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34
Before the advent of the Dispensary the great majority of consumptives were not notified
until they were in the last stages of the disease and for this reason the figures given do not of
themselves throw any light on the question of the average duration of phthisis from onset to death.
At the same time, inadequate as they are, they still afford some indication of the well-known fact
that consumptives may continue to live for five or ten years or even longer periods of time, although
the disease is destined to end in death.
The distribution of the notified cases in North and South Kensington and the various wards
in the Borough is shown in the following table:—

The figures given are of interest as showing the very large number of consumptives reported in the
poorer wards, but they must not be taken as representing the relative prevalence of phthisis in North
and South Kensington. The Northern half of the Borough being the poorer area necessarily supplies
a larger number of compulsory notifications under the tuberculosis regulations, whilst the
figures are further swollen by notifications from the Tuberculosis Dispensary, an institution which
makes no provision for persons residing south of Holland Park Avenue. Reference should therefore
be made to the table of deaths among all classes as a more reliable guide to the proportional
incidence of phthisis on the various districts in the Borough.
The age and sex of the persons newly notified are shown in the following table. The high
figure returned for the age period 5-15 years has resulted from the notification of large numbers of
children by the medical officer of the Tuberculosis Dispensary.

For the proper interpretation of the above table it must be understood tha.t the figures do not
include persons who died from consumption in 1911 without having been notified to the Medical
Officer of Health.