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Class 5.— Developmental Diseases.
In this Class, Premature Birth was the assigned cause of 65
deaths; Atelectasis of 8, and Congenital Malformation of 8.
Old Age was the registered cause of 85 deaths; all but two at
ages over 65. Between 75 and 85 there were 47 deaths, and
17 at ages above 85. The total deaths in this class were 166,
viz., 118 in the Town sub-district, and 48 in Brompton.
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 1256 deaths, or 47.5 per cent, of the deaths from
all causes; 973 were registered in the Town sub-district, and
283 in Brompton ; 379 were of children under five years of age.
1.— Nervous System.— Diseases of the nervous system were
the registered causes of 259 deaths (as against 288 in 1883),
viz., 218 in the Town sub-district, and 41 in Brompton; 70 of
the deaths were of children under live years of age. The quarterly
numbers were 82, 58, 61, 58. Inflammation of the Brain or
Membranes was the cause of 9 deaths; Insanity and General
Paralysis of the Insane of 6; Epilepsy of 9; Disease of Spinal
Cord, Paraplegia and Paralysis Agitans of 6; "Other Diseases
of Nervous System" of 22. The principal diseases, however, were
Apoplexy, Softening of Brain, Hemiplegia, and Brain Paralysis,
which together account for 136 deaths, 21 of them in Brompton,
and 122 at ages above 45. Convulsions was the cause of 68
deaths, all under five years of age, and 10 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
disease 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