ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES. 11 



county councils and certain town ami borough councils), and they 

 require every such authority to appoint a public analyst and to 

 make arrangements for the collection of samples of foods to be exam- 

 ined by the public analyst. The appointments of public analysts 

 have to be sanctioned by the Local Government Board, and a general 

 supervision is exercised by that department over the methods of 

 administration by the local authorities. Subject to such general 

 control, it rests with each local authority, on the reports of the 

 public analyst and other officers, to enforce the law against offenders, 

 to issue warnings to traders, or take other action for the purpose of 

 checking these forms of adulteration or misbranding of foods to which 

 the sale of food and drugs acts are applicable. There are at present 

 233 local authorities administering the sale of food and drugs acts in 

 England and Wales. These acts are the same in the jurisdiction of 

 all local authorities and there are no special additions in local areas. 1 



The sale of food and drugs act, 1899, section 2, gives direct power 

 to the Local Government Board and the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries to sample articles of food. By so doing these central author- 

 ities can determine whether or not the local authorities are doing 

 their duty properly. The fees for the analyses are paid by the local 

 authority where the samples are collected, and it is the duty of the 

 local authority to cause proceedings to be instituted when the board 

 makes adverse reports based on such analyses. 



The sale of food and drugs act of 1875 was designed chiefly as a 

 measure of administration, and made little provision for any direct 

 action by the central departments of government, but the subse- 

 quent acts have provided for central action in several directions. 

 There are now six government departments which in different ways 

 are concerned in the administration of these laws, namely, the Local 

 Government Board of England, and the Local Government Boards for 

 Scotland and Ireland ; the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, which 

 has jurisdiction in England and Scotland; the Department of Agri- 

 culture and Technical Instruction in Ireland, and the commissioners 

 of customs and excise. These departments communicate with the 

 local authorities on the matters with which they are concerned and 

 when necessary cooperate with one another. 



The act of 1899 gave special duties and authority to the Board of 

 Agriculture and Fisheries as far as adulteration of agricultural prod- 

 ucts (butter, milk, cheese, etc.) was concerned, in addition to the 

 general power of supervision in connection with the adulteration of 



1 In this respect these sales of food and drugs acts differ from the public health acts. The pub lie health acts 

 make certain provisions as to unsound food, milk, etc., for the whole country, but in addition some local 

 authorities have obtained clauses in special acts of Parliament giving them wider powers in their jurisdic- 

 tions. Many local authorities have in this way special powers to secure the cleanliness of icecream, while 

 some of the principal towns have special "milk clauses" under which, when milkis found to contain tuber- 

 cle bacilli, the milk from the herd giving the infected product may be prohibited entry into the town. 



