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able, directly or indirectly, for a number of deaths considerably
in excess of the record. There was no death from gonorrhoea
or stricture of the urethra.
Order 6, Septic Diseases. This order comprises Erysipelas,
Pyæmia, Septiæmia and Puerperal Fever, the total deaths
registered being 24, against 35, 28 and 16 in 1887-8-9.
Erysipelas was the cause of 8 deaths,* against 11, 12 and 8
in 1887-8-9, six of them in the Town sub-district. Two of the
deaths were of children under one year of age.
Pyæmia and Septiæmia were the causes of 6 deaths, five
of them in the Town sub-district. There were 7, 7 and 2 deaths
from these causes in 1887-8-9.
Puerperal Fever was the registered cause of 10 deaths, †
against 17, 9 and 6 in 1887-8-9 respectively; six of them in the
Town sub-district. Two of the deaths were of women between
fifteen and twenty-five years of age, seven between twenty-five
and thirty-five, and one between thirty-five and forty-five. In
addition to these 10 deaths, 14 deaths (3 of them in the Brompton
sub-district) were registered as having occurred in "childbirth,"
as against 13, 10 and 7 in the three preceding years. Puerperal
fever is a communicable disease depending upon "blood poisoning,"
whereas other causes of death connected with childbirth,
are, so to say, accidental, e.g., hemorrhage ("flooding"). The
deaths registered as having been caused by diseases and accidents
associated with parturition (24) were equal to 6.2 per 1000 live
births, against 7*6, 5'0 and 3'5 per 1000 in 1887-8-9 respectively.
* The notified cases were 126, many of them being of traumatic origin,
unimportant in character, and such as the framers of the Act could scarcely have
intended to be notified.
† Only ten cases of puerperal were notified.