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4
The total number of deaths in the Parish last year
(ending March 28th) was 190G persons, including the
deaths in St. Mary's Hospital and in the Workhouse.
The general death rate was 19.6 per 1000 of the
living, or about 1 in every 50 of the inhabitants.
In examining the death-rate more closely, it will be
seen that in the district of St. John's, the deaths of
which were 631, were at the rate of 16.5 per 1000 of
the population ; and in the district of St. Mary's
1275, or at the higher rate of 21.7 per 1000 of its
population.
The births for the year 1871 were 2687, or at the
rate of 27.7 per 1000.
The birth-rate of London generally is 36.44, and
that of large towns 39.96, say 40 per 1000 of their
population.
The mortality of a district is generally supposed to
be in relation to the density of population, and if we
take into account other breathing creatures besides
man that pollute the air, and consume its oxygen,
Paddington must rank as a thickly populated part, for
there are not less than 7000 horses in stables. Each
horse requires for respiration, and damages in the same
time, four times the amount of air required for one
human being. The excreta of so many horses adds
also to the sources by which atmospheric air is often
tainted. The state of public health is however not
seriously endangered by this large proportion of animal
life in its midst, when manure is promptly removed,
stables cleanly kept and well drained, and no perceptible
nuisance allowed to arise.