View report page

Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health.
13
inhabitants to dwell in, than in either of the other two sub.districts. Thus the London.
road sub.district, which follows next in rate of mortality, has 2441 houses, occupied by
19,189 persons; the Kent.road sub.district 4,699, by 19,653; whilst the Borough.road has
4,050 for its population. Kent.road sub.district is the most privileged for the 'number of
houses, and there the death rate is decidedly the smallest. But the main reason, for
the larger mortality in the Borough.road sub.district is, that it contains the "Workhouse;
this of course adds greatly to the death rate; whilst at the same time it lessens that
of the other two, the sick and dying poor being removed from them to it.
2,034 children have been born alive during the year ending March 29th, 1862;
giving an increase of 172 over the preceding year. Of these, there wore registered 1051
Boys, and 983 Girls : leaving a majority of 68 Boys.
1429 deaths were registered during the same time; 190 more than in the year ending
March, 1861. The deaths of the Males were 741, and these of the Females 688 ; giving a
preponderance of 53 Males over the Females.

I shall now place before you more minutely these diseases which have destroyed the
1429 human beings once dwelling in our district; but who have prematurely, or otherwise,
been cut off. 354 have died of zymotic diseases, being at the rate of 6.4 in one theusand
of the population. On examining the annexed Table you will find that zymotic diseases
have been upon the increase. This increase is chiefly owing to the greater prevalence of
Diptheria, Scarlatina, Hooping Cough, Diarrhoea, and Typhus. Respectively, the increase
has been 14, 21, 20, 34, and 23. The two largest majorities are from diarrhcea and typhus.
There have been 12 deaths from Cholera, in place of 1.
The deaths from Typhus have been nearly doubled. This disease, it is stated, is
entirely within our control; as it takes its origin from fermenting excreta, whether contained
in cess.pools, dungheaps, or imperfect drains, which indeed are but extended cess.pools,
The poison enters into the system, either by the way of the stomach or lungs : by the former
in the water used as a beverage; and by the latter, through the medium of the atmosphere.
This fever, so allowed to spring up and spread, carried off in the year 1859, 15,877 persons,