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scalds, 2; wounds, 2; and "otherwise," 1, complete the list of
deaths due to accident or negligence (32). Murder or Manslaughter
was the registered cause of two deaths of infants.
Suicide by wounds (5 deaths), by poison (2), by drowning (1),
and by hanging (3), was perpetrated in 11 instances, of which no
fewer than 8 occurred in Brompton.
Lastly. The cause of death in nine cases was either not specified
or ill-defined.
A death was registered from Hydrophobia but contrary
to the usual practice in such cases, an inquest was not
held, the Coroner, in all probability, not having been informed
of the case. The deceased, a woman aged 63 years, was
bitten by her own little dog three months before her death. Three
days before this event, which happened in September, she was
about her house, and apparently well. She was attended by
an unqualified practitioner until the day before her death,
when symptoms appeared that led to a registered medical man
being called in, and he certified the cause of death as registered.
But the little dog was alive and well when the case was investigated
some days after the fatal event!
The case of a lady, aged 76, who died in Earl's Terrace
from "senile decay, vomiting from eating decayed salmon and
consequent exhaustion," may be cited as an instance of the danger
of using unsound and unwholesome food. This lady, it may
be mentioned, died intestate, and having no lawful heirs her
estate, valued at £140,000, lapsed to the Crown.
DEATHS IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.
There are numerous minor " public institutions " in the parish, but
the only institutions calling for notice here, are (1) the Hospital for
Consumption and Diseases of the Chest at Brompton, (2) the Parish
Infirmary, and Workhouse, and (3) St. Joseph's House, Portobello
Road, Notting Hill. The latter indeed cannot be called a public
institution in the same sense as the other establishments, being a
Roman Catholic Home for aged poor persons, most of whom,
however, have probably been in residence long enough to acquire
the status of parishioners from whatever locality originally received.
The Infirmary for the treatment of the sick poor of Marylebone
will, ere very long, form an important addition to the list of public
institutions, a site for it having been acquired at Notting Hill.
The deaths in the Workhouse and the Brompton Hospital were
equal to 11.7 per cent. of the total deaths in Kensington, while the
deaths in large public institutions in all London, formed 18 per
cent. of total deaths.
The Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest.
—The deaths in this institution were 113, (83 males and 30