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5
be borne in mind that very much of the permanent disability occurring in
adult life, and the liability to diseases which interrupt the work of adults, is
dependent on the sickness of childhood.
Every sickness of an adult is a money loss, representing either an increased
burthen on a family, or a tax upon the purse of the ratepayers. It has been
estimated by Dr. Farr, that the average period of acute sickness is about 36
days, so that the loss is equivalent to about one-tenth part of the year's work.
Now seeing that about 1 in 30 of the community was constantly suffering last
year from acute sickness, and each one on the average was ill about 36 days,
it follows that to every 3 adults there was, on the average, one attack of acute
sickness during the year.
By sanitary measures, we have good reason to expect that the mortality may
be reduced in St. Pancras from 4579, or 23 per thousand, to 3379, or 17 per
thousand—a reduction of 1200 lives in one year. The amount of prevalent
sickness would probably be still more reduced, because not only would the
number of attacks be much reduced, but the duration of the attacks, which
ended in recovery, would be much shortened; for nothing retards and protracts
the period of convalescence so much as impure air.
The causes of death are given in detail in Table I.
The causes there given are ranged under upwards of a hundred heads, and
distributed according to the ages in the manner adopted by the Registrar
General in his Reports. The deaths may be arranged as follows, into larger
classes:—
I. Zymotic Diseases.
1 Miasmatic 986
2 Enthetic (Syphilis, &c.) 46
3 Dietic (Privation or Excess) 29
4 Parasitic (Thrush, &c.) 10
II. Constitutional Diseases.
1 Diathetic (Gout, Cancer, &c.) 136
2 Tubercular and Rickety 826
III. Local Diseases.
1 Diseases of the Nervous System 589
2 Diseases of the Vascular System 177
3 Diseases of the Respiratory Organs 793
4 Diseases of the Digestive Organs 190
5 Diseases of the Urinary Organs 68
6 Diseases of the Organs of Generation 11
7 Diseases of the Organs of Locomotion 12
8 Diseases of the Skin and Integument 20