complaints (and also to the third which was a repetition of the second), as contained in Schedule B, are substantially the same, each stating that the dust refuse, which was undoubtedly being deposited, but in limited quantities only, was also being at the same time covered with still larger quantities of clay, so that nothing offensive could be perceived, nor has there ever been sufficient cause on the occasions when they have visited it, to form the subject of remonstrance with the owners on the ground of nuisance, although, as a precaution, the man in charge has been warned against allowing much dust to be shot there. It is commonly stated that the embankment upon this field has been, and is still being, formed of immense quantities of clay, so as to constitute a solid foundation, whilst comparatively small quantities of dust refuse and other rubbish have been shot, and then only in such quantities as were needed for the purpose of being worked with the clay. Hence the slow progress made; for if, on the other hand, unlimited deposits of dust refuse had been either invited or permitted, the London contractors would long since have converted the plain into a mountain. 23 The observations of your Medical Officer of Health, as reported by him in reference to the several occasions upon which he has personally inspected the field, together with the impression arising from the visit of your Committee on February 17th, and the personal testimony of some of the members who have seen the field at other times, and especially of one who has had constant opportunities of observing its state for many months past, all tend strongly to confirm this statement, as well as to verify the reports of your Inspectors that they could find no sufficient cause for interference in respect to the condition of the field upon the particular occasions mentioned in the Schedule, and at other times when it has been seen and reported upon by them to the same effect. In consequence of the statements made by Mr. Soutter in the Hollo-way Press of January 30th, 1875, in reference to this matter, that gentleman was invited and attended your Committee when he re-iterated the assertion he had made, "that the field has for months "back been a focus of deadly miasma:" and he further stated "that "when he wrote the letter referred to, at the latter end of January, "the field was covered with house refuse, and that he had seen it "covered with the most filthy stuff he ever saw. That it is now in a "better state than it was when he wrote, and is almost entirely "covered with clay, but is still dangerous to health in some parts "near the Lennox Road, where a quantity of manure and also some "vegetable refuse have been thrown out. That both the field and "the road in front of Clifton Terrace are now as bad as they can "be. That the field is not now so bad as it was or anything like in "the same state, but that it is bad now; that he is certain sufficient "precaution, up to the present moment, has not been taken; that it "is only now that clay is deposited; that the present condition is not "satisfactory, but that he should not have made a fuss about it if it "had been as it is ; that the roadway of Clifton Terrace is in a very "deplorable state, and that it is highly necessary that the road should "be made before the hot weather comes. That in the months of "December, January, and February especially, the field was in an "awful state; that he was apprehensive of great mischief from the "warm weather, when an epidemic would have been certain; that "the condition of the field was then sufficient to give rise to typhoid "fever, and that he had no reason to doubt that it was the cause of 24 "fever at No. 4, Clifton Terrace, although perhaps the other houses "near were cleaner than No. 4, where the cases of fever occurred, "and that that was the only reason he could give that there were no "cases in other houses ; that there were bad smells in the street and "in the house, and that the people at No. 4 were not cleanly. He "did not attend the first cases of fever, and the case to which he was "first called was that of the barman, on January 19th, 1875, and "who died on January 26th. He did not refer the fever in this "instance to the field, but to direct infection from the closet when the "lad visited the house to see his friends on January 1st. Dr. Cotton, the medical officer of the district, also attended your Committee and stated, "that he was called to the first case of "enteric fever at No. 4, Clifton Terrace, on November 26th, 1874, "and that had the girl been removed to the hospital as he wished, no "other case, in his opinion, would have followed. She ultimately "recovered. The mother, who nursed the girl, was the next attacked; "he first attended her on December 18th, 1874, and she also refused "to be removed, and died, for want of good nursing on January "17th, 1875. There was no doubt she took the fever from her "daughter. In consequence of attending these cases, he was in and "out of the house during this time. The three subsequent cases, "excluding altogether the barman, who was attended by Mr. "Soutter, he had had sent to Homerton, and they were members of "the same family to which he was first called. There were no other "cases of fever to his knowledge in the neighbourhood. The people "in Clifton Terrace were poor, and he had had charge of other cases "of illness there; some had died, but none were fever cases. "He did not think the condition of the field was the cause of the "fever, but that the state of the house was sufficient in itself to "breed the disease; that the people he attended were none too "cleanly; that the rooms they occupied on the ground floor were dark "and ill-ventilated, and altogether a bad place to have fever in, but "he could not say that the fever was generated by the dirty state of "the people." "If the neighbourhood had been the cause of the fever other "persons, he considered, would have taken it, but that he knew of no "other case of fever except in that one house." 25 With respect to the field itself he stated "that in the wet "weather the field, was swampy, but that he never saw any vegetable "matter there of any importance; that he should decidedly not say " 'that the field has for months bach been a focus of deadly miasma ''that he saw many places in the neighbourhood equally as bad; that "there was a large amount of dry rubbish with earth or clay shot "there; that he never saw it in such a state as to make it necessary "for him to call attention to it, and that he had never smelt anything "offensive arising from it; that there could not have been any great "amount of decomposition going on, and that therefore noxious "gases could not have been generated." With reference to this evidence, your Committee draw attention to the facts that, on the one hand, the field is alleged by Mr. Soutter to have been in its worst condition, and therefore "a focus of deadly miasma," in the months of December, January, and February; during the greater part of the first of which three months the weather was exceptionally severe; whilst from November 26th, 1874, to January 17th, 1875, the field was often under the observation of Dr. Cotton, who discovered nothing worthy of complaint in connection with its condition, and that at least from January 22nd to the end of February the field was visited many times both by your Inspectors and by the Medical Officer of Health, was viewed by your Committee, and was also seen at other times by individual members, but all with the uniform result "that no ground for interference was found to exist." That as regards Mr. Soutter's expressed opinion that the condition of the field was sufficient to have been the cause of the fever and that he had no reason to doubt that it was the cause, the Committee observe that Dr. Cotton was called to the first case, that of the girl, on November 26th, 1874, and that she must have therefore contracted the disease at least several days previously, at which period the field was not alleged to be in its worst state; and that, as a matter of fact, it would not appear that Mr. Soutter knew anything at all about the circumstances attending the earlier cases of fever until after he was called to the house on January 19th, 1875. That, on the other hand, Dr. Cotton's evidence points entirely away from the field and in the direction of the house and its 26 inhabitants as the possible source of the disease, a possibility, moreover, which Mr. Souter, by an admission, appears to sanction; and a statement in respect to the occupation of the house is contained in Schedule C attached hereto, for the further information of the Vestry. Your Committee, therefore, having taken into consideration the whole of the evidence before them, are satisfied that the Great Northern Railway Company's field in front of Clifton Terrace was not, at the time of Mr. Soutter's complaint in the Holloway Press of January 30th, 1875, and that it is not now, in an unsanitary state as alleged. Your Committee further desire to add that having regard to their report of February 19th, 1875, upon the subject of the unmade roads in Upper Holloway, which was adopted by your Vestry, and comprehended and had reference to the then condition of the field in question, together with the report of your Medical Officer of Health attached thereto, all of which they again submit herewith, they are of opinion that a nuisance such as would be injurious to health within the meaning of "The Nuisances Removal Acts" does not exist. All which is submitted. (Signed) CORNELIUS WEST, Chairman, Sanitary Committee. Vestry Offices, March 22nd, 1875. DWELLINGS OF THE POORER CLASSES. During the past Session "The Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings' Improvement Act, 1875," has become law. I shall do no more than refer to it, inasmuch as, by the 2nd section, the Metropolitan Board is made the local authority, and the duty devolves on the Health Officer of calling the attention of the Local Authority to such portions of his district as are, in his opinion, unfit for human habitation and need absolute re-arrangement and reconstruction to render them habitable and healthy. After a very careful consideration and inspection with Mr. Collingwood, I decided on sending the following representation to the Metropolitan Board, but before doing so I deemed it right to bring the whole matter before your Sanitary Committee, and I beg to offer them my 27 sincere thanks for the help the at once accorded me by devoting a whole day to inspecting the several courts, alleys, and places named in my letter to the Local Authority, and for the moral assistance which their unanimous approval of my action in the matter afforded. Vestry Hall, Upper Street, Islington, N., November 4th, 1875. To the Chairman and Members of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Gentlemen, In pursuance of the provisions of " The Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings' Improvement Act, 1875," I hereby make an official representation to the effect, that the houses situated in the undermentioned courts, alleys, and places, in the parish of St. Mary, Islington, and within certain areas as hereafter defined, are unfit for human habitation, and that the evils connected with such houses, courts, and alleys, and the sanitary defects in such areas, cannot be effectually remedied otherwise than by improvement schemes for the re-arrangement and reconstruction of the streets and houses within such areas, or of some of such streets or houses, as provided for by the aforesaid Act. I. The following courts abutting upon the East side of the High Street, and lying between that side of the High Street on the West, Duncan Terrace on the East, the City Road on the South, and Duncan Street on the North. This includes— Noa. of Houses. Cobden Square 15 Blackeney's Buildings 6 Parcell's Court 8 Swan Yard 6 Smith's Court 4 Smith's Buildings 23 Rose and Crown Court 13 Cox's Court 3 28 II. Little Pierrepont Row (eight houses in all) in Camden Passage, between Duncan Street on the South and Charlton Crescent on the North. III. The following courts and places containing the greater portion of the houses, situated in the one block of buildings, extending from Essex Road on the West side, to Popham Road on the East, and from Greenman Street on the North, to Britannia Row on the South side. This includes — Nos. of Houses. Elder Walk 28 Lamb Yard 2 Elder Square 2 Lee's Court 5 Gifford's Buildings 6 Churchill Place 9 Jordan Place 5 Middle Row 9 Cole's Place 6 Robert's Yard 3 Cottage Place 11 Part of Popham Street, at the rear 20 Cottage Row 5 Elder Place 7 Broadway 7 Birch Place 3 Carver's Place 4 Rose Cottages 2 Angler's Cottages 2 Angler's Gardens 21 Poole's Place 7 29 Osborne Place 8 Clark's Place 3 Paradise Cottages 6 Paradise Place 39 I have the honor, Gentlemen, To remain your obedient Servant, (Signed) C. MEYMOTT TIDY, M.B., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence and Public Health and Joint Lecturer on Chemistry at the London Hospital, and Medical Officer of Health for the Parish of Saint Mary, Islington. It is at this point I may venture to say a word on the various schemes that have been devised for improving the condition of the poorer classes. It certainly appears to me that of late a retrograde step has been taken, which it will be hard to retrace. All true sanitary work must aim at this—" the dispersion of men." To forget this is to forget what sanitary work means. Congregation means degeneration. A case of small-pox alone in a room is a bad enough disease to treat, but if you have fifty cases of small-pox nestled together in one ward, the disease in each case is likely to be intensified. The activity of the poison is the result of its congregation. The sound treatment of the disease, and the best hopes of recovery, is to be found in isolation. And what are men doing? Forgetful of this great truth, huge Board Schools are being erected, monster lodging-houses are starting up around us, whilst every church and chapel has its Working Man's Institute. All this is in direct violation of the very first principles of sanitary science. To huddle together, under one roof, some hundreds of children, certainly seems an admirable provision for spreading disease. Some day a fearful outbreak of disease, consequent on this congregation may occur, and rouse our legislature to the fact of their mistake. At present the admirable ventilation of these schools and the open space around the majority of them, no doubt is their safety; but as a sanitarian, I doubt ths propriety of adding to already too large a number of these gigantic Assembly 30 Rooms. It may be a brilliant idea to educate every child, but at least in doing so, do not let us increase its chances of not needing that education as an adult. We'are not justified in running the risk of spreading disease even in imparting knowledge. Our death rate is big enough as it is. To spread knowledge is without doubt a bounden duty, but it is not necessary to build enormous schools for this purpose, and so to run the risk of allowing one child to scatter the seeds of fever and disease to five hundred. To see one monster school gradually displacing a score of little schools, is from a sanitary point of view a retrograde step, for which before long we may have to pay dearly. It may be thought I am venturing out of my province to refer to Working Men's Clubs and Institutes as a sanitary evil; but some considerable experience convinces me that they are so, and a dangerous evil, from the circumstance that at first sight the evil is not apparent. Sound sanitary science can never suggest the continuous and unnecessary congregation of men. It is said that the Club keeps men away from the public house; that is open to doubt; but granting it, it certainly takes the men away from their homes of an evening, and as certainly it removes from the wife any inducement she might otherwise have, to render her home clean and comfortable, knowing very well that her husband will go to the club on his return from work. Our good philanthropists by urging the oft told tale, ' see what uncomfortable homes these men have,' and who so warmly support these clubs, should ask themselves, whether they are not aiding the cause of dirt and uncleanliness and discomfort, and even worse things than these, by providing a comfortable room away and apart from those who should be the attraction to the working man, and whose presence at home would be of itself the strongest and most powerful stimulus to promote cleanliness, order, and health. Again I say, sound sanitary science should aim at the dispersion and not at the congregation of men. Once more take those monster blocks erected by men whose praise is rightly on all tongues, which have been called " Model Lodging Houses." The system is a most pernicious one, not merely destructive of that honest pride every man should have in his home, but shattering entirely that sacred privacy which should belong to it. This may be called sentimentalism, but no matter. The dark winding staircases serve to 31 hide gin and gossip from the light of the sun, and to shield sins worse than these of a night, for it is absurd to hide the fact that one of the great causes of immorality is congregation. Huddle men and women, boys and girls together, and the results are not very distant. Corruption is not unknown even in religious communities, but if there are not even moral bonds to hold and to bind, what can be the result ? The top flat of a model lodging house must indeed be a rare nursery for unhealthy children, for its height is a pretty certain prevention against the child getting much out door exercise. And what when fever breaks out ? All very well perhaps for a few years when the buildings and the pipes are new, but what will these places be when they get old ? The system is a bad one, and utterly opposed to sound sanitary science. I am quite aware that I shall be regarded as unpractical in my criticisms. I shall be told of the value of ground and the necessity of rooms for the poor; but to all this I reply, is the model lodging house the only thing to be suggested ? Can no other remedy be found ? It is true the homes of the poor are in many places bad—it is true great improvement schemes necessitate large blocks being pulled down—but surely such a scheme as the building small cottages for workmen a short distance from London, and providing cheap trains for their carriage backwards and forwards to and from their work, would be infinitely preferable to so unwise a step as the erection of huge buildings, which are little else than a mass of stalls for human beings. I mention this as one alternative scheme, and one that commends itself to my mind, but it is not the only one by any means. I am anxious in laying before you my views on this subject, views I may say which influence me not a little in my work as your officer, to show you how in my opinion much of the popular work of the present day, is a work which instead of aiding sanitary improvement is only tending in an opposite direction, and should be opposed by those who have the great cause of sanitary science at heart. ADULTERATION ACT. During the year from June, 1874 to 1875, 112 articles of food were submitted to me for analysis by your Inspectors appointed under the acts, 32 These 112 articles consisted of— 10 Bread. 12 Pepper. 15 Coffee. 10 Cocoa. 1 Butter. 9 Sweets. 23 Sugar. 17 Milk. 10 Mustard. 5 Tea. Two samples of milk were also submitted to me by the public. In seven cases I gave certificates of adulteration, in all of which the vendors were fined in sums varying from 2s. 6d. to 40s. and 2s. costs. I may add that since my appointment as your Analyst, I have examined over 350 samples of different articles of food and drink. The adulteration acts have lately been considerably changed— I wish I could say improved. It may be that before long it will be necessary for your Vestry to reconsider some matters in connection with the legislation of the past session, but at the present I am desirous of asking for no further changes, or until such time as I am able to report on the working of this new act. WATER ANALYSIS. I have regularly examined the water of the New River Company during the year. It was without exception clear and almost colorless when examined in bulk. The analyses during the several months, I state in a table. The water has always been of exceedingly fine quality, and the examination of the water proves that very considerable care is taken in the preservation of the River and in the filtration of the water. TABLE VII. January. February. March. April. May. June. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company's Works, Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. Total Solid 20.73 20.79 20.76 28.89 19.20 19.24 19.00 19.84 17.00 17.00 16.40 16.50 Chloride of Sodium 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.65 1.77 1.77 1.65 1.65 1.66 1.65 Nitrogen (aa Nitrates) 0.130 0.146 0.146 0.145 0.114 0114 0.124 0.134 0.114 0.124 0110 0.084 0.040 0.058 0.32 0.218 0.120 0.134 0.136 0.136 0144 0.164 0194 0.204 Actual or Saline Ammonia 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.000 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.000 0.000 o.ooo o.ooo Organic Ammonia 0.004 0.004 0.905 0.005 0.004 00.04 0.004 0.004 0004 0004 0.003 0.005 Hardness before boiling Degrees 160 16.0 16.0 16.4 15.8 15.8 14.8 14.8 14.3 14.3 14.0 13.5 Hardness after boiling Degrees 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 July. August. September. October. November. December. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank Islington Green. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company's W orks. Cab Rank, Islington , Green. New River Company's W orks. Cab Rank Islington Green. New River Company's Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. New River Company'g Works. Cab Rank, Islington Green. Total Solid 16.36 16.59 17.46 17.69 17.34 17.28 17.84 18.28 19.04 19.26 21.26 22.10 Chloride of Sodium 1.65 1.65 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 1.77 Nitrogen (as Nitrates) 0.128 O.104 0146 0.144 0.118 0116 0.098 0.146 0.148 0.166 0.166 0.128 Organic Matter 0.098 0.124 0.068 0.103 0.091 0.104 0.111 0.144 0131 0.154 0141 0.126 Actual or Saline Ammonia 0000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.002 0.001 0.001 Organic Ammonia 0.003 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.002 0.004 0.003 0.004 0.003 0.006 0.005 0.004 Hardness before boiling Degrees 14.2 14.26 14.4 14.46 14.6 14.6 14.8 15.6 15.5 15.5 16.5 15.5 Hardness after boiling Degrees 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.6 3.8 3.3 4 1 4.0 40 34 TABLE VIII. The quantity of Water supplied during the year is as follows :— Nos. of Houses. No, of Gallons Daily. Gallons of Water to each House January. 121,839 23.773.000 I95.1 February. 121,855 23,864,000 I95.8 March. 121,908 24,133,000 197.9 April. 122,063 25,016,000 204.9 May. 122,121 28,584,000 234.0 June. 122,134 29.379.000 2405 July. 122,296 29,552,000 241*6 August. 122.429 30,433.00° 248.5 September. 122,464 29,078,000 237.4 October. 122,660 26,931,000 219.5 November. 122,748 26,086,000 212.5 December. 122,792 22,925,000 186.6 METROPOLITAN SLAUGHTER HOUSES. The Metropolitan Board of Works having, in accordance with the fourth section of the Slaughter Houses Act, 1874, made a code of bye.laws for regulating the conduct of slaughter.houses within their jurisdiction, and the same having been confirmed by the Local Government Board, they are now in force. These bye.laws have been printed, and a copy has been delivered to every person carrying on the business of a slaughterer of cattle within this Parish. The Bye Laws relating to Slaughter Houses within the Metropolis (except the Citv of London and the Liberties thereof) are here subjoined. 35 METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS. The Slaughterhouses, &c., (Metropolis) Act, 1874, 37 and 38 Vic., c. 67. BYE.Laws for regulating the conduct of the business of a slaughterer ot cattle, i.e., a person whose business it is to kill any description of cattle, including sheep, goats, or swine, killed for the purpose of its flesh being used as butchers' meat, and the structure of the premises on which such business is being carried on, and the mode in which application is to be made for sanction to establish such business anew, within the limits of the Metropolis (except the City of London and the liberties thereof.) In pursuance of the above Act, by which the Metropolitan Board of Works is constituted the Local Authority for the Metropolis (except the City of London and the liberties thereof), the said Metropolitan Board of Works (for the purposes of these Bye.laws called the "Board") doth hereby make the following Bye.laws ; but it is to be understood that nothing in such Bye laws shall in any way lessen or otherwise affect the statutory authority now vested in the Vestries and District Boards, or their officers, in relation to slaughter-houses. Throughout, and for the D';flllltions purposes of these Bye-laws " the premises " shall include the slaughter-house and all the premises used for the business of a " slaughterer of cattle; " and slaughterhouse " shall mean the portion of the premises used for the slaughtering and dressing of cattle; "occupier" shall mean the occupier of premises where the business of a slaughterer of cattle is carried on ; and " slaughterer of cattle " shall mean a person whose business it is to kill any description of cattle, including sheep, goats, or swine, which is killed for the purpose of its flesh being used as butchers' meat. 36 As to the conduct of the business of a Slaughterer of Cattle. Cattle keeping. i—The occupier of a slaughterhouse shall not keep, or permit to be kept, any cattle in the premises, except for the time absolutely necessary, previous to slaughter; or permit to be slaughtered therein any animal that is not intended or fit to be used for human food. Exclusion of fowls, pigs, dogs, &c. 2.—The occupier shall not keep, or permit to be kept, any fowl, pig, or other animal used for human food (except cattle about to be slaughtered), in or about the premises ; nor shall keep, or permit to be kept, any dog thereon. Inhabited rooms B 3.—The occupier shall not allow any room situated over a slaughterhouse to be inhabited under any pretext whatsoever. Use of Slaughter houses. 4.—The occupier shall not allow the slaughterhouse to be used for any purpose other than that for which it is licensed, nor any slaughtering to be conducted within public view. Removal of manure, garbage, &c, 5.—The occupier shall provide and keep a sufficient number of tubs, boxes, or vessels, formed out of proper non-absorbent materials, with tight and close-fitting covers thereto, for the purpose of receiving and conveying away all manure, garbage, offal, and filth ; and shall in all cases, immediately after the killing and dressing of any cattle, cause all such manure, garbage, offal, and filth, to be placed in such tubs, boxes and vessels ; and shall cause Removal of blood all the blood arising from the slaughtering of cattle to be put into separate tubs or vessels formed with the like materials as above, with close-fitting covers, and every such tub, box, and vessel, together with their contents, to be removed from the premises within twenty-four hours. "Walls and roofs, 6.—The occupier shall keep the inner walls of every slaughterhouse always thorougly clean and in good order and repair, and shall cause the internal surface of the roof and upper portions of the walls to be thoroughly washed with quicklime, at least once in every three months. 37 7-—The occupier shall cause the slaughterhouse to be Cleansing, thoroughly washed and cleansed within three hours after the slaughtering is completed. Cleansing receptacles. 8.—The occupier shall keep every covered and other receptacle used in the slaughterhouse at all times thorougly cleansed and purified, so as to avoid any offensive smell. Removal of fat hideb, &c. 9.—The occupier shall cause the fat of any cattle slaughtered in a slaughterhouse to be kept freely exposed to the air until the time of its removal from the premises, and all such fat, as also all hides, skins, and tripes to be removed from the premises within twenty-four hours after the slaughtering is completed. Putrid or offensive articles. 10.—The occupier shall remove or cause to be removed from the premises every carcase, bone, hide, skin, and all meat, fat, offal, blood, garbage, and other articles, before the same have become putrid or offensive. Diseased Cattle. 11.—In case of any diseased cattle being brought to a slaughterhouse the occupier shall forthwith give information thereof to the Board, and to the Cattle Inspector for the district, with all particulars in his knowledge as to when, from whom, and from what place it was received. Access. 12.—The occupier shall allow every member of the Board, in addition to all other persons lawfully entitled to admission, to have free access to the premises during the time of slaughter, and at all reasonable hours. Penalties. 13.—The occupier, if he neglect or omit to observe or perform, or shall in any way break any one of the above Bye-laws, shall be subject to a penalty of the sum of £3, and in case of a continuing offence the sum of £1 for every day during which such offence is continued after a conviction for the first offence. Suspension. 14.—Every court of summary Jurisdiction as defined by the Slaughterhouses, &c., (Metropolis) Act, T874, having Jurisdiction to hear and decide complaints of the breach of these bye-laws, may, by Summary Order, suspend or deprive any occupier of a slaughterhouse 38 altogether of the right of carrying on any such business, as a penalty for the breach of any one of these Bye-laws. As to the structure of the premises on which the business of a Slaughterer of Cattle is carried on. Water supply and ventilation. 15.—Every person occupying a slaughterhouse shall cause it to be provided with an adequate tank or other proper receptacle for water and water supply, and so placed that the bottom thereof shall not be less than 6 feet above the floor level; and the slaughterhouse to be well and thoroughly ventilated. Paving and drainage. 16.—Every person occupying a slaughterhouse shall cause it to be well paved with asphalte or flag stone set in cement, and to be laid with proper slope and channel towards a gulley, and to be effectually drained by an adequate drain of glazed pipes or in other sufficient manner communicating with the public sewer, and the gulley to be trapped by an appropriate trap, and to be covered with a grating, the bars of which shall not be more than three-eighths of an inch apart. Walls. 17.—Every person occupying a slaughterhouse shall cause every inner wall to be covered with hard, smooth, impervious material, to the height of four feet at the least, and to be always kept thoroughly clean and in good order and repair. Alterations. 18.— Every person occupying a slaughterhouse shall cause all needful works and repairs to the premises to be forthwith done and executed as and when the same shall become requisite ; and shall not allow any alteration whatsoever to be made in respect of the paving, drainage, ventilation, or water supply to or in the premises which have been licensed, without the consent of the Board. wateroiosets,&c 19.—Every person occupying a slaughterhouse shall not allow any water-closet, privy, cesspool, urinal or stable to be within, or to communicate directly with the slaughterhouse. 39 Rooms or lofts 20.—In the case of any slaughterhouse now existing, or to be erected hereafter, neither the owner, nor the occupier, shall allow any room or loft to be built over it. Penalties. 21.—The occupier, if he neglect or omit to observe or perform, or shall in any way break any one of the Byelaws, numbered 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20, shall be subject to a penalty of the sum of £5, and in the case of a continuing offence, the sum of £1 for every day during which such offence is continued after a conviction for the first offence. As to the mode in which application is to be made for sanction to establish anew the business of a Slaughterer of Cattle. Application for sanction to a Slaughterhouse anew. 22.—Any person who shall make application to the Board for sanction to establish anew the business of a Slaughterer of Cattle, within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works, shall furnish with such application a plan of the premises and sections of the building in which it is proposed to carry on such business, drawn to a scale of a quarter of an inch to the foot, and showing the provision made, or proposed to be made, for the drainage, lighting, ventilation, and water supply of the same ; and shall also furnish a key plan of the locality, showing the buildings and streets within 100 yards of the premises, drawn to a scale of five feet to the mile. Sealed by Order, J. E. WAKEFIELD, (L.S.) Clerk of the Board. Allowed by the Local Government Board this (L.S.) twenty-seventh day of May, 1875. CLARE SEWELL READ, Secretary«. G. SCLATER-BOOTH, President, 40 THE SLAUGHTER HOUSES AND COW HOUSES IN ISLINGTON. It will be seen that the foregoing Bye Laws, which I now publish for information, were only confirmed at the latter end of May, 1875, and it is since then that the Metropolitan Board of Works have appointed their own Inspectors to see that these Bye Laws are carried out. The powers of the Vestries, however, having been reserved to them notwithstanding the introduction of the new Local Authority, I did not feel it to be my duty to wait for any action which the Board might see fit to take, and I therefore as usual carefully inspected prior to the Annual Licencing of J 874 the whole of the 103 licensed Slaughter Houses and the 72 licensed Cow Houses in the Parish, as well as four other places where it was proposed that Cows should be kept, and I made a full report thereon to the Sanitary Committee. Of these four just mentioned one only was licensed conditionally, and the necessary works to this new Cow House have since been thoroughly carried out, but no application was made for Licences in respect to the other three, of which two were to have been conditionally and one absolutely opposed. The renewal of the Licences of two of the old Cow Houses was also absolutely opposed, as Cows had not been kept upon the premises for some time, and the applicants were not in attendance on the day of licensing. The number of Cow Houses actually licensed was therefore 71. With regard to the Slaughter Houses there were of course no fresh applications. In future such applications must be first made to the Metropolitan Board of Works, but I deemed it advisable to point out to the Sanitary Committee many of the older places, to which I thought very serious objection could be taken, and upon their recommendation your Vestry authorised an absolute opposition to eight of them and a conditional opposition to 14 others, with a view to the extinction of the former and the permanent improvement of the latter. Of the eight, the Licences to five were refused, and to three granted, so that in all 98 Slaughter Houses were licensed by the Justices. Of the fourteen which were licensed conditionally, and are included in this number, three have been since re-built, seven considerably altered and improved, and in three, 41 lesser amendments have been effected, whilst in the fourteenth the required works were not carried out, the renewal of the licence in that case not being again sought for. With these results of your action I am bound to say that we have much cause to be gratified, but it will be our duty to endeavour, as opportunities may occur, to effect further improvements so that these places, the prolonged existence of which has been decreed by Act of Parliament, may be brought permanently into a thoroughly good condition. A few indeed it is true are still left which are so badly situated and so irreparably unfit, as to make any satisfactory alteration an utter impossibility, but of these I must hope that the licences will not continue to be long renewed. Opposed as I am for reasons stated in my previous reports to the existence of private Slaughter Houses, I am at the same time most loyally disposed, as your Medical Officer of Health, to use every exertion in making those that remain as perfect as possible, so that Islington may at least deserve the reputation of possessing the best Slaughter Houses in the Metropolis, and with this desire I am grateful to know that I can implicitly rely upon the cordial co-operation and assistance both of the Vestry and their Sanitary Committee. SANITARY WORK OF THE YEAR 1874-5. Table No. X. This table of our sanitary work has been prepared in the usual manner, showing in the first place the numberandvarietyofthe inspections, re-inspections, and calls made by the district inspectors during the year, and in the second part are set forth the amendments which have been made. In addition to these improvements the three District Inspectors reported that dust was required to be removed from 5925 houses, this number being quite exclusive of the removals ordered as the result of the special work of the Inspector of Dust, which is stated in the note at the bottom of the table. The number of inspections, &c. recorded, must of necessity vary very considerably from time to time, as it is often affected by the character of the work, and moreover, in our own case, by the circumstance that for a considerable time our Sanitary Department was short handed. Furthermore, a change of Inspectors who were new to their work and consequently had much to learn as to its requirements and in 42 making themselves acquainted with their districts, has been a serious difficulty with which we have had to contend. Owing to these causes the total numbers are less than in the previous year, and we have also further diminished them by omitting altogether in the Table the visits (not now so numerous as formerly) which were made by the Inspectors to the no Courts and Alleys in the Parish, which up to the commencement of this period had been cleansed by Contractors who required to be well and constantly looked after. This constant supervision has not been required, inasmuch as the cleansing was more regularly and far better carried out under the direction of the Highways Committee by the Roadsmen in the service of the Vestry, while on the other hand the Inspectors were able to pay far more attention to the condition of the houses in these places. The cause which mainly led the Sanitary Committee to recommend that the Courts should not continue to be cleansed by Contract, deserves to be mentioned as bearing upon the contract system. In the years 1865, 1866, and 1867 the prices obtained for the work were £99 3s. 4d., £125, and £120 respectively, and these sums certainly yielded a not inconsiderable profit, as in time it had become known that the one solitary man who was supposed to do the whole of the work and was handed over regularly to the new Contractor was paid but £1 per week, while the carting away of the refuse was never more than a nominal matter. In 1868 a fresh Contractor appeared who obtained the Contract, receiving £120 for that year. He continued to hold it at first by running down the prices to £99 in 1869, £94 in 1870, and to £89 in 1871. Competition then ceased and the same Contractor was allowed to receive in the two following years 1872 and 1873, £235, and £285 respectively, only two Contractors tendering in the former year, and four in the latter. He would also have received for the year under review (1874) £324, his tender being again the lowest of the four graduated ones presented, but for the fact that the Committee wisely determined to recommend the Vestry not to accept that or any other tender, but to do the work through their Committee of Highways instead. Subsequently a Contractor who had not previously tendered, kindly offered to do the work for £140, or £184 less than the lowest tender previously received, but the ingenuous offer was declined, and the Contractors who had taken part in the previous 43 understanding were thus deservedly rebuked, while their friendly system of arrangement was checkmated after having met with success for two years running. Although in a comparatively small matter, I am quite satisfied that the step of putting them on one side would have been right if only as a protest against imposition, but much more was it so when it recommends itself still further to us as effecting an economy which has resulted in an increased efficiency. Upon referring again to our Table of Inspections, it will be observed that on the other hand the visits made to the Bakehouses, Slaughter Houses, and Cow Houses were much more numerous, indeed more than doubled as compared with each of the two previous years, and I am glad to know that these increased inspections have not been without very beneficial results. To the Slaughter Houses and Cow Houses I have already referred in detail, but of them and of the Bakehouses I may just say in general terms, that from the greater attention which has been paid to them, their cleansing and limewashing have been more frequently and more effectually carried out, and I have every reason to believe that they are generally in a better condition than formerly. By the authority of the Sanitary Committee, carbolic acid was again used as in previous years in the watering of some of the streets during the summer ; McDougal's powder was also used in the hottest and driest part of the season in the Courts and in connection with the Saturday night and Sunday morning cleansing of the Channels of the Essex and Caledonian Roads. The duty as regards these Roads has since been very properly undertaken by the Highways Committee, and we shall now only furnish the necessary disinfectants from the Sanitary Department. SUMMONSES. During the year ending 25th March, 1875, only six summonses were issued by the authority of the Sanitary Committee, two of them being heard at the Clerkenwell Police Court, and four by the Justices in Petty Sessions at the Vestry Hall. In one of the cases at the Police Court an order was made for the abatement of a nuisance arising from the foul and defective condition of a water closet upon 44 private premises from which the water supply had been withdrawn. The nuisance was then promptly abated, but the owner had to be subsequently summoned again for the non-payment of the costs, amounting to 17/6, which were paid, together with 2/- as the cost of the second summons. The other case was one in which a Baker in spite of several remonstrances and much patience and a visit from the Sanitary Committee, allowed himself to be summoned and fined 10/- with 2/-costs in respect to each of his two Bakehouses, otherwise in good condition, but the ceilings or tops of which (consisting of the joists and flooring of the rooms above) he declared could not and should not be whitened, endeavouring to excuse himself upon the ground that the Bakehouses were not ceiled and that the tops might therefore remain foul and encrusted with black dirt without rendering him liable to the charge of not keeping the Bakehouses in a cleanly state, for which offence, however, it was that he was summoned under the 4th Section of "The Bakehouses Regulation Act, 1863," and convicted in each case. After the Magistrate's decision it was found to be quite possible to have the ceilings or tops scraped and most effectually whitened, and they have since been kept so, the Bakehouses now being quite a credit to the proprietor. Of the four heard before the Justices, one was for a nuisance arising from defective drainage, but the owner of the house having provided a new drain, during an adjournment which took place owing to pressure of Court business, the summons was withdrawn. Two others were against persons who continued to keep Cows notwithstanding that the renewal of one of the licences had been refused, and the other only granted conditionally at the Annual Licensing of 1873, owing to their being in possession of the two last of the underground wells. In the first of these cases the Justices inflicted a penalty of £5 and 10/- costs, the well being shortly afterwards filled up and the premises supplied with New River Water and re-licensed. With the understanding that the well in the other case was to be filled up by the owner, it was adjourned on payment of 10/- costs, the Cowkeeper having already provided a supply of New River Water for his own use. As it did not subsequently appear that the well itself was actually in the yard where the Cows were kept (although the pump was), but was believed to be situated within the enclosed boundary oi the premises adjacent 45 belonging to the same owner, the Justices were satisfied with the pump having been removed ; the summons, therefore, with their approval was withdrawn, the licence to the premises being no longer withheld. And thus by means of persistent and persevering efforts for several years upon the part of theVestry and their officers, those sources of the greatest possible danger have been at last abolished, though much to the discomfiture of the Cowkeepers.who throughout have clung to their underground wells with great tenacity, as representing a certain pecuniary value, their existence enabling them to avoid the expense of a supply of water from the New River Company. The last of the six summonses was against one of the contractors for allowing too great an accumulation of offensive refuse to remain upon his Wharf in the York Road, which was in use as a place for the deposit of dust and refuse, much longer than was either necessary or proper, but the Justices dismissed the summons, though without costs, upon the ground that in their opinion this case came within the proviso of the 8th Section of " The Nuisances Removal Act for England, 1855," as " an accumulation or deposit that was necessary for the effectual carrying on of a business, and that such deposit had not been kept longer than was necessary for the purposes of such business." THE DUSTING OF THE PARISH. In the note to which reference has already been made at the bottom of Table X. it is recorded that during the twelve months over which the Table extends, viz. :—Lady Day, 1874, to Lady Day, 1875, the Inspector of Dust visited 26,579 houses, and found that dust was required to be removed from 10,420, or just over 39 per cent, of the houses visited. In the previous year the visits were 26,157, an^ the removals 9,166, or rather more than 35 per cent. To these 10,420 there must be added the 5,945 removals which were reported as being necessary by the other Inspectors, making a total of 16,345, premises from which the contractors were required to remove dust, consequent upon the initiative of your Inspectors, as compared with a total of 11,432 in 1873-74. During the same period letters and postal cards were recorded in the Sanitary Department, requesting the removal of dust from 14,596 premises, and there were also entries in relation to removal from 6,185 premises, owing to personal applications which were made at the 46 Vestry hall. These together give a total of 20,781 premises from which dust was ordered to be removed in compliance with requests from parishioners; so that including the 16,345, mentioned above, the contractors were required in writing by your officers to remove refuse from 37,126 premises, as compared with 27,838 and 26,804 in the two previous years. Table No. XI. contains a summary of these 20,781 applications, which are stated ward by ward, and quarter by quarter, for the twelve months over which the contracts extended, viz. : from Lady Day, 1874, to Lady Day, 1875. This total of 20,781 is by far the largest number received in one year since a record has been kept, being 4,375 in excess of the 16,406 received in the previous year, and 6,597 in excess of the 14,184 of the year before that. The tabulated applications show that of the 20,781 requests, 6,627 were received during the first three months, and 8,422 during the last three months, which were again followed by 11,594 received during the first quarter of the current contracts, the weekly number of the last named quarter frequently being over 1,000, and the average weekly number being 884.9. Taking the first anil the last quarters of the contract together, the applications were 15,049, or rather more than five-sevenths of the whole, as compared with 5,732, being rather less than two-sevenths received during the intermediate six months. Again following the standard adopted last year, it appears that during the whole year the applications amounting to 20,781 were equal to 76-7 per cent, of the total number of the inhabited houses in the Parish, viz., 27,079.* In the first quarter there were 6,627, equal to 24.5 per cent.; in the second 2,236, or 8.2 per cent. ; in the *Vide Note to Table under review. 47 third 3,496, or 12.9 per cent.; and in the fourth 8,422, or 31.1 per cent. The two mean quarters together were 5,732, or 21.1 per cent., and the two extreme quarters were 15.049. or 55.6 per cent. For the purpose of contrasting the work of the different contractors, we may also point out that Messrs. Jackson and Son, who dusted ward x with 4,844 houses, had 4,625 applications, or 95.4 per cent. ; Mr. W. Winn, with ward 2, containing 3,412 houses, had 3,115 applications, or 91.2 per cent.; Mr. W. T. Williamson, with ward 4, containing 3,253 houses, had 2,588 applications, or 79.5 percent.; and Mr. W. Irons, with wards 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8, containing 15,570 houses, had 10,453 applications, or67.1 percent., the per centage of each of these five last wards taken separately being 77.0 per cent, for ward 3 ; 88.4 per cent, for ward 5 ; 96.7 per cent, for ward 6; 50.5 per cent, for ward 7; and again both the last and least 38.4 per cent, for ward 8, as against the 21.1 per cent, of the same ward during the previous year, when it was comparatively so well dusted by Messrs. J. and A. Stroud, Penalties amounting to £129 were inflicted by your Sanitary Committee upon the contractors during the year, Messrs. Jackson and Son beingfined £20, Mr. W. Winn, £27, Mr. W. T. Williamson, £35, with one ward each, and Mr. W. Irons being fined £47, with the other five wards. As the general question of the Dusting of the Parish has been so fully and exhaustively treated in my former reports, and in that of my immediate predecessor, I do not propose upon this occasion to continue the discussion which has not been in vain as it has, I believe, been the means of securing the practical attention of many to the necessity of opening up sources of relief from the burden of systematic neglect upon the part of so many of the contractors. Writing as late as I am obliged to, I may here congratulate the 48 Vestry upon their own effort at a partial emancipation by providing the wharfage and plant necessary for the Dusting and Slopping of a portion of the Parish; obviously a step in the right direction. At the same time it is in my opinion still desirable that the suggestion made on page 33 of my report for 1872, should be a matter for consideration, if contracts for the other parts of the Parish are to continue to be made. Without detail I allude to the advisability of payment to the contractors for results, and not for work which they promise to do, a certain price being paid for every load of dust and refuse removed. This plan has been a success in at least one neighbouring district and pending the completion of the greater improvement, I should much like to see this tried if possible in connection with our own work. It is more and more palpable, from the continuous and rapid increase of the number of applications received in the Sanitary Department, that the contractors are allowing the present arrangement to become still more inefficient, and hence my desire to see even some minor change effected which would be likely, as this might, to give a far stronger incentive to increased activity and industry than at present exists. If we were receiving from 3,000 to 5,000 applications yearly they would not perhaps be deemed excessive, and no great blame could fairly be attached to the contractors, but by permitting such neglect as to make the enormous number of 20,781 applications in one year, or rather 15,049 in six months, possible, they are not consulting their own interests. On the contrary, as other Metropolitan Parishes are no better treated, they are strenuously urging all those who employ them, sooner or later, to accept the challenge, and reply to it as you have already done. In this effort to throw off the yoke, I most heartily wish that the Vestry may meet with the generous and ample appreciation which they deserve, for the courage and public spirit displayed by them, in becoming in part at least their own contractors, with the fair prospect before them of eventually taking the whole of the work into their own hands, and of thus accomplishing a complete deliverance from a most provoking species of trade injustice. 49 CONCLUSION. Lastly, I may venture to remark in reviewing the sanitary work that has been done of late, both in Parliament and out of it, that it is plainly becoming more real and thorough—more lasting in its character, because less sensational. But still in this matter there is much to be done, and it is the hugest unwisdom to shut our eyes to grave defects, which are still helping to poison the very source of grand reforms. There is nothing, however, surprising in the fact that a one-sided over zealousness, which has so often injured other great works in days gone by, should at the present time, when the public are just beginning to believe that sanitary medicine has a work and a life, and is as much a reality as curative medicine, have its last final fling to upset that which has been no slight effort to raise, and to contaminate what has been so difficult to purify ; but it is sad to think that all this has so often arisen, not as the work of enemies, but as the work of friends. The contamination has come from those who wished well no doubt, but failed to see the results of false schemes. This is the age of idol worship, prolific in favourite and one-sided schemes of social improvement, founded on the sense of some solitary want of human nature, but barren of good from neglect of all the rest. Our sanitary work is not catholic —it does not possess a comprehensive grasp of all the elements of our well being, but it has permitted them to escape and break up in mischievous analysis, and consign themselves to separate tracts. Some have taught that all our sanitary evils would be remedied if the water supply were altered, whilst others trace all the ills of this life to the practice of Food Adulteration. In answer to the earnest cry of society, " How shall we better the condition of our lower classes ?" there are countless fragmentary answers, in place of the full deep harmony of response which should characterize the note of a band of sanitary workers. " Build them Model Lodging Houses," says one: " Inaugurate Working Men's Clubs and Institutes," says a second : " Erect Monster Schools and instruct the children in a heap of 'ologies," says a third : whilst not the least intelligent and worthy will exclaim for the diminution of distilleries, and the stricter supervision of our public houses. All this is very well, but it is faulty. Human nature is not like a house that you can build up piecemeal, first a block of stone then a plank of 50 wood, but it is like a tree growing in all parts at once, stem, root, leaves, keeping a constant and never failing symmetry in its progress. Any real improvement must be effected by means as wide and varied as human nature is varied, and not by means confined and stunted in their action. No great reformation will ever be effected by one single remedy, no matter what that remedy is. Men who cry up one drug as a cure for all disease, are guilty of a gross absurdity, for they forget that disease has many forms, and is brought about by many causes, and consequently needs many drugs for its relief. The condition of our lower classes, to the consideration of which I have devoted much of this report, because it is one of the great problems of the day, is a disease set a going and intensified by numberless causes, and hence the sound philanthropist should ever bear in mind the danger of a single pet scheme which he imagines is a charmed drug—the cure which will work miracels. The sound treatment in such a case cannot be sought in any single specific, good as it may be when combined with other things, be it a licensing bill, a club, a model lodging house, or a board school. y I have to express my satisfaction at the ready and conscientious manner with which all the Inspectors of the Sanitary Department have worked during the past year, with the disadvantages which most have had of being new to their work. They have shown an activity, a discipline and a willingness to receive instruction which have overcome, in a great measure, the difficulties that a new work presents, and in these respects your now senior Inspector, Mr. Pain, has always been a most excellent example. I cannot help expressing also my regret at the illness of your old Inspector, Mr. Mayes, whose personal loss to myself as a man of sound judgment, is as great as his loss to you as a valuable and conscientious servant. A Sanitary Inspector's work is not easy. Surrounded by many temptations and liable without great care, as I know they are, to become tools in the hands of the unscrupulous to serve their own ends and purposes, I feel I should not be doing right unless I expressed my strong belief in the rectitude that marked every thing Mr. Mayes did in his public career as your officer, and at the same time my conviction 51 that our present officers are acting in the same manner. That they will have enemies, may be taken to be proof of the fairness of their work. Such charges as that " they have found it worth while to allow dirt to be thrown in their eyes to overlook nuisances," are I believe absolutely without foundation, and I should not be doing right if I did not say so. In expressing the value of Mr. Collingwood's work as your Sanitary Superintendent, I am only stating what the whole Vestry know very well, and therefore I content myself with offering him through you my own thanks for most devoted services to the work of the department, and services moreover of no machine, or routine character, but marked by remarkable judgment and singular accuracy. I have the honour, Gentlemen to remain, Your obedient Servant, C. MEYMOTT TIDY. 31 st December, 1875. TABLE X. HOUSES INSPECTED AND SANITARY IMPROVEMENTS EFFECTED, From March 30th, 1874, to March 27th, 1876. South East District. South West District. North District. Total. Number of Houses inspected 1144 1197 718 3059 Re-inspections, Calls made, &c 2712 2764 1140 6616 Visits ot 217 Bakehouses 604 385 273 1162 Do. 72 Cohouses 233 211 122 566 Do. 103 Slaughter-houses 511 293 123 927 Do. Stables and Yards 16 63 24 103 Do. Factories and Workshops 2 8 .. 10 Do. Fields, Lanes, &c. 30 96 162 288 Do. Factories, Horse Slaughter-houses, Piggeries, &c., Belle Isle •• 166 2 168 Total Inspections, &c. 5152 5183 2564 12899 IMPROVEMENTS. Drains 27 7 3 37 Improved or repaired 101 193 38 332 Traps fixed 89 92 68 249 Cesspools A bolished 2 2 1 6 Cleansed or disinfected .. .. .. .. Privies and Water Pan, trap and water supply furnished .. 2 2 4 Pan and trap only furnished 6 6 2 14 Closets W ater supply furnished 17 31 4 62 Dust Bins Consturcted 5 6 3 14 Repaired and covers adapted 9 2 7 12 Surface Drains and Pavements of Yards Consturcted .. 1 .. 1 Relaid 109 120 2 231 General Water Supply ( New receptacles provided 11 6 7 24 Receptacles repaired and cleansed.. 17 61 5 83 Water supply provided 11 6 3 19 Other Improvements Houses generally repaired 65 4 20 89 „ &c., cleansed or limewashed 362 290 130 782 „ ventilated • • • • • • • • Overcrowding abated .. 8 8 11 Illegal use of underground Rooms for sleeping discontinued .. 2 4 6 Other Amendments, or Nuisances abated 69 240 144 443 Houses or Rooms Disinfected 68 169 21 248 Total Improvements 958 1237 461 2656 Total Premises Improved 665 793 347 1806 N.B. —From the30th March, 1874, to the 27th March, 1875, the Inspector of Dust visited 26 579 houses and iound that Dust was required to be removed from 10,420 of these houses. Table No. XI. Summary of Applications for Removal of Dust from 25th March, 1874 to 25th March, 1875. Contractor. Ward. Three Months ending 20th June, 1874. Three Months ending 19th Sep., 1874. Three Months ending 19th Dec. 1874. Three Months ending 20th Mar. 1875. Total during Twelve Months' Contract. Amount paid to Contractor for whole period. Inhabited houses Census, 1871. Number of Applications to every 100 Houses. Total Applications during previous Twelve Months' Contract. Number of Applications to ovary 100 Houses during same period. Messrs. Jackson and Son. 1 1,418 474 752 1,981 4,625 £690 4,844 95.4 3,086 63.7 Mr. W. Winn. 2 982 305 750 1,078 3,115 £500 3,412 91.2 1,777 52.0 Mr. W. Irons. 3 1,157 448 467 1,347 3,419 £740 4,440 77.0 2,326 62.3 Mr. W. T. Williamson. 4 667 219 467 1,135 2,588 £844 3,253 79.6 1,440 44.2 Mr. W. Irons. 5 674 173 387 863 2,097 £750 2,370 88.4 2,398 101.1 Ditto. 6 623 227 341 742 1,933 1,997 96.7 2,388 119.5 Ditto. 1 665 152 167 715 1,679 £960 3,320 50.5 2,262 68.1 Ditto. 8 451 138 176 661 1,325 3,443 38.4 729 21.1 Totals. 6,627 2,236 3,496 8,422 20.781 £4,474 *27,079 76.7 16,406 60.6 Removals ordered from Reports of the Inspector of Dust and other 4,013 2,649 3,034 6,749 16,345 Total Removals 10,640 4,785 6,530 16,171 37,126 * The Actual number of inhabited houses during this period was probably about 30,000, the chief additions being to Wards 1 and 3 ; but as I could not accurately apportion the total increase it seemed better to use the Census numbers tnroughout. TABLE XII. MONTHLY RESULTS OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS MADE AT COMPTON TERRACE. THERMOMETEB. 1 Mean Atmospheric Humidity. Saturation = 100. Rainfall in Inches. Number of Days on which Bain fell in appreciable quantity. Periods embraced. Adopted Mean Temperature. Mean of I Highest Daily Headings. Mean of Lowest Daily Headings. Mean Daily .Range. January 42.0° 46.9° 36.9° 10.0 86 0.81 10 1874. 1874. 4 wka. Jan. 4 —Jan. 31. February 38.7° 44.2° 33.8° 10.4 86 0.86 13 4 „ Feb. 1—Feb. 28 March 44.4° 62.8° 38.4° 14.4 80 0.99 13 6 „ Mar. 1—Apr. 4 April 51.5° 63.6° 43.0° 20.6 70 0.66 8 4 „ Apr. 6—May 2 May 52.0° 64.3° 43.0° 21.3 68 1.03 6 4 „ May 3—May 30 69.8° 73.1° 60.9° 222 66 1.97 11 6 „ May 31—July 4 66.3° 79.9° 66.2° 24.7 66 1.06 8 4 „ July 6—Aug. 1 August 60.7° 72.7° 62.6° 20.2 67 1.08 10 4 „ Aug 2—Aug. 29 September 68.3° 67.7° 61.4° 16.3 74 3.34 19 6 „ Aug. 30—Oct. 3 Ootober 62 0° 68.3° 47.0° 11.3 84 2.80 16 4 „ Oct. 4—Oct. 31 November 41.7° 47.6° 36.7° 10.8 84 1.46 12 4 „ Nov. 1—Nov. 28 1876. December 34.1° 38.6° 29.1° 94 84 3' 14 lo 6 „ Nov. 29—Jan. 2 Means of Year. 50.0° 69.1° 43.1° 16.0 76 Sum. 19.18 Sum. 141 1874. 1876. Jan. 4. to Jan. 2. The highest temperature in the shade attained was 91.3° on July 20th. The lowest temperature reached was 18.8° on December 23rd. Snow fell in the 10th, 47th, 60th, 61st and 62nd weeks of the year. Thunder storms occurred on May 22nd, 26th, June 24tb, July 9th, 11th, August 10th and October 1st. Instead of stating the Means of Observations for each Calendar Month, I have stated them in periods corresponding with those used in my monthly Tables, which alone can serve any useful purpose for comparison with the coincident Mortality. \