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towns at the present time is little short of 26 in the
1,000. Our present condition is 19 percent. better
than that; and we owe it to the sanitary labours
of the last ten years. Even five years ago, the
average mortality in the City was as high as 3,190
in the year; but in the course of the last four
years, since the fruits of those labours have begun
to ripen, the number has fallen to an average of
2,902; and it is no small thing to have brought
about the saving of nearly 300 lives in the year,
and that, too, in the midst of difficulties of no
ordinary character. The chief towns of England,
with their high mortality, are not subject as we
are to the unwholesome influences of an excessive
over-crowding. Here the inhabitants are so thronged
together that from 131 to 291 must find room upon
an acre. No such condition of things exists in
the large towns of England—for the density of
their population is rarely above 50 on the acre—
and yet their mortality ranges from 24 to 36 in the
1.000. We have reason, therefore, for congratulation
that the sanitary state of the City is as good
as it is, and that the untoward circumstances which
commerce and industry have forced upon us, are
kept so largely in check.
In Table IV of the appendix the chief causes
of death are classified, and the returns are com-