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ending May 29th, and the lowest reading by night (17°'2) in the
week ending January 31st; the highest reading in each of the
four quarters being 62°·4, 87°·5, 87°·2, and 63°·3; and the lowest
17°·2, 31°·5, 41°·5, and 25°·0 respectively. The hottest week in the
year was that which ended Sept. 4th (67°·3), and the coldest that
which ended January 31st (29°'2). The dryness of the atmosphere,
i.e., the difference between the dew point temperature and air temperature
was 5°·0, the average of 40 years being 5°·5. The rainfall
was 29·68 inches, the average of 40 years being 24·7 inches.
The means of the readings of the barometer were 29·87 inches;
the means of February, 29'634, and of January, 30·204, being
respectively lowest and highest.
VACCINATION.
Table X (Appendix), is a return respecting the vaccination of
children whose births were registered during the year 1880, and
for it I am indebted to Mr. Shattock the Vaccination Officer, whose
energetic discharge of the duties of his appointment it has always
afforded me great pleasure to recognize. The return shows a loss
of only 3.5 per cent. of the cases which is better than usual, even
for Kensington, the loss in 1879 having been 4 and in 1878 5 per
cent. It must be remembered, moreover, that the present return
is, after all, only preliminary, the Local Government Board allowing
vaccination officers a period of twelve months (expiring in February)
for the presentation of a final return, in order that the statement,
in respect of the children born in any given year, may be rendered
as complete as practicable. I believe I am correct in stating that
the "loss" in the column indicating "removal of children to places
out of the parish unknown, or which cannot be reached, and cases
not having been found," averages, in different years, from 6 to 9
per cent. in the Metropolis generally, so that the Kensington return
is fully 4 per cent. better than the average.
It is but what is fairly due to the Guardians of the Poor, who
are the authority for carrying out the Vaccination Acts, to state
that they omit no opportunity of giving effect to the law. During
the current year they have adopted all practicable means, by house
to house visitation, by posters, handbills, advertisements, circulars