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5
population.
In dealing with the proportions of young children to total population it will be more
convenient to take the figures in Table 0 first. Infants under one year of age formed 2.01 per
cent. of the total population of the Borough as compared with 2.41 in the Metropolis. The
highest proportion in any of the Selected Districts was that of Willesden (2.80), and the lowest
that of Westminster (1.56). Children at ages 1—5 years formed 0.8(5 per cent. of the
population of the Borough as against 8.56 for the whole Metropolis. The proportion was
again highest in Willesden (10.22), and lowest in Westminster (5.44). Children at the
combined ages of 0—10 years constituted 10.73 per cent. of the population of the Borough as
compared with 20.08 in the whole Metropolis, the maximum and mininum proportions being
found in the same two districts as at the other ages.
The foregoing figures are of importance in connection with the question of "theoretical"
overcrowding, which is any excess of an average of two persons per room. Such standard
takes no count of the ages of the inhabitants or of the cubic space available. The latter
cannot be determined under present conditions, but the former is always given in the census
returns. The usual standards of cubic space allowed in houses let in lodgings are 400 cubic
feet for adults and 200 for children under 10 years, thus making two such children equal to
one adult. It is evident that, while the "theoretical" overcrowding may be equal in any
two districts, a large excess of children under 10 in either district would materially impair
the value of such comparison. The "theoretical" overcrowding really varies indirectly with
the proportion of children under 10. No rule for correction in the manner indicated has been
formulated at present.*
The proportion of young children in any population will, other factors being ignored,
affect the prevalence of sickness and the mortality. Such children are more liable to
infectious illnesses, and their association in school tends to favour the spread of such diseases.
Moreover, the mortality at ages under 5 years is higher than that at ages between 5 and (say)
00 years. In Table 5 the proportions of children (distinguishing the sexes) living at these
young ages are set out. The largest proportions were in Harrow Road Ward, those in
Church Ward closely approximating thereto. The lowest proportions were found in Lancaster
Gate Wards.
Population in 1902.—The estimate of the population of the Borough at the middle of 1902
was 145,052 persons, of whom 02,098 were males and 82,954 females. At the census of 1901
the enumerated population was 143,970 persons, showing an increase of 1,070 persons, during
fifteen months. The estimates of the inhabitants of the various sub-divisions of the Borough
are given in Table 7.

*In an enquiry made in 1901, in an area containing 7,283 persons, of whom 2,334 (32 per cent.) were under 10
years of age, and 1,903 tenements, the cubic contents of which were known, the "theoretical" overcrowding was
equal to 56 per cent. of the total population of the area and the "legal" overcrowding to 17 per cent.