HH62/1/AYR/11

Transcription

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purifying the strong alkaline solution from the blanket manufactory
at Messrs Kyle & Aitken's before discharging it into the the Rye was
practically useless. The solution was run into tanks where the
polluting matter was supposed to deposit. This alkaline solution
passed out of the tanks without undergoing any chemical or physical
change, only some other suspended matter settling in the tank.
Unless the process would be too expensive, there is no doubt that
the only satisfactory method of purifying this liquid would be by
evaporation and removal of the solidified alkali. The report upon
this is still before the Northern District Committee.
Where there are important industries concerned it is right that
they should receive due consideration. At the same time all those
works should be compelled, as far as practicable, to minimise their
share in the pollution of our streams, while no new source of pollu-
tion of any magnitude should be permitted.
For the disposal of the sewage of populous places, so as to avoid
the pollution of streams, there have been a bewildering number of
schemes and patents, the great majority of which are expensive and
practically worthless. It seems that at present there are only a few
methods which may be considered satisfactory for villages and
medium-sized towns. These are, in my opinion, the most useful:-

(1) Discharge of the sewage directly into the sea, where this
is practicable.
As a rule this only applies to towns on the coast, which
would not in any case pollute streams, but there are
places in which the sewage is conveyed in sewers con-
siderable distances to the sea.

(2) Broad irrigation, where sufficient land can be got at a
reasonable price, the conformation of the ground per-
mitting of the sewage flowing to it by gravitation, and
the soil suitable.

(3) The Internal Company's Process, which is a com-
bination of precipitation and filtration. In this method
the sewage, in bulk, is generally made to flow through
a wire-work basket containing ferozone, which is
gradually melted by the sewage, upon which it acts
both as a mechanical and chemical precipitant, after
which it is filtered through polarite beds.

The Food and Drugs Act. - Owing to the various other im-
portant matters which I considered had a prior claim on the new
sanitary administration I advised the County Council to defer putting
this Act into operation in the meantime.

The Infectious Disease (Notification) Act. - In a report to each
of the four districts of the county in June last, I strongly recom-
mended the districts to adopt this Act. All the districts, I am
pleased to state, acted upon my advice, and the Act came into opera-
tion in the Northern and Ayr Districts on October 1, in the Carrick
District on December 1, last, and in the Kilmarnock District on Janu-
art 1, 1892. The Act has been working satisfactorily. Even without

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the necessary hospital accommodation - a state of matters which I
expect will not continue long - the notification of disease has already
done much good by directing attention to insanitary conditions in
connection with dwellings, &c., which might otherwise have remained
unobserved and unrectified. I may also state that all the medical
practitioners notifying have, without exception, afforded me any
information or assistance I desired in the investigation of infectious
disease. The burghs in the county which have adopted the Notifica-
tion Act are Ayr, Ardrossan, Irvine, Kilwinning, Largs, and
Saltcoats. It is a matter for regret that the remaining burghs -
Darvel, Cumnock, Galston, Girvan, Kilmarnock, Maybole, Newmilns,
and Stewarton - which have a combined population of 53,775, and
about 150 deaths annually from infectious disease, have not yet
adopted the Act. It appears that the penny-wise policy of saving a
few pound a year has more weight with the Authorities of these
burghs than the suppression of diseases which entail far greater
expenditure in money, besides loss of life and considerable suffering.
It may be stated that until the Notification Act becomes general -
which I have no doubt it will soon, by compulsory legislation or
otherwise - those districts where it is in operation will not reap the
full benefit of the measure as long as contiguous burghs form foci of
infectious disease over which there is no proper control.

The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, and Dairies, Cowsheds,
and Milkshops Orders. - A good deal of attention was directed to
dairy farms and farm houses during the summer months, owing
chiefly to complaints regarding the water supply, which was very
inadequate at a number of farms on account of the exceptionally long
period of drought during these months. In several cases, moreover,
the quality of the water at some of these farms was neither fit for
man nor beast. As a rule the proprietors, on their attention being
drawn to it, remedied the state of matters as far as it was practicable
under the circumstances. When we consider the important bearing
which the sanitation of cowsheds and dairies has upon the public
health, it is obvious that the Local Authorities must give special
attention to the provisions regulating their sanitary condition. This
matter is, besides, of great moment owing to the alarming extent of
tuberculosis among cattle and the connection which exists, in the
light of modern bacteriology, between human and bovine tuberculosis,
as well as other diseases which are communicable between animals
and man through the agency of milk and other media.

Bye-laws. - During the year I drafted bye-laws for cowsheds,
&c., common lodging-houses, and slaughter-houses. These were sub-
mitted to the Public Health Committee of the County Council, and
remitted by the latter to the District Committees for their considera-
tion. No bye-laws have yet been made by the County Council
under Section 57 of the Local Government Act, such as for the
suppression of nuisances not already punishable in a summary
manner, &c. There is one matter for the suppression of which
statutory powers are urgently needed, viz., the emptying of dung-
steads, ashpits, &c., in villages at all hours of the day. In going