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compared with 1861. It is possible that the slight increase between
1871 and 1881 was due to the fact that houses in this part instead of
being occupied by separate families as formerly, were then being let
in tenements. The diminution which occurred between 1881 and
1891 is probably due to the disuse as a prison of the House of
Correction—the site of which is now occupied by premises in
connection with the General Post Office—and to the construction of
Rosebery Avenue. Dr. Yarrow, in his Annual Report for St. Luke,
for 1896, writes:—"The decrease which has taken place since the
"census of 1891 amounts to 913 persons. The population has
"increased in the northern portion of the Parish to the extent of 720
"persons, and there has been a decrease in the southern district of
"1,633. These changes have been brought about on the southern
"side of the Parish entirely by the demolition of dwelling-houses,
"and the erection on their sites of warehouses, factories, etc., while
"on the north side the same observation applies to a less extent, the
"extra accommodation provided by the erection of Guinness's Trust
"Buildings has fully compensated for the loss of dwelling-houses in
"that district."
We may now turn to examine the prevalence of Overcrowding in
Finsbury, as revealed in these returns.
"Overcrowding" is a term having many definitions and standards,
of which the following are chief:—houses may be overcrowded to
the acre, families to the house, persons to the house, persons to the
room, or persons to the acre. It is clear that some of these depend
upon the size of the house and the size of the room. Hence it is
customary to accept a standard of cubic space.
It is generally held by all authorities that each person requires
3,000 cubic feet of fresh air per hour, and it has been found by
experiment that to keep the atmosphere of any inhabited room
tolerably pure from the products of respiration, etc., and ventilate
without creating excessive draughts, that it is necessary to allow a
space of 750-1,000 cubic feet per adult. In practice such a
standard is found to be unattainable, and hence the standard laid
down in the Bye-laws for houses let in lodgings, has to be accepted
as a compromise, namely, 400 cubic feet per adult in rooms used