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diphtheritic complaints. The subject is one of immense importance,
and I have deemed it to be advantageous to devote special attention
to the matter as concerns the parish of Bow, where several outbreaks
of the disease have occurred. In this prefatory introduction, I call
to the notice of the members of the Board my remarks and conclusions
under the head of Diphtheria and Membranous Croup, as
the question of the notification of diseases, under the Infectious
Diseases (Notification) Act, 1889, has on several occasions been
under discussion. Not only so, but there is no doubt that the
question of extending the number of diseases notifiable under that
Act, is likely to be brought forward in the interests of sanitary science
before many years have passed away. Already several provincial
sanitary authorities have approached the Local Government Board
to this effect. As the proposal is one of great importance to the
general community, it is well that the principles which guide to a
settlement of so valuable an adjunct towards efficient official supervision
and sanitary knowledge should be properly recognised.
Population and its Density.
By the Census returns for the year 1891, the population of the
parish of Bow was given as 40,378; in 1881, it was 37,063; and in
1871, it was 26,055. The Local Government Board requires
the population of each sanitary district to be estimated to the
middle of the current year. I have therefore done so, and found
it to be 41,143, taking that as the basis of my calculations.
In order to ascertain the density of the present population, it was
necessary to obtain the number of inhabited houses in Bow, and this
information has been furnished to me by Mr. Robert Logan, the Clerk
to the Vestry of St. Mary Stratford-le-Bow. An examination of the
rate books for the quarter ending Christmas, 1893, gives a return of
the inhabited houses for that parish of 5741, allowing 2 per cent. for
empties gives us 5627. This shows an actual increase of 492 over
the year 1891, with a density of population, or number of inhabitants