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be ascribed to rheumatism as the primary cause. But the connection
between the two diseases is either overlooked or, it may
be unknown to the certifying practitioner. In the new classification,
deaths due to rheumatic disease involving the heart, are
distinguished from deaths due to rheumatism without such
complication. Gout was the cause of 11 deaths (7 of them
in the Town sub-district) and Rickets of 2.
Cancer, Malignant Disease, was accountable for 138 deaths ;
102 in the Town sub-district and 36 in Brompton. Cancer
is on the increase in the country generally : possibly, however,
some portion of the increase in deaths classified to this cause
may be due to more accurate diagnosis. The deaths iu Kensington
from this cause in the previous ten years, were 95, 90,
112,92, 128, 117, 119, 128, 117 and 121 respectively. Deaths
from cancer are usually more numerous, proportionally to
population, in the Brompton sub-district, than in the relatively
poorer Town sub-district. Cancer, in fact, is quite as prevalent,
probably even more prevalent, amongst well-to-do people, than
in the poorer classes. The parts of the body most commonly
affected are the viscera or internal organs : in women, the uterus
and the breast; the malady, moreover, being for the most part
one of later life. One hundred and twenty of the deaths took
place at ages above forty-five, and 12 between thirty-five and
forty-five. It is proper to mention that in Table III. (Appendix)
the deaths assigned to cancer have been classified to cancer irrespective
of the question whether any other disease was named in
the medical certificate, or whether cancer was the immediate
cause of death.
Purpura, Hemorrhagic Diathesis, was the cause of 2
deaths, Anmnia of 5 deaths : Glycosuria, Diabetes Mellitus,
was the cause of 13 deaths, 8 of them in the Town subdistrict.
The remaining diseases in this Class belong to the group
designated—