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7
the close inter-communication of epidemic news by "Greater
London" medical officers, the health department of Hornsey is
enabled to keep a watchful eye upon the health of its neighbours
and is prepared to deal promptly with any known contact of
infection.
Birth-rate.—During the year under review 1,217 births
occurred in the Borough. This corresponds to a birth-rate of 13.8
per 1,000 population, which is the lowest rate on record, with
the exception of those which occurred during the years of war.
There are two main causes of a low birth-rate; persons marry at
a later age than formerly, and they deliberately avoid having
children. There are advocates for and against the practice of
"Rirtb control." Those in favour of the practice argue that this
country is over-populated already, that there is not enough work
to go round, and that in the small family, say, of three or four
children, more care can be given to these by their parents; their
opponents object to the practice on ethical or religious grounds
and deny that any country can be overcrowded.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the case, it is undeniable
that the whole subject interests the people profoundly, and that
many are, in practice if not in belief, followers of the
neo-malthusian doctrines. The results of this we see in our low
birth-rate.
Death-rate.—The death-rate in Hornsey last year was only
10.5 per thousand population, compared to 11.2 in the previous
year. This is a low rate and tells of the absence of unusual
causes of mortality, such as the various epidemic diseases. I
pointed out in my Report for last year that mortality is common
to the extremes of age, and we may therefore expect with our
excess of elderly persons in the Borough that the death-rate will
tend slightly to rise during the next few years.
Infant Mortality.—The infant mortality rate during the year
was 52 per thousand births, which is the same rate as in the
previous year. The year was remarkable for the absence of
summer diarrhœa and of fatal measles, both of which are causes
of heavy mortality among little children. That there has been
no decrease in the rate of infant mortality is entirely due to
"ante-natal" causes—to adverse conditions that affected the
children before they were born. (See Table G.)