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14
It will be seen that in the years 1881, 1883 and 1884, the
distribution of Small Pox in the special area, as related to the
rest of the Parish, and also in the different rings of the special
area, resembles in its incidence the distribution of Small Pox
around the Hampstead Hospital during the year 1884, when it
received patients, except that in the one mile ring, during the year
1884, the incidence of disease has been greater than in the three
quarter mile ring, a fact that becomes especially important
when the proximity of houses in the one mile ring to the
Hampstead Hospital is considered, and when it is recollected
that in this particular year only the Hampstead Hospital
received cases of Small Pox.
During the years 1880 and 1882, however, the special
area suffered less than the rest of the Parish. It has
apparently been thought by the Royal Commission that
the number of cases in a Small Pox Hospital has some relation
to the opportunity for diffusion of disease in its neighbourhood,
but during the year 1883 the Highgate Hospital in this respect
has not seemingly had greater opportunities for exercising such
influence than in 1880 and in 1882, as is shown by the tables at
the end of this section. Whether the explanation of this apparent
difference is to be found in the fact that but a very limited
portion of the area round the hospital has been under consideration,
and that the invaded houses in St. Pancras have
been too few to eliminate such error as is liable to occur in dealing
with small numbers, or whether there may be some difference
in the power for diffusion of epidemic disease during one time
or another cannot be stated. In this connection observations of
Mr. W. H. Tower concerning the influence of the Fulham
Hospital at different periods of the year, during which it was
occupied, must be borne in mind.
Mr. Power found that while the aggregation of nine persons
suffering from Small Pox in this hospital was attended under
certain meteorological conditions, and a particular stage of
the epidemic, by the appearance of Small Pox in houses
surrounding the hospital on all sides, at other periods, during
the same year, the hospital might contain a larger number
of cases, and very similar meteorological conditions exist without
any evidence of this diffusion being apparent.
As I have already stated I have not the opportunity for
entering further into the details of this subject, but before
leaving it I may state that the evidence which St. Pancras
affords tends to show that these Small Pox hospitals, as
at present constructed and managed, are a source of disease to
the neighbourhood in which they are placed.
It should, in conclusion, be pointed out that as yet the
recommendations of the Royal Commission have not been fully
adopted by those who have the management of these