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From the preceding table it appears that diphtheria is not influenced
by the existence of defective sanitary arrangements as are all
other diseases. Thus, while in the healthy districts 4,184 die from
diphtheria, 2,425 die in all England, and 3,395 die in the Liverpool
District. Hooping-cough, on the contrary, appears to be greatly
aggravated by the want of sanitary arrangements, for, while 9,650
deaths occur from hooping cough in the healthy districts, 14,424 take
place in all England, and in the Liverpool District 32,551.
It is important to note the mean age at death of persons dying
from certain causes. In a table prepared by Dr. Farr, it appears
that hooping-cough is at its maximum in the first year of life, measles
in the second, scarlatina and diphtheria in the third and fourth years.
The mean age at death by hooping cough is L8, measles 2.7, scarletfever
and diphtheria 5.8, small-pox 11.9, and typhus, including typhoid
and continued fever, 2.60. The last-named disease may be prevented,
and is of the utmost importance to prevent, seeing that it is most
fatal to the middle aged, at which period man is most useful to the
community; and if he die prematurely the burden of supporting his
family is frequently thrown upon the ratepayers.
Dr. Farr, in speaking of the diffusion of Epidemic Diseases,
further remarks:—
"The air, which Professor Tyndal shows in his elegant experiments,
carries dust, carries in it also the zymotic particles (zymads)
of small-pox, scarlet-fever, diphtheria, measles, hooping-cough, typhus
and plague, in the atmosphere that surrounds the sick; in other cases
it carries the widely diffused elements that induce influenza, marsh
fevers, neuralgia, and rheumatism. These zymads are attacked in
many ways: (1) by the free admission of fresh air (ozone) into the
chambers of the sick; (2) by the various disinfectants—such as camphor,
carbolic acid, permanganate of potash (ozone), chlorine, sulphurous
acid; (3) by the isolation of the sick during the inlections in
separate rooms or separate dwellings; (4) by the chemical destruction
of the excreta: (5) Pasteur showed, by many experiments, that
organic germs, which set up formations, are arrested by their aspiration
through cotton wool, and by analogy some persons might be
disposed to try the effect of breathing through cotton wool when they
enter sick chambers."