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22
as London is concerned, the "local supervising authority" under
the Act is the London County Council, but this body is expressly
authorised to delegate all or any of its powers under the Act to
the Borough Councils. After consideration however, the London
County Council has decided not to delegate any of its powers
under the Act, but to retain the control over the midwives in
its own hands. In my opinion this is a wise decision, as a
midwife may have patients in several boroughs, and is therefore
better supervised by a central authority.
In addition to the one recorded death from puerperal fever,
three women were stated to have died from septic conditions
following miscarriage; one woman died from hœmorrhage caused
by placenta prævia, and another from detached placenta.
Three women died shortly after confinement; the registered
causes of death were—hœmoptysis, heart disease, and phthisis.
WHOOPING COUGH.
Deaths 41 (Decennial average 74).
The deaths from whooping cough were only half as numerous
as in the previous year. All except two were amongst children
aged less than live years.
DIARRHŒAL DISEASES.
Deaths 112 (Decennial average 117).
The deaths from diarrhoea, classified on the plan laid down by
the Local Government Board, numbered 112, and exactly
doubled those of last year. The increase took place almost
entirely during the September quarter, when the deaths
registered from the above cause in Bethnal Green rose suddenly
from five and six in each of the first two quarters of the year to
71 in the third, falling again to 30 in the last three months.
Possibly the flooding of the Thames and Lea above the Water
Companies' intakes is responsible for some of this increase, as
impure water is a well-known factor in the causation of diarrhoea.
Effete matter washed from the land by torrential rains does not