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93
was 2.56 in. below the average of 81 years, and the
amount of bright sunshine recorded (1,018 hours),
216 hours below the average of the ten preceding
years, and equivalent to 22.6 per cent, of the number
of hours during which the sun was above the
horizon.
The connection, if any, between the meteorological
conditions and the amount of disease and death
in the community is an interesting subject, but one
which is, as yet, in too nebulous a state for discussion
here. As a slight contribution to the evidence on
the point, the following tabular statement of certain
meteoroligical elements and rates is appended
(Table 30.)
WATER SUPPLY.*
The Grand Junction and West Middlesex
Waterworks Companies provide the Parish with
water, which is almost exclusively derived from the
River Thames, the intakes being situated just above
Hampton Court. Prof. Frnnkland states that the
condition of the river, as a source of supply for dietic
purposes, was not so good in 1896 as in 1895. The
deterioration was due to the many and severe floods.
The raw water from the Thames is purified by
settlement and filtration, and the efficiency of such
* From the Report on the Chemical, Physical, and Bacteriological
Examination of the Water supplied by the Metropolitan Water Companies
during the year 1896, by Prof. E. Frankland, D.C.L., &c. The full Report
is given in the Registrar-General's Annual Summary.