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13
COMPARATIVE VITAL AND MORTAL STATISTICS.
London.—The birth-rate, 27·9 per 1,000 (1·9 below the decennial average), was the lowest
on record. The rate has been declining for many years, never having been below 30 per 1,000 prior
to 1898: the highest rate during my tenure of office, 35·9 per 1,000, was recorded in 1875.
The death-rate was 16·6 per 1,000 (1·0 per 1,000 above that in 1903, which was the lowest on
record) and 1·7 below the decennial average.
Small-pox, the cause of 1,314 and 13 deaths, respectively, in 1902 and 1903, was fatal to 25
persons, the decennial average being 179.
Scarlet-fever was the cause of 365 deaths, compared with 362 in 1903 (the lowest number on
record) and a decennial average of 658.
Diphtheria was the cause of 729 deaths; 23 fewer than in 1903, and 1,193 below the
decennial average, 1,922.
Enteric-fever shows the smallest number of deaths on record, 296, or less than half the
decennial average, 632.
The four diseases above-named, commonly spoken of as the "dangerous infectious
diseases," were the causes of 1,415 deaths: the deaths from the other three principal diseases of
the zymotic class totalled 8,569, being rather more than 300 above the decennial average;
viz., measles 2,261 (average 2,598), whooping-cough 1,507 (average 1,999), and diarrhoea 4,801
(average 3,656).
Kensington.—The birth-rate, 19·3 per 1,000, and the lowest on record, was 0·7 below the rate
in 1903, and 1·5 below the decennial average. Having regard to the disproportion in the number
of the sexes a high birth-rate is not possible; but the fall from the maximum during my tenure of
office, viz., 31·7 in 1872, is unduly great.
The death-rate, 14·2 per 1,000; 0·4 above that in 1903, was 1·6 below the decennial average.
The infantile mortality-rate, measured by the proportion of deaths under one year to 1,000 registered
births, was 146, the same as in London; an increase of 3 per 1,000 in the borough, and of 15 per 1,000
in the Metropolis, as a whole, compared with the rates in 1903.
Small-pox was the cause of one death, scarlet fever of 5 deaths, diphtheria of 17, and entericfever
of 6; total 29 in a population of 178,500; a surprisingly small number. The deaths from
scarlet-fever, diphtheria, and enteric-fever were 16, 35, and 11, respectively, below the decennial
averages. The deaths from the remaining three of the principal diseases of the zymotic class
were 214: viz., measles 67 (average 82), whooping-cough 19 (average 55), and diarrhoea 128
{average 100).
The table at page 19 shows the number of deaths in the several Wards of the Borough
from the principal diseases of the zymotic class; the rate of infantile mortality being shown at
page 10.
The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich during the year was 49°·9 Fahrenheit and 0·6
above the means of the preceding 50 years: the means of the four quarters being 39·5; 53·8; 61·5
and 44·3, respectively.