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7
Although the vaccination.year does not quite
correspond with the statistical.year, the comparison is
close enough to prove that Vaccination has been
steadily extending. It is clear, however, that there is
yet room for a closer approximation than 31 per cent.
between the number of vaccinations and the number of
children born. If we deduct from the births of last
year 500 children dying under three months, we find
that 75 per cent. of all children bound by law to be
vaccinated were registered as having undergone this
operation. The balance of 25 per cent. even after
making every allowance for non.registered vaccinations
and other exceptions, is still large; and indicates a
considerable number of unprotected persons.
The great increase in Diarrhœa, amounting to 33
per cent., was due to the prevalence of a Choleroid
epidemic. Upon the exact value of our improved
defences against cholera, it would be presumptuous
to speculate; but it is not unreasonable to conclude
that but for these improved defences, the choleraic
influences present last autumn would have proved
much more fatal. The Typhoid fever which has hitherto
been constantly endemic in London is more strictly
dependent upon local conditions than Diarrhœa; is less
influenced by seasons or atmospheric changes; and is
therefore a better test of the sanitary state of a town
than Diarrhoea. It is no doubt true that Typhoid fever