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94
with the numbers 24, 9, 9 fur the three preceding years, are
the lowest on record since civil registration was instituted"
(Registrar- General).
2. Measles (decennial average 28.1)—There were no less
than 41 deaths from this infantile disease in 1.89; of these
7 were infants under 1 year, 31 were children between I
and 5 years, and 3 just above 5 years of age.
This District shared the serious outbreak with the whole
of the Metropolis and various parts of the country. It commenced
in the Autumn of 1888, and the mortality was
excessive until May, 1889, when the epidemic ceased.
In the Southern parts of London, its severity had been
especially felt, and many children died suddenly from it.
In Battersea and Wandsworth no fewer than 700 children
were absent from the various schools in the neighbourhood;
and the mortality which prevailed from it in these parishes
was so heavy that the Vestry of Battersea communicated
with the managers of the Asylums Board as to the propriety
of admitting cases into their hospitals. In the discussion
which followed, the managers considered that they were not
empowered to accept such cases without additional powers
being given by Parliament for the purpose. Measles is not
reported to the Local Sanitary Authorities under the Infectious
Diseases Notification Act, 1889, and cases are but
rarely received into the wards of the General Hospitals.
3. Scarlet Fever (decennial average 18.0).—Throughout
the Metropolis the mortality from scarlet fever was
considerably below the average in every week of the year.
St. Giles District shared this immunity, for only 4 deaths
(children under 5 years of age) were recorded. 41 patients
were removed to the hospitals of the Asylums Board; of
these, 14 were admitted to the Western Fever Hospital