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Brompton, 14.2 per 1000; the rate for the male sex being 221,
and for the female sex, 15.3 per 1000. There was one death to
every 45.2 males, and 65.1 females respectively; and, taking the
entire population into account, one death to every 55.3 persons
living.
The deaths of children always bear a high ratio to total deaths:
last year the deaths under five years were 1,219, about the same
number as in 1879, equal to 42.3 per cent. on total deaths, and to
26.5 per cent. on registered births. There were 719 deaths under
one year—about the same number as in 1879—equal to 25 per
cent. on total deaths, and to 15'6 on registered births. The deaths
at 60 and upwards were 656, or 43 less than in 1879, and equal to
22.7 per cent. on total deaths.
By way of comparison it may be stated that in the Metropolls,
as a whole, the deaths under five were 49.7 and 27.2 per cent. and
under one year 25.7 and 15.8 per cent., on total deaths, and
registered births respectively; while the deaths at 60 and upwards
were equal to 20'9 per cent. on total deaths.
The deaths of illegitimate children under five were 85, equal to
47.4 per cent. on registered illegitimate births: all but three of
them occurred in the Town sub-district. Of the 85 children
only 21 outlived the first year, and of these 21, 17 died in the
second year. The causes of death were scrofulous or tubercular
diseases, including atrophy and debility 25; premature birth 4,
lung disease 10, brain disease 8, diarrhoea 12, measles 7, other
diseases, some ill defined, 19. Most illegitimate children probably
are brought up by hand feeding and by strangers: the evidence of
improper feeding and of the want of due parental care is sufficiently
apparent in the above list of diseases. The cause of 11
out of the 85 deaths formed the subject of enquiry in the Coroner's
Court, but only two of the deaths were directly referable to
violence, and this of an accidental nature. The verdict in
two eases was an open one, "found dead." In the case of a
third child found dead in a garden, the Coroner deemed it
unnecessary to hold an inquest.