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103
Sickness and
Mortality
of the
Parochial Poor.
Table III. in the Appendix contains the
amount, nature, and fatality of the sickness
that occurred amongst the parochial poor
during the year. It will be there seen that 643 fresh
cases of disease came under treatment, resulting in 32
deaths, or a little less than 5 per cent.; and 94 cases
of infectious disease, 9 of which terminated fatally.
Measles, Diarrhoea, Scarlatina, and Small-pox were the
most prevalent Epidemics; of the last named disease
there were 28 cases, all of which were removed to the
Asylums Board Hospitals, where 3 ended fatally. There
were 8 cases only of Whooping Cough, and 2 of Fever.
While the total sickness and mortality was of average
amount, that portion attributable to Zymotic disease
considerably exceeded the average, thus corroborating
the figures in Table VII. (page 101), which shews the
relative mortality of the several classes of the inhabitants.
Inquests.
Violent Deaths.
Uncertified
Deaths.
Thirty-five inquests were held during the
year, or three more than in the year preceding;
the deaths from violence were 17,
or two less. The number of uncertified
deaths was 8 only, and although 9 less than in the
previous year, were still so many cases in which, in the
absence of skilled testimony, death may have resulted
from other than natural causes. As has been repeatedly
urged in these Reports (see that for 1865 and following),
it is imperatively necessary, in the interests of society,
that there should be a medical investigation in every case
in which the cause of death has not been duly attested
by a registered medical practitioner.
The number and sex of the persons that formed the
subjects of inquiry, with the result of the latter, are
summarised in the following table:—