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Premature Birth was the assigned cause of 19 deaths.
Atrophy and Debility, 55 deaths of young children. I consider
these terms which are returned under one heading of disease vague,
and ought to be avoided as much as possible in the certification of the
cause of death.
V.—CONVULSIVE DISEASES OF INFANTS (Under 5 years).
Total deaths, 77. Death-rate per 1,000,1.44.
Includes Hydrocephalus, Convulsions, and Teething.
Hydrocephalus (Tubercular meningitis, water on the brain) was
fatal to 26 children.
There were 51 deaths from convulsions and teething, diseases which
may be bracketted together, for frequently convulsions is only one of
the symptoms of the latter.
SANITARY WORK.
It will be seen by referring to Table 6, Appendix, that a large
number of sanitary improvements were carried out in the District,
under the supervision of Inspectors Walters and Bond ; the owners,
as a rule, being willing to abate the nuisances complained of, obeyed
the orders issued by your Board.
Legal Proceedings under the Sanitary Acts.—Some owners
of property refused to comply with your order, therefore, 13 summonses
were taken out against them, under the Nuisance Removal
Acts. Convictions were obtained with costs in every case, and the
magistrates ordered the necessary works to be carried out.
Underground Dwellings.—Notices were served upon owners to
close 11 rooms illegally occupied as underground sleeping places.
Overcrowding.—14 rooms were found, on measurement, to be
overcrowded, notices were therefore served upon the owners, who
promptly reduced the number of inmates.
The legal hours prescribed for inspecting premises, &c., being between
9 in the morning and 6 in the evening, the inspectors experience
great difficulty in detecting overcrowding, because most of the inmates
are away from their homes during these hours, and do not return
until late at night.
Our information is chiefly derived from anonymous correspondents.
Slaughter Houses. — On the 26th October, the Middlesex
Magistrates, at their Petty Sessions, held at the Holborn Town Hall,
granted Licences for Slaughter Houses to the following butchers, who
had previously carried out the works ordered by your Sanitary
Committee, and which works were supervised by your Surveyor:—