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In St. Giles North the difference in these ratios is very marked; and we
find, accordingly, (Table No. 8) that the mortality varies considerably at
different ages in St. Giles North; the heaviest mortality being among persons
under 20 years of age, and the lowest among those over that age, when it does
not much exceed Bloomsbury.
The Death rate among Infants in St. Giles.
The whole number of deaths among children under one year of age in St.
Giles was, in 1869, 337, which were divided among the three Sub-districts
in the following proportions, St. George Bloomsbury, 76; St. Giles South,
156: St. Giles North, 105.
Now the proportion which these deaths bear to the births is as follows:
"Whole District 1 death to every 5 births — 20 per cent.
St. George Bloomsbury 1 ,, ,, 6.4 ,, —15.67 ,,
St. Giles South 1 ,, ,, 4.3 ,, —23.3 ,,
St. Giles North 1 ,, ,, 5. ,, —20. ,,
The rate at which infants die is estimated at 15.9 per cent. of those born in
the year: and we see that the death-rate in Bloomsbury is a fraction less than
that amount. In St. Giles North it is about 4 per cent. more, and in St.
Giles South it is 7.4 per cent. more; so that it comes to this : that St. Giles
North lost, last year, a fourth more infants than it ought, and St. Giles
South about a half more than it ought. This destruction of infant life in
St. Giles South is very sad.
The number of infants under one year in 1000 persons living, is in St.
George Bloomsbury, 27.9; in St. Giles South, 34.5; in St. Giles North, 30.8;
as shown in Table No. 1.
The Death-rate among Persons at all Ages.
The death-rate among persons at all ages (excluding infants) in St. Giles
District is 2.2 per cent. of all such persons living. This is in excess of the
ordinary death-rate which is computed at 2 per cent. This per-centage varies
considerably in the three Sub-districts; for example, in St. George Bloomsbury,
it is only 1.7 per cent.; in St. Giles South it is 2.5 per cent., and in
St. Giles North it is 2.3 per cent.
We thus see that life among children over one year of age, and among
adults, is at a higher value in Bloomsbury than life among infants; for
whilst the death-rate among infants in Bloomsbury is nearly the same as in
London, the death-rate among all other persons is about one seventh less in
Bloomsbury that the ordinary rate. On the other hand the death-rate in
St. Giles South among persons at all ages is about 50 per cent. higher than
Bloomsbury,—that is to say, one death out of every three was unnecessary
and preventible—so much human strength gone to waste and loss. In St.
Giles North the death-rate for the same class is less ; but it is still deplorable,
since it occurs, as is shown by furthur analysis (see Table No. 8) among
young children and adolescents, who are most accessible to the operation of
malarious influences. This should make us strenuous in our efforts to remove
all those noxious conditions that induce so large an amount of premature
death.
"With these data in hand, we construct the subjoined Table which gives
the true death-rate for St. Giles and its Sub-districts.