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Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health—1862. 13
The foregoing Table will shew you the number of births and deaths that have been
registered in each quarter, during the period of the last five years; as well as with the
total number of each, and the excess of births over the deaths.
Zymotic diseases fall with terrible severity upon the young. More than half of the
number of those who have perished from these diseases, have not reached five years of age
Under this heading there have been registered 408 deaths; giving an excess of 54 over the
preceding year. This increase has been caused by the greater prevalence of Small pox,
Measles, Scarlatina, and Typhus. In place of the small mortality of four deaths from
Small Pox in 1861-2, there has been the excessive one, of 46; Scarlatina in excess by
18; and Measles is by 34. Over these two latter diseases, we do not possess that decided
control, which we do over the former. Typhus has been fatal in 88 cases ; the majority of
which happened during the first quarter. I shall speak more fully on this disease further
on, in my Report. Diarrhoea, the prevalence of which is said to be the special mark of
sanitary neglect in the localities where it is met with, has decreased from 62 to 32. This
disease however is very much under the influence of the temperature, and that during last
summer, was lower than the average for many years. For your further information upon
this subject I refer you to Tables 3 and 4.