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Chapter XXXI.
Report of the Medical Officer of Health (Sir Shirley Murphy) for the Year 1910.
Vital Statistics.
The mean temperature of the air during 1910 was very slightly above the average of the preceding
65 years. The greatest excess over the monthly average occurred in December, October and
February, while in November and July the temperature was considerably below the average. The
rainfall during the year was 3.9 inches above the average, the excess being most marked in the month
of December, considerable excess being also shown in November, February, July and April; the deficiency
was greatest in September, the other months below the average being October, March and
January.
In the preparation of this report the results of the census in 1911 contained in the Preliminary
Census Report have been taken into account throughout, all the rates shown being based upon recalculated
population-estimates for the intercensal years. It is to be noted, however, that as the
age constitution of the 1911 population is not yet known, the death rates at ages have been calculated
on the basis of the age constitution of the population recorded in 1901; consequently all such rates,
and all rates to which corrective factors have been applied in the report, must be regarded to a certain
extent as approximate.
The marriage rate (17.2) was slightly above the marriage rate of the preceding year (16.8),
The birth-rate (25.4) was the lowest on record in London since the institution of civil registration, as was
also the infantile mortality (103), and the death-rate (13.7). The deaths from cancer and measles were
above the annual average of the preceding 10 years, and the deaths from small-pox, whooping-cough,
scarlet fever, diphtheria, enteric fever, diarrhoea, and phthisis were below the average.
If the death-rate in 1910 be compared with that of the decennium 1891-1900, the result expressed
in terms of lives and "life-capital," shows a saving of 25,179 lives, representing a gain to the community
of 1,050,489 years of "life-capital."
Population.
The population of the Administrative County of London, estimated to the middle of the year
1910, was 4,532,545.

The County of London population shown above has been arrived at by the application of a finite
difference interpolation formula to the census populations of 1891, 1896, 1901 and 1911 (provisional
figures). The mid-year populations thus obtained were, after making allowance for alterations
of the county boundary in 1904 and 1908, as follows:-4,539,647 in 1901; 4,550,098 in 1902;
4,557,478 in 1903; 4,561,789 in 1904; 4,563,371 in 1905; 4,562,227 in 1906; 4,558,474 in 1907;
4,552,063 in 1908; 4,543,436 in 1909 and 4,532,545 in 1910.
The natural increase of the population is the amount by which the number of births exceeds the
number of deaths annually. In making a comparison of the rates of natural increase in different
localities, it should be pointed out that these rates are affected by differences in the age and sex-constitution
of the populations compared, as well as by the relative amount of emigration and immigration,
and this should be borne in mind in any general comparison of the crude natural increase rates.
The following table shows the mean annual rate of natural increase of the population per 1,000
living in certain periods from 1886 to 1910:-
Natural
increase.