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allowed being painted on the door of each ward. It is only in the depth of winter
that this maximum will be reached; because at other seasons the number of
inmates is so much smaller, that it is not necessary to fill the wards
to that extent. In the sick wards the amount of space allowed is about 700 cubic
feet. It is a mistake, however, to rely only on the amount of space, given to each
inmate, because the sufficiency or non-sufficiency of that space for health depends
entirely on the frequency with which the air in it is renewed; or, in other words,
on the efficiency of the ventilation. The wards of your Workhouse are, for the
most part, moderately ventilated ; but not, in all cases, so efficiently as to
render the space allowed sufficient to supply each inmate with air of such purity
as is requisite to insure the greatest degree of health. The ventilation in the
body of the house might be much improved, by providing for a freer circulation
of air in the main passages. This might be done by extending the iron gratings
between the floors, and making more openings in the roof. Unless the air in
the passages be kept pure, it is obvious that the inmates of one ward get—instead
of fresh air to breathe—a great deal of what has been used in another ward, and
the same air is breathed over and over again in different parts of the building.
Individual wards, too, might some of them be improved in ventilation at a small
cost.
On comparing the state of the building now with its condition two years ago,
no one can avoid seeing that wonderful progress has been made, probably quite
as much as financial considerations have rendered admissible in the time. A
little more improvement will make your Workhouse a model for the rest of the
metropolis. At the present time improvements are advancing; the former
girls' school building, to which I alluded two months ago, is now undergoing
complete renovation, and is to be provided with water supply, water closets, and
every convenience on each floor.
EFFECTS OF OCCUPATION ON MORTALITY.
This is an important sanitary question ; and, by determining the relative
duration of life amongst persons following different daily pursuits, we shall be in
a position to discover many causes operating to shorten life, and to point out
remedies for some of them. For this reason I have taken the trouble to arrange
in a table, which gives the occupations of the deceased, all the deaths occurring
in St. Pancras above the age of 20 during 1856 and 1857.
The results obtained by the analysis of two years' mortality are not, by
themselves, of very much use; to draw any legitimate conclusions as to the effects
of occupation upon life, two things are required; observations extended over a
series of years, and accurate information as to the numbers living at different ages
who follow the different occupations. Such information will not be obtained until
the census of 1861. To show th8 necessity for knowing the numbers living at
different ages, in order to render this enquiry profitable, it is only requisite to
consider how very much larger proportion of persons die at advanced ages than
between 25 and 40 years of age, and, also, how from the very nature of some
occupations there is an excess of young persons who follow them, whilst from the
nature of others there is an excess of old who belong to them. Some of the
figures obtained by the analysis are, however, interesting.
The following classes of occupation stand very high as regards their rate of
mortality:—Hawkers, cabmen, actors and actresses, coal-heavers and chimney
sweepers, cab-owners and livery stable keepers, soldiers, publicans, horse dealers
and cattle salesmen, workers in copper, tin, and brass, stationers, greengrocers
and corn merchants, civil engineers, porters and messengers, engine drivers and
stokers, hatters and hosiers, tallow-chandlers and dealers in skins, navvies, tailors,
and brush makers.