Sale of foods and drugs bill, 1897

S A L E O F FOODS A N D D R U G S which recently fell from Sir R. Thorne Thorne, when he said, "that he most emphatically agreed that the water companies should be held responsible for the quality of the water they supplied, and that the public should insist on this being made law."# I n Horsforth the Water Company has, till recently, been strongly represented on the District Council, and even now it is apparently not without its defenders. In the face of most determined and persistent opposition from this quarter, and, as Dr. Low tells us, at the sacrifice of his own interests as a private practitioner, Dr. Nightingale, the Medical Officer of Health, has fought the battle of pure water supply with a courage and ability in striking contrast to his paltry remuneration. His reward has been the subjection of his appointment to yearly confirmation, and a refusal by the District Council, even at a saving to themselves, to accept the Local Government Board's offer to pay one-half of his salary if very moderately increased. It is, therefore, not surprising to learn that he has resigned his thankless office, which, as a member of the Council said, is nothing less than a calamity for Horsforth. While w e sympathise with Dr. Nightingale on such a return for his disinterested and public-spirited labours, we are not withouthope that the treatment to which he has been subjected may, in some degree, hasten the time when health officers, like factory inspectors at present, shall be appointed, paid, pensioned and controlled by a Central Authority, and not left to the tender mercies of those whose •interests are too often in direct conflict with the public welfare.

S A L E OF FOODS A N D D R U G S B I L L , I897. THE Council of the Society of Public Analysts, reporting on the Bill of last Session, arrived at the following conclusions : - " T h a t the Draft Bill introduced by the President and Secretary of the Local Government Board is unsatisfactory, inasmuch as it does not embody the most important recommendations of the Food Products Adulteration Committee, and that, if passed, it would not lead to the removal of the difficulties experienced in carrying out the present Sale of Foods and Drugs Acts. "That the recommendation o£the Food Products Adulteration Committee, subject to but few modifications, should be embodied in any Bill which may be put before Parliament during the coming Session. " T h a t the most important recommendation of the Select Committee, viz., recommendation No. ~9, referring to the formation of a Court of * R o y . Med.-Chir. Society. Discussion on ~'Prevention of Enteric ~'everp" vide Lancet and B . M . f . , of November 27th , I897.

B I L L , I897.

I53

Reference constituted substantially as laid down in the body of the Report (with, however, the inelusioti in its number of one or more public analysts) should be acted upon, if new legislation is to lead to satisfactory results."

TYPHOID

FEVER ORGANISMS PRIVY-I~IDDENS.

AND

BY

J. If. CROeKaR,

M.D., D.P.H.,

M.O.H.

Borough

of

Eccles. AS the result of sixteen cases of typhoid fever in nine houses in one street in the Borough of Eccles during I896, a special report was presented by the Medical Officer of Health to .the Sanitary Authority, pointing o u t that in every case the sanitary conveniences consisted of double privy pits, i.e., an oblong structure, common in the North of England, measuring about nine feet long by three feet wide, constructed of a single thickness of common bricks, the floor of which is flagged or brick paved and about two feet below the surface of the surrounding ground, the pit being drained into the public sewer without any intercepting trap or means of flushing. At each end of the structure is a privy, and t h e ashes and house refuse are thrown into the middle portion of the pit. There are over 3,ooo such structures in Eccles. An order to substitute w.c.'s and ash tubes was made in each case, and this not being complied with by an owner of five of the houses he was summoned before the Magistrates. They found that the nuisance existed, and that the suggestions of the Sanitary Authority were the best remedy, and consequently made an Order on the lines of that o f the Sanitary Authority. The chief point of the Medical Officer of Health before this court was that the pits were specifically fouled with typhoid fever organisms in addition to being foul and offensive. An appeal was made to Court of Quarter Sessions, and the trial came off on January i~th, 1898 , and lasted the whole day. It Was stated in evidence that the pits were emptied and disinfecting powder put in immediately the cases were notified. Also that special pails were provided with disinfectants, and all typhoid excreta, etc., placed in these pails from the time of notification. At a later period a large quantity of chloride o f lime was put in the pits and they have been regularly scavenged ever since. It is evident therefore that any infection of the pits must have taken place prior to the notification. Seeing that up to this the statement that. these pits were infected with typhoid fever organisms was theoretical, the Medical Officer of Health, on October 22nd, i897--thirteen months after the last case was notified--directed the Sanitary Inspector to procure some of the filth from between M