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TO THE VESTRY OF ST. MARY, ISLINGTON.
Gentlemen,
1. My Third Annual Report, that for 1858, which I have now the honor to submit,
will consist of the usual summary of the Sanitary condition of the parish during the
year, and of the work that has been accomplished in the removal of nuisances and of
various other conditions calculated to affect injuriously the health of the inhabitants
of the district. Latterly the public ear has unfortunately become familiar with the
name of a disease to which it had hitherto been unaccustomed, and with the appearance
of the term "Diphtheria" in my monthly reports, the unusual prevalence of sore
throats has excited much inquiry into the nature of that malady and the circumstances
under which it becomes developed. It was clearly my duty to study the disease and
to avail myself of all the advantages for this purpose that my position afforded me.
As soon therefore as it became apparent that it was making way as an epidemic in
Islington, I set myself to inquire into the particulars of each fatal case, both at the
house where it occurred and from the medical gentlemen who attended it. I desire
thus early to make my public acknowledgment of the services which these gentlemen
have rendered me in replying immediately and most courteously to the questions I
addressed to them. Several of the cases came once or oftener under my own observation.
It has appeared to me desirable to present you with a somewhat detailed
account of the disease as it appeared in Islington, although in order to do so it becomes
necessary to abridge other portions of my report.
MORTALITY.
2. Following my usual practice, I have thrown the particulars of the mortality that
has occurred in the parish into the form of Tables, which will be found at the end of
the Report, and which are comparable with those of former years. Excluding persons
from other parishes who have died in the Fever and Small-pox Hospitals, 2,642 individuals
died in Islington between the 1st day of January and the 31st of December,
1858. We may calculate that, in addition to these, about 149 others fell victims to
disease or accident in the various general and special Hospitals, Lunatic Asylums and
Lying-in Hospitals of the Metropolis, which receive patients from all parts of town
indiscriminately. Adding these, our mortality for the year will be raised to 2,791, an
excess of 235 above that of last year. An unfavourable circumstance attending this
comparison is the fact that whereas the births in 1857 exceeded the deaths by 2,035,
they exceeded them in 1858 by a much smaller number, namely 1,771. The registration
of births, however, might have been unusually imperfect.
3. The proportion of the entire corrected mortality which must be estimated to
belong to the West Sub-district is 1401 and to the East 1390. With the exception of
about 30 deaths, the whole excess of mortality of the year occurred in the East Subdistrict.
4. The weekly deaths varied from 31 (in the week ending August 21st) to 92 (in
the week that ended on December 4th). The mean weekly mortality of the first
quarter of the year was 55, of the second 44, of the third 43, and of the fourth
quarter 60.
5. Of the 2,642 persons of whose deaths I possess particulars, 1,280 were male and
1,362 females.