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56
It will be seen that 62 of the 102 deaths occurred in the
Wandsworth and Clapham Union Infirmary, and 50 in the
various general and special hospitals of the metropolis.
If these 102 deaths be added to those occurring in Clapham,
the death-rate becomes 16.27 per 1,000, a figure which still
speaks well for the healthiness of Clapham as a residential
neighbourhood. This becomes even more apparent when
we compare the density of population and death-rate
of the present year with those of ten years ago. It is a
well established fact that the death-rate varies directly
with the density of the population, not because of any
necessary association between the two (as shewn by the
experience of Peabody Buildings), but because a denser
population means the presence of a class of persons who are
less likely to live in accordance with the laws of health, and
who from overcrowding and neglect of ordinary precautions
are more prone to infectious, tubercular and other diseases.
In Clapham we find however that in 1874 there were 22
persons to every acre, and the death-rate was 17.9, while in
1884 there were 32 persons to every acre, and the death-rate
was only 13.7.
Death-rate of special farts of Clapham.—The mortality of
Clapham as a whole was compared with three selected portions
of the parish, in which the artizan and labouring classes
are almost exclusively represented. The population of these
parts of the parish was ascertained from the books kept
by the Sanitary Inspectors of the results of inspections during
the past year. (1) The first neighbourhood selected is
bounded by the New Road and London Chatham and Dover
line on two sides, and the Heath wall sewer and Wandsworth
Road on the two opposite sides. Its population was 1864,
the number of houses in it 327, and its death-rate 20.9.