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43
pollution and certain factors may have contributed to this, particularly
at this time. Thus the colder weather would have led to more fires,
there was more household coal available in the early winter than for some
years past, and there had been a large increase in the new.type
continuous burning fire — a fire which though having many advantages
does tend, when banked up at night, to throw more smoke into the
atmosphere.
To return again to the Lee/Sydenham comparisons, a further
analysis of the deaths into the circulatory group (Nos. 17 to 21 of the
Registrar.General's short list) plus the respiratory group (Nos. 22 to 25)
shows that 81 cases occurred in Lee and 107 in Sydenham, a ratio of
100 : 132, but separating the two groups there were 36 respiratory
cases in Lee to 57 in Sydenham, a ratio of 100 : 158 (the circulatory cases,
namely 45 in Lee to 50 in Sydenham give a ratio of only 100 : 111).
This certainly seems to point to an increased factor in Sydenham
affecting the lungs.
Ward statistics
The number of electors in the various wards are known, but not
the total population. Since children however did not figure in the
mortality statistics to a significant degree, the number of electors can
be taken as a measure of the number of persons at risk. It must be
assumed that the wards vary in age distribution, but no information is
available as to the degree of this variation. As however the older
people were most affected this has to be borne in mind when considering
ward statistics. Some of these statistics have been condensed, and
are shown in table 23.