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35
autumn of the year my attention was aroused by the fact
that numerous deaths from Puerperal, or Childbed Fever,
were registered, and, upon inquiry, I found that they all
originated in the practice of one midwife, with whom I at
once communicated; she acknowledged the existence of
the cases, and seemed quite astonished when I informed
her that she was the medium through which the disease was
disseminated. She promised to abstain from "practice,"
which promise she kept for a month ; but it is melancholy
to relate that fourteen women in the prime of life, most of
them mothers of large families, were sacrificed to this
woman's ignorance. Midwives usually attend what is
ironically termed "the practice" of a lying-in hospital for
about two months, the first half of which period is generally
passed in performing the menial offices of the institution,
and the latter in attendance on two or three natural cases
of labour, which are superintended by the matron, after
which they are free to "practice" as midwives, the examination
they undergo being a perfect farce.
Thirty-seven deaths were registered as occurring from
Diarrhoea and Cholera, of these 25 were under 1 year of
age, or 5-6ths of the whole number, and 7 between 1 and
5—altogether 32 under the first quinquennium. The
deaths from these diseases exceeded those in 1873 by 6.
From Whooping Cough 23 deaths in 1874 against 15
in the preceding year gave an increase of nearly 50 per
cent. It is, however, probable that the next annual return
may shew a diminished mortality from this cause, as
the disease at the latter part of the year was of a type
more amenable to treatment than before.
From Typhus, Typhoid, and other forms of Fever, 17
deaths, or 1 less than in 1873, were registered, a fact on
which the inhabitants may congratulate themselves, as in
the other districts of London Fever was generally prevalent
duRing the year 1874.
D 2