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In the western half the majority of the inhabitants are of British
nationality, and the figures relating thereto are to be found in Table A.
From these tables it will be seen that the infant mortality rate of
all infants, excluding still-births, is 174 per cent. in the West and
13'2 per cent. in the East. These rates, of course, do not refer to the
whole of the infants born in the City of Westminster, but only to those
visited by the Society. The delicacy rate in the West is 12.9 per cent.,
while that in the East is 18.6 per cent. There appears to be an
association between a high mortality and a low delicacy rate in the
West, and a low mortality and a high delicacy rate in the East. This
may be due to the delicate children in the East surviving, while in the
West they are killed by the harder conditions of life. In support of
this theory, one finds that in the West adverse conditions, such as bad
housing, poverty, or ill-health of the mother, affect the mortality rate
more and the delicacy rate less than in the East. This seems to be
the case only during the early life of the child, for among children of
school age the delicacy rate is certainly much higher in the West than
in the East, as can be shown by the number of children found to
require medical treatment by the school doctor. In schools in the
middle of a very poor district in the West, the percentage of such
children is found to be higher than in schools situated in the Eastern
area.
The superior health and low mortality rate of the breast-fed child is
very marked in the West, while in the East the contrast between
breast-fed and bottle-fed infants is not nearly as marked. This is
thought to be probably due to the better conditions under which
bottle-feeding is carried out in the East than in the West. In the
former case, where the foreign element comes in, good cow's milk is
more habitually used; while in the West the infant is frequently fed
upon separated milk or skimmed condensed milk, the parents in many
cases being unable to afford anything more nourishing.
Deaths.
2,286 deaths were registered in the City in the 52 weeks ending the
30th December, 1911. After deducting 1,103 deaths of non-citizens in
public institutions in the City, and adding those of 822 citizens who died
in other districts, the corrected total is 2,005, and is equivalent to
an annual rate of 12.5 per 1,000 persons. The average death-rate for
the five years 1901-5 was 14.4, and for the five years 1906-10, 12.8 per
1,000, and for the ten years was 13.6.
The London death-rate for 1911 was 15.0, the average for the
previous five years being 14.9, and for England and Wales 14.6, being
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