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25
Diphtheria.
The deaths from this cause were 5, viz.:—2 in Christchurch,
and 3 in St. Saviour. Only 1 death was caused by this disease
last year. Diphtheria was a word almost unknown in English
Medical Literature till 1859, when the Sydenham Society
published a volume of memoirs on the disease, translated from
the French of Brettonneau and others. The name, slightly
modified, has now been appropriated by all European
languages. Diphtheria has its favourite localities—localities
in which it is always endemic, and frequently epidemic.
Among such places may be particularly mentioned Florence
and Paris. The disease is contagious, and although we are
as yet in ignorance as to what are the causes of Diphtheria,
we know that unventilated filthy lodgings, scanty clothing,
and imperfect alimentation impart to individuals a receptivity
for its contagion.
Whooping Cough
Caused 10 deaths. Enteric Fever 2, and Diarrhœa 24 deaths.