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The deaths therefore in 1893 show an increase above the average of the preceding ten years in
each class of disease except the parasitic, constitutional and the nervous, and in diseases of the
locomotive system.
Of the zymotic diseases the chief increases are found in the deaths from scarlet fever, influenza,
diphtheria, enteric fever, diarrhoeal diseases, erysipelas and puerperal fever, all of which were above the
averages of the preceding ten years.
Of the dietetic diseases the deaths classified under the headings starvation and want of breast
milk, alcoholism and delirium tremens were above the average.
Of the constitutional diseases deaths from rheumatic fever, rheumatism of the heart, from gout,
rickets and cancer were above the average.
Of the congenital diseases deaths from premature birth, atelectasis and congenital malformations
were above the average.
Of the diseases of the respiratory organs the deaths from croup showed a marked decrease from
the average, almost certainly due to transference of deaths from croup to diphtheria; deaths from
pneumonia and pleurisy showed an increase related no doubt to the increase of the deaths from influenza.
Of the diseases of the digestive system deaths from sore throat, quinsey, enteritis and peritonitis
were above the average, the deaths from enteritis being nearly twice the average.
Principal Zymotic Diseases.
The London death rate per 1,000 living from the principal zymotic diseases was in 1893 lower
than that of any of the large towns having a population of more than 200,000 persons, except Birmingham,
Bristol and Nottingham, as will be seen from the following table—
London 3.08* West Ham 3.39
Manchester 3.72 Bristol 1.65
Liverpool 3.90 Bradford 3.43
Birmingham 3.04 Nottingham 2.62
Leeds 3.47 Hull 4.14
Sheffield 3.52 Salford 4.14
Compared with the following ten foreign cities the London death rate per 1,000 living from
the six principal zymotic diseases (smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough and
fever) was higher in 1893 than those of all but two. In the period 1888-92 six of these cities had a
higher rate than London, thus—

*See footnote (*), page 6.
* See footnote (†), page 6.