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26
The figure for Finsbury is 133, somewhat lower than the
corrected figure calculated by us. The reason for this difference
—noticeable in connection with other Boroughs as well as Finsbury—
is that the Registrar-General deals always with a year of 52 or 53
weeks, whereas in the Medical Officers' Report the year from 1st Jan.
to 31st December is reviewed; so that neither the number of births
nor the number of deaths used in the calculations can be the same.
In this connection it may be mentioned also that, on account of
the method adopted by the Registrar-General of distributing deaths
amongst districts, the actual number of deaths credited by him to
Finsbury, at least, and probably also other Boroughs, rarely agrees
with that of the Medical Officer, and results which do not correspond
are almost certain to be obtained. According to the RegistrarGeneral
there were in Finsbury in the 53 weeks of 1908, 3,038
births, and 405 infant deaths.
It is open, of course, to use none other than the Registrar-General's
figures, but for local comparative purposes the additional rates
calculated are of interest and value.