Summary of annual health reports for the period 1916 to 1928 (inclusive) / by Philip Boobbyer, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Nottingham.

  • Nottingham (England). City Council
Date:
[1928]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Summary of annual health reports for the period 1916 to 1928 (inclusive) / by Philip Boobbyer, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Nottingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    197/212 (page 173)
    APPENDIX B. REPORT ON PAIL-CLOSETS, To the Chairman and Members of the Health Committee of the Nottingham Corporation. Gentlemen, The necessity for the conversion of pail-closets to w.c s on grounds of sanitation and decency is now generally recognised. It has been demonstrated by statistics, in this City and elsewhere, that the incidence of enteric fever and diarrhoea is far heavier upon houses and districts where these closets are in use than upon those furnished with w.c’s. The following table, published by myself in successive annual reports since my first appointment as Medical Officer of Health of Nottingham in 1889, sufficiently demonstrates this heavier incidence ; and, as the table has now found its way into Public Health text-books, I need make no apology for its quotation in this report. The most striking and convincing feature of the table is the consistency with which it demonstrates this heavier incidence year after year, notwithstanding continual fluctuation of weather conditions, the introduction of improved methods of scavenging, and the steady growth of the number of w.c’s provided for all classes of property in all parts of the City. Incidence of Enteric Fever Cases upon Houses with Pail-closets, Midden-privies, and W.C’s, from 1887 to 1910, and upon Waste-water-closets from 1905 to 1910. 1887 to 1898 (Average). Houses with pail-closets 1 case of enteric fever in 120 houses. „ midden-privies 1 99 99 99 37 „ „ water-closets 1 1899. >9 99 99 558 „ Houses with pail-closets • • • • • • 1 case in 70 houses. „ midden-privies • • • • • • 1 99 18 „ ,, water-closets • • • • 1900. • • 1 99 296 „ Houses with pail-closets • • • • • • 1 case in 92 houses. „ midden-privies • • • • • • 1 99 20 „ „ water-closets • • • • • • 1 99 407 „