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43
family. Either the father or mother, or brother or sister, had succumbed
to Phthisis. The large number of cases in which no history could be
obtained was due to the inclusion in the total cases of many admitted
into the workhouse, which could not be followed up.
In a district like Southwark where hard work is almost the sole
feature of life, there must be many, who from ill-health or other causes
become reduced to poverty. This as the table shows is an important
factor in the causation of the disease among our inhabitants. This
poverty naturally leads to low vitality, often to drink, and to a state of
despair, rendering persons an easy prey to Phthisis.
Another phase in the struggle for existence is seen in the tendency
to overcrowd which is too evident throughout the Borough. The fetid
atmosphere and the unwholesome condition of many of the tenements
undoubtedly tend to depravity, and the craving for drink one sees so
prevalent around us. It is, however, comforting to know that life in
Southwark is improving, the death rate is 5 per 1,000 lower than it was
ten years ago, and much of the worst kind of house property has been
either cleared away or improved.