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12
MEASLES AND WHOOPING-COUGH.
Roth these infantile maladies prevailed during the year.
There were 49 deaths from measles and 14 from whoopingcough.
Since neither of these diseases are notifiable, the exact
number of cases from whence the deaths are derived is unknown,
but from the average case mortality it may be stated,
with some confidence, that they represent not less than 980
cases of measles and 280 of whooping-cough.
TYPHOID FEVER.
N
There were 49 cases of typhoid fever notified, 3 of which
were fatal. So far as could be ascertained, the majority of
these cases had contracted the malady outside the Borough. As
the curve opposite page 19 shows, the number of cases was
far below the average, and with the exception of a slight rise
in August distributed throughout the year in a perfectly normal
manner.
THE HOUSING AREA.
So many persons to the acre, or so many to the square mile,
are familiar forms of statistical expression. Information of this
kind respecting urban populations has a radical defect; its
statement assumes that each human unit lives on the ground level—
exists on a single plane—the statistics founded upon it are one
dimensional, whereas the units of a city population, during a large
portion of every twetaty-four hours, pass their existence in layers
one over the other. Take two equal areas of urban habitations, the
one covered by two-stdreyed cottages, the other by seven-storeyed
dwellings—any comparison between the proportion of persons per
acre is misleading. Obviously it would be of great utility to have
some better form of mathematical expression of aggregation on
areas so as to be able to compare the population of cities and
townships built on diverse plans.
The writer believes that a three dimensional valuation
should be made by taking the area actually occupied by
the houses and multiplying this area by an arbitrary number,
expressing height according to the number of floors, which are,
or may be used for habitation. This information should be
supplemented by a statement of the open space area, and the
area occupied by streets, forecourts, yards and so forth.
As an example, the Borough of St. Marylebone has a total
acreage of 1,427-8 acres (5,778,000 square metres) the open
spaces, that is, Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, the Squares, the
Churchyards, Lord's Cricket Ground, the Great Central Railway
Clearance, and spaces of similar character occupy 515.65 acres