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37
There is every reason, however, to believe that the deaths
in the above-named institution, during 1862, somewhat
exceeded those of the inhabitants away from the parish;
still, if the same calculation be made from year to year,
the average will, it is believed, give a very close approximation
to a fair balance in the particular referred to.
RATE OF MORTALITY.
The population of this locality as a suburban parish is
fast increasing, especially by immigration, so that to
ascertain accurately its rate of increase, or the exact
number of its inhabitants at a given period, would be
next to impossible, unless a local census were periodically
and systematically taken.
It appears that 42 new houses have been completed
within the past year, and that several others are in the
course of erection. Scarcely any of these dwellings, however,
have been designed for the poorer classes, and
overcrowding amongst them must, as a consequence, be
greatly on the increase. These circumstances considered,
the difficulty of estimating by how much the population
has increased, and is still increasing, by the influx alone
of new residents, must be apparent.
Making the calculation upon an assumed population of
6,559 only, or 78 above what it was estimated in 1861,
(which is the natural increase of the year, as shewn
by the excess of births over deaths), the rate of mortality
is found to be 16.4 per 1,000 living. If due correction
be made for increase by immigration as well as
for natural increase, the death-rate would, of course,
be considerably under the above figures. So long,
however, as a town or metropolitan locality keeps