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52
Even in the third quarter when Diarrhoea is always most prevalent
the death-rate was most satisfactory.
The death-rate in that quarter was greatest in the Upper Holloway
Sub-district, but why it should be so cannot be easily explained, as,
judging from its sanitary conditions, compared with Islington South
West and IslingtonSouth East, it should have been in a more favourable
position. It must not be forgotten, however, that it is built on a heavy
clay soil, and that this soil so long as wet weather continues, and so long
as the soil retains sufficient moisture, holds the bacilli of Diarrhœa
tightly locked up, but the moment it dries, owing to a long continued
heat, such as existed for a considerable portion of the year, these germs
escape and speedily give rise to the disease. In no other manner is the
heavy death-rate in Upper Holloway at present explicable.