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9
prosperity of trade during that time. In this change London shared, as will be
seen from the table given above, but the London population was not affected to
the same extent as that of Europe generally, the increase in the marriage-rate in
London being only quite slight and the effect upon the movement of the birth-rate
was therefore relatively small. From careful consideration of the changes in the
nineties it is apparent that the decline of the birth-rate is essentially governed
by economic conditions, and that the direction in which arrest of this decline is to be
looked for is by lightening the burdens of parenthood, which for the past 40 years
have fairly steadily increased.
Deaths.

The mortality-rate in 1923 was the lowest recorded in London, and on comparing
the deaths by ages in that year with similar figures for 1924 it will be noticed that
the increase in mortality is mainly among children under five years of age.
This is due to the prevalence of measles in the winter, the number of deaths from
this cause at ages below five years being 882 more than in 1923. The increase in
deaths at ages over 45 years is chiefly due to the greater prevalence of influenza.
Encephalitis lethargica was the cause of a considerable number of deaths. The
cancer and phthisis deaths increased somewhat; while a decrease occurred in the
mortality from diarrhoea and enteritis.
In the 53 registration weeks of 1924 there were 593 deaths in London caused
by vehicles and horses, 166 being children under 15 years of age. The corresponding
figures for 1923 (52 weeks) were 453 and 146 respectively. In Great Britain motor
vehicles caused on the average slightly more than eight deaths per day in 1924,
this being about 24 per cent, more than in 1923. For the purpose of comparison
it may be mentioned that in the United States, in 1924, motor vehicles caused on
the average 52 deaths per day, the increase upon the figure for 1923 being 4 per cent.
The death-rates from all causes and from certain specified diseases for each
metropolitan borough and for London as a whole will be found in the table on p. 63.
The annual death-rates in London since 1840 in relation to the mean of the rates
for the last 84 years are shown in the diagram on p. 6.
Infant
mortality.