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Scarlatina. Tlio mortality from this disease was only 20, which is
very low in comparison with that for 1870, viz. 102 ; or with that for 1869,
viz. 48.
Whooping Cough was more fatal than in the preceding] year, viz. 38
against 16. In the year 1869, the deaths from this affection were 83.
Fevers gave us a death-number of 26, against 31 in 1870, and 37 in
18G9.
Diarrhoea produced 62 deaths; our mortality from this cause having
been 83 in 1870, and 94 in 1869.
36. These, with Small pox, constitute the chief miasmatic diseases;
and this brief comparison gives a better notion of their virulence and extension
than a more lengthened statement. The prevalence of one form of
miasmatic disease is usually accompanied by a diminished energy in other
forms of this order ; whether owing to a subtle conversion of morbid force
from one form to another, or to the simple probability that any active poison
selects for its victims those persons most liable to attack, and who, if not
assailed by the prevalent epidemic, would otherwise have succumbed to
another form of disease—whether, then, owing to one cause or the other,
may be a matter of dispute; but the fact is commonly observed, and
explains the data in this year's Registers.
Inquest Cases. 37. Eighty Inquests were held during the year, of
which 21 were in the first quarter, 20 in the second, 13 in the third, and 26
in the fourth. Bloomsbury gave 27, St. Giles South 35 (of which 9 are
returned for the Workhouse), and St. Giles North 18. There were three
cases of poisoning, viz. one with cyanide of potassium, one with carbolic
acid, and one with opium—all in Bloomsbury. Four inquests were held on
deaths from Small pox. The verdict in 9 other inquests was " suffocated in
bed "—a form of death that requires close scrutiny. One child was found
dead in the arms of a woman carrying it in the street, the mother being- an
unmarried woman. In 3 cases the infants (newly born) had been found dead
in the squares (2 in Bedford Square, 1 in Brunswick Square) and verdicts of
" wilful murder" returned. Other infants were also found dead, but the
causes of death in those instances were returned as "Pneumonia," "Atalectasis,"
&c. One child, 15 months old, was suffocated by a piece of
almond in the larynx. In the large majority of the other cases, the verdicts
returned were either " apoplexy," or " disease of the heart," the ordinary
causes of sudden death.
Registrations without Certificate. 38. The cause of death was registered,
without a Certificate, in 14 cases. In 4 of these, the cause assigned was
" premature birth "—obviously, therefore, no medical practitioner attended
at the accouchement, and there is no guarantee of a truthful statement. In
3 cases the bodies had been brought dead to hospitals. The cause of death
was certified as "unknown," in 6 cases,—5 of which occurred in the Workhouse.
The omission of an examination was not perhaps of much importance,
except in a scientific point of view, in the latter cases, as the
public would have the needful assurance that the persons, while living, had
been duly cared for.
Deaths from Violence. 39. Our mortality (31) from the causes ranged
under this head has been loss than in the previous year (38). Fractures
were the cause of 11 deaths ; suffocation, as already stated, of 9.
The Mortality in the sub-districts of St. Giles.
40. The following Table shows the death-rate in the several sub-districts
for the past year, in comparison with the ten previous years. It is
apparent that the death-rate in St. Giles South and St. Giles North was
considerably lower last year than in any year of the previous ten; St.