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Class 6.—Local Diseases.
The diseases in this Class, containing eleven Orders, named
after the systems or organs to which the diseases relate, were
accountable for 1321 deaths, or 50 per cent. of the deaths
from all causes: 1065 were registered in the Town subdistrict,
and 256 in Brompton; 415 were of children under
five years of age.
1. Nervous System.—Diseases of the nervous system
were the registered causes of 288 deaths, (as against 260 in
1882), viz., 222 in theTown sub-district, and 66 in Brompton:
87 under five years of age. The quarterly numbers were 86,
61, 66 and 75. Inflammation of the brain or membranes was
the cause of 17 deaths; Insanity and General Paralysis of the
insane of 8; Epilepsy of 10; Disease of spinal cord, paraplegia
and paralysis agitans of 11;" Other diseases of nervous system "
of 29. The principal diseases, however, were apoplexy,softening
of brain, hemiplegia, and brain paralysis, which together account
for 137 deaths, 35 of them in Brompton, and 126 at ages
above 45. Convulsions was the cause of 70 deaths, all under
5 years of age, and 17 only in Brompton, irrespective of the
deaths referred to epilepsy. Convulsions as a cause of death
is frequently associated, in medical certificates, with definite
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.
Laryngismus stridulus, (spasm of the glottis), included in the
new classification with diseases of the nervous system, was
the registered cause of 6 deaths, all under five years of age ;
but as the children were generally "found dead in bed," it
is probable that the title has little more meaning than "want
of breath," as a cause of death; and indeed want of breath
is the cause of death when death results from spasm of the
glottis. In the absence of other apparent cause of death, the
pre-existence of spasm of the glottis may have been inferred,
but it is quite possible, to say the least of it, that some of