i₉4                 POVERTY,
inquiry a special investigation has been made by a sanitary inspector to ascertain the number of back-to-back houses in York.
   Owing to the crowded state of the houses in the old parts of the city, in which those which are back-to-back are almost exclusively found, the difficulties of the inquiry have been considerable. In many cases it was necessary to enter the houses in order to ascertain with certainty whether they had through ventilation or not. Altogether it was found that there are 1398 back-to-back houses in York.¹ This is equal to about 9.3 per cent of the total houses in the city, and to about 12 per cent of those occupied by the working classes. The return includes 562 which, although not back-to-back with other dwelling-houses, are nevertheless without through ventilation. Some of these are back-to-back with warehouses, stables, or water-closets; others are built against a blank wall.
   It is needless to dwell in detail upon the disadvantages of back-to-back houses. To quote the words of Dr. Hill, the Medical Officer of Health of Birmingham : “ A house in which there is no through ventilation is necessarily close and stuffy, often dark, and always detrimental to health.
  ¹ The return is not absolutely complete, as certain parts of the city, where it was known that the proportion of houses which were back-to-back was small, have not been investigated. The figures given are, however, not very far short of the actual number.