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healthiness of the several above-named localities, I set forth in my
official representations to the Metropolitan Board of Works, and are
contained in my Reports for the Quarter ended July, 1875; April,
1876; June, 1876; September, 1877; and October, 1877.
It may be here stated that from the Returns of the RegistrarGeneral,
it appears that the area of London (the registration division
so called) is 78,080 acres, or 122 square miles; a square mile being
640 acres. In the 78,080 acres are included 2,718 acres of the
Thames. The density of the population is now about 51 persons
to an acre, or 322,640 to a square mile.
The area of the Whitechapel District is, according to the last
Annual Summary of the Registrar-General, 405 statute acres, in which
are included 27 acres of water. The whole area of the Whitechapel
District gives 176 persons to an acre, or about 27.4 square yards for
each person. The population at the period when the census was
taken in 1881 was 71,301.

From the preceding Table it appears that London is annually
increasing in density, and hence the necessity of providing open
spaces for the people; for, unless means are taken to provide parks
and recreation grounds for the use of the inhabitants of the Metropolis,
the increasing aggregation of human beings in confined spots, if
continued for many years longer, will become a source of great danger
to the public health. Open spaces, therefore, regardless of the cost,
should be preserved for the people; and houses should be prohibited