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5
HEALTH AND SANITARY CONDITION OP
THE ENTIRE DISTRICT.
During the greater part of the year 1881 this District
was affected by the very fatal epidemic of Small-pox
which prevailed generally throughout the whole
Metropolis. Scarlatina, Whooping-cough, and Measles
also were extensively prevalent, and the latter was
attended with unusual fatality.
Notwithstanding these adverse influences, the
sanitary bearing of the district in the presence of the
epidemic was marked by much security, and, compared
with the majority of the southern districts, by great
immunity from the fatal effects of the disease. On
examination of the following statistics, it will be found
that the death-rate was unprecedentedly low, and that
even after taking into calculation the Small-pox
mortality in hospitals due to the district, it but slightly
exceeded that of the healthiest of rural localities.
Vital Statistics.
Population.— The mean number of inhabitants of
this district calculated to the middle of the past year,
according to the method employed by the RegistrarGeneral,
amounted to 212,492. This estimate is based
on the assumption that the population has increased
since the period of the last census at the same rate as
it had done during the ten preceding years. The recent
date of the census admits of little possibility of error in
the calculation.