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place of the permissive "may," the fulfilment of all its more
important provisions will be gradually realized.*
It was intended here to have inserted a table showing
the number of cases of Small Pox amongst the poor of the
District treated both in and out of hospital, with the
number of resulting deaths apportioned to each of the
Sub-districts ; but although application was made to the
Board of Guardians and to the hospital authorities, it has
been found impossible, as yet, to obtain returns that could
be relied upon to furnish the desired information. The
number of cases treated by the Union Medical Officers
out of hospital, and the number of resulting deaths are,
as usual, to be found in the statistical Table No. V.
Appendix; and it may be stated generally that 364 cases
of Small Pox were admitted from the District into the
Stockwell Hospital, and that of this number 62 died of
the disease during 1871 in that institution. No account,
however, appears to have been kept of the parishes from
which the patients were sent, nor does it seem to have
been made known at the hospital from whence any of the
patients came, further than that they were sent in under
the authority of particular Unions. Of the total cases of
Small Pox in this District, treated both in the Stockwell
Hospital and at poor patients' homes, the rate of mortality
is found to have been 8.4 per cent. The rate of mortality
* Taking the vaccinated as well as the unvaccinated cases, as exemplified
in 5,539 persons treated in the Hampstead and Stockwell Small Pox
Hospitals, it has been shown (vide Report of the Committee of Managers of
the Metropolitan Asylum District, issued in July last) that the percentage of
deaths of cases with no marks was 55.9; with one mark, 15.2; with two
marks, 11.7 ; with three marks, 9.4; with four marks, 6.5 ; with five marks
and more, 5.5 : thus incontestably proving the value of properly performed
vaccination. In the same report the policy of revaccination is strongly
urged, and the conclusive fact stated that " of 14,800 cases received into
the Hospitals, only 4 well-authenticated cases were treated in which revaccination
had been properly performed, and these were light cases"; and
further that "all the revaccinated nurses and servants of the Hospitals, to
the number, at one time, of 300, who were hourly brought into the most
intimate contact with the disease, enjoyed complete immunity from its
attacks." It will be curious to see how the antivaccinationists will deal
with these valuable statistics,