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other diseases, e.g., of the lungs—bronchitis, pneumonia, &c., are
associated with phthisis in medical certificates of the cause of death,
but all such associated diseases are here disregarded: when
phthisis is returned, the death is classified to that heading, it
being assumed that the tubercular trouble was underlying the other
disease or diseases, and was in fact the primary cause of death.
Class 8. Local Diseases.
The diseases in this great Class, comprising eight Orders named
after the systems or organs to which the diseases relate, are
accountable for 1,186 deaths, or 43.5 per cent. of the total number
of deaths; 953 were registered in the Town sub-district, and 233
in Brompton : 370 were of children under five years of age.
Order 1. Nervous System.—Diseases of the nervous system
were the registered causes of 305 deaths, 241 in the Town subdistrict,
64 in Brompton, and 96 under five years of age. The
quarterly numbers of deaths were 90, 76, 70 and 69. Cephalitis,
inflammation of the substance of the brain—meningitis, already
referred to, being inflammation of the membranous coverings of the
brain—was the cause of 9 deaths, all in the Town sub-district.
Apoplexy and Paralysis, diseases for the most part of the later
periods of life were the causes of 139 deaths, viz., 95 and 44
respectively; of these 139 deaths, 98 were registered in the
Town sub-district, and 41 in Brompton; 129 of the deaths
occurred at ages over 45. Convidsions, a symptom present in
many diseases, rather than a disease of infancy—being often
moreover a result of simple functional disturbance, was returned as
the cause of 83 deaths—82 of them under five years of age, and 67
in the first year—77 in the Town sub-district, and 6 only in
Brompton. Convulsions as a cause of death is frequently
associated in medical certificates, with specified diseases and
with "teething," the convulsions being a symptom only; such
deaths are classified to the primary diseases named, or to dentition
as the case may be.
Order 2. Organs of Circulation.—The deaths due to
diseases of the organs of circulation—heart and blood vessels, were
158; 124 in the Town sub-district, and 34 in Brompton, the