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96
cough. Of whooping-cough I shall only say that it is a disease of
which we rarely hear until it has proved fatal, its occurrence never
being notified. Small-pox, on the other hand, is more frequently
notified than any other disease, and yet the deaths show an increase
of 134. This disease, however, was severely epidemic in four years
out of the twelve in the second period (1871-82), whereas in the
first period of twelve years (1859-70), twice only did the annual
number of deaths exceed twenty. Measles exhibits a decrease,
although, like whooping-cough, it is not notified; but I am not
aware that we are entitled to claim any credit for the reduced
mortality. The diminished diarrhceal mortality may be attributed,
in considerable measure, to the coldness of the summer season in
several of the years in the second period, and may therefore be
regarded as accidental. It is when we come to scarlet fever and
enteric fever that the real grounds for satisfaction appear, these
heing diseases which admit—the latter of mitigation by improved
sanitary arrangements, and the former of control by speedy
isolation of the sick in hospitals. And what do we find? That
the deaths from "fever" in the second period were 108 fewer
than in the first period, without correction for increase of
population, and 448 fewer after such correction and that the
reduction in respect of scarlet fever, was 383, without correction,
and with correction, no fewer than 1,053. But it will be observed
that in the first ten years of the first period no deaths were recorded
from diphtheria, although the Table commences in 1859, the year
in which diphtheria was first classified and registered as a disease
separate and distinct from scarlet fever. I am unable to account
for the omission, there being no records extant, except upon the
somewhat improbable assumption that no deaths from diphtheria
took place in Kensington in those ten years. I have thought it
fair, in any case, to bracket scarlet fever and diphtheria in the two
periods, respectively, for comparison ; and thus, adding the deaths
from diphtheria, only 23 in the first period, and so many as 213 in
the second period, to the deaths from scarlet fever, we observe in
the second period an absolute reduction of 193 in the number of
deaths from the two diseases, the reduction corrected for increase
of population being 878.