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In no union has the proportion of children exempted by certificate of conscientious objection
exceeded in 1898, 7'5 per cent., in 1899, 2.3 per cent., in 1900, 2.4 per cent., in 1901, 3.6 per cent.,
or in 1902, 2'2 per cent., and indeed in the unions with the largest proportion of children not finally
accounted for, the proportion of children thus certified has been especially low, thus indicating laxity
of administration rather than conscientious objection to vaccination. Nevertheless, the general trend
of the later figures which have been hitherto published is in the direction of improvement in the
proportion of children vaccinated, and it is noteworthy that the proportion exempted by certificate
of conscientious objection has not increased. This improvement is probably in great part due to the
presence of smallpox in London in recent years, leading to increased recognition of the need for the
protection against this disease which vaccination affords. It is impossible to state how many of
these children have been vaccinated at a time subsequent to that at which the return was compiled.

The death-rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death-rate of the period 1841-1904
is shown in diagram Y.
The following table shows the deaths and death-rates from measles in 1904 (52 weeks) in each
of the sanitary areas of the county :—
1 See footnote (1) page 7.