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6
September 22.—At the request of the Sewers Committee,
the Officer of Health examined the condition of
the lake in St. James's Park, and reported thereon.
October, 1856.—The public health not so good as
last month. The number of deaths were rather above
the average. 16 out of 34 deaths occurred in children
under three years of age. This large amount of infant
mortality is among the poorest classes, and is to a great
extent dependent on causes that are preventible. Overcrowded
apartments, from the deterioration of the air,
and a source of bad health, will be most deleterious to
the youngest members of the family. Another cause
of the great mortality of young children arises from the
artificial food which is injudiciously administered to
infants, being too often unsuitable both in quantity
and quality.
The medical officer reports on the condition of the
Adelphi Arches—the roads, vaults, and cottages—and
pointed out many of the evils of this place, moral as
well as physical.
November, 1856.—The number of deaths during
October was 41, as seen by the tables.
Several kitchens occupied as dwellings contrary to
the rules laid down in the Metropolitan Management
Act, and injurious to the health of the occupants, were
reported. There are very few underground rooms that
are not unwholesome, although many who have long
lived in them assert that they have always enjoyed good
health. This may be true as regards adults, but it is
far otherwise with children; many die, and the others
are generally weak, scrofulous, or ricketty. It is the
young who always suffer most from ill-ventilated
dwellings. Underground dwellings are not only injurious
to health but degrading to human nature. They
must always be somewhat damp, and are rarely free
from smell, from the impossibility of free ventilation.