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This table is interesting as showing the great increase in the incidence
of Scarlet Fever and Diphtheria of recent years, the cause or causes
of this it is most difficult to determine, indeed on reference to the
returns of the Metropolitan Asylums Board we find this increase is
progressive in London so far as Diphtheria is concerned, Scarlet Fever,
Typhoid Fever and Small Pox showing a diminution in 1894;

The increased incidence of Diptheria in London is a question of gravest
moment, for many years this disease was looked upon as one peculiar
to rural localities, but of recent years it has made serious and fatal inroads
upon urban districts, and for some hitherto unexplained reason it appears
to have become more prevalent in the South and South Eastern part of
England, while its incidence has been less in the Northern and Western part;
the increased incidence of this disease in London has imposed upon the
Asylums Board the necessity of providing proper Hospital Accommodation
for its treatment, which implies wards containing a less number of beds
with greater cubic capacity and more expensive administration.
We know now more of the cause of Diphtheria than we did, we know
that it is associated with the growth of an organism which in the throat
finds exactly those conditions most favourable to its development viz.,
heat, moisture, and a free current of air, and we know further that in its
growth it gives rise to a certain chemical product which on its absorption