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17
temperature was 3° (Fahrenheit) above the average in the
corresponding quarter of 113 previous years, while the
rainfall was 2.87 inches less than the mean of 70 previous
years. The high temperature and comparative drought
doubtless were among the chief factors in the production
of the unusually great mortality from Diarrhoea in this
district, though it has suffered little in this respect
compared with other districts. Thus the diarrhceal mortality
for the whole of London corresponded to an annual
death-rate of 3.1 per 1,000, while that in the whole of
this district was 1 per 1,000, and in Battersea 1.4 per
1,000. The diarrhœal death-rate in 1883 for this
district was 0.69 per 1,000.
Water supply.—The unusually small rainfall during
the summer months of the past year caused considerable
dearth of water in many parts of the country. In the
Metropolis however no such result ensued, but an improved
quality of water was experienced, probably
owing to the fact that the water derived from surface
drainage which usually finds its way into the river was
nearly absent, and deep-seated springs formed the chief
source of the river water. Dr. Frankland's report informs
us that the Thames water supplied to London during the
past year was of better average quality than in any of
the previous 16 years, due largely to the longer storage
which the water now undergoes before distribution.
The Southwark Company by which this district is chiefly
supplied still has inadequate storage capacity, thus
rendering the exclusion of flood water from the reservoirs
impossible. It is unsatisfactory to find as a result of this,
that the water of the Southwark Company contains both
greater maximum and average amounts of organic
matter than any of the other waters. The Southwark
Company are engaged in carrying out works which will
render the admission of flood-water from the Thames