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eluding 19 from fever; and in the current year they are 64, of which 16 are from
fever. The epidemic of small-pox, which prevailed from the commencement of the
year 1859 to March, 1860, a period embracing about fifteen months, has now nearly
ceased, as two deaths only from this disease have been registered in this district in the
last three months. Measles, however, has been remarkably fatal, 15 deaths from this
disease having been registered during the quarter. Its ravages are particularly shown
in the Aldgate Registration District, where six out of the 15 deaths are registered.
The deaths of children under 5 years of age are 219, which, (excluding the
77 deaths in the London Hospital, into which institution very few young children are
admitted,) is in the proportion of 49 per cent., or nearly one-half of the total deaths
in the district. Including in the total mortality the deaths in the London Hospital,
the proportion of deaths of young children is 41.8 per cent. Throughout England
the mortality of children under 5 years is 38 per cent. The relative proportion of
the deaths, at the several ages, in each registration district, will be seen on referring
to the 6th Table in the Appendix.
The number of Inquests is 61, in which are included 5 deaths from burns and
scalds, 3 from poison, (all females)—one, aged 38, by taking ammonia; but neither the
kind nor the dose of the ammonia taken are recorded by the local Registrar; and
the other two, aged respectively 38 and 50, the one from an overdose of laudanum
taken to relieve pain; the other also from laudanum, but under what circumstances
the poison was taken were not ascertained. Inquests were held on the bodies of
5 children under 10 months, and on that of a youth aged 17 years, whose deaths are
thus recorded—"suffocated in bed accidentally." In six instances, Inquests were
held where it was ascertained that death was either directly or indirectly caused by
drunkenness, and verdicts to that effect were recorded. "Exhaustion from debility"
is the verdict of a jury in the case of the sudden death of a female aged 66. Two
cases of sudden death are recorded as from "Disease of the lungs, greatly accelerated
by want of nourishment the one a female aged 44, the other a child aged 6 weeks.
The verdict in another case of the sudden death of a child, aged 6 years, is thus
recorded—"Inflammation of the lungs, but accelerated by neglect in not procuring
medical treatment." An Inquest was held on the body of a child, aged 6 months,
when a verdict of "Manslaughter!" was returned against some person or persons
unknown. A child, newly-born, is said to have been murdered by some person or
persons unknown. Inquests were held on the bodies of twin children, newly born,
when the verdicts given were—"Exhaustion from the want of skilled assistance and
proper necessaries." Overfeeding and the administration of improper food are recorded
as occasioning the death of a child, aged 16 months. I may here observe, that
the overfeeding of infants with solid food is a very frequent cause of death; ignorant
mothers and nurses not unfrequently cram the stomachs of young children with meat,
bread, potatoes, &c., with the occasional addition of beer, and sometimes even of gin.
The other Inquests relate principally to cases where death was accidentally caused by
violence, and to those where sudden death ensued from disease of the heart; in nearly
all of the latter instances post mortem examinations were made, and thus the true
cause of death was ascertained.
The following cases of death from violence occurred, in which Inquests were not
held,—a male child, 7 years of age, from "Concussion of the brain, "stated to have
arisen from a fall on the pavement; a child, aged 15 months, from "Fractured thigh
through a dray running over him;" a man, aged 48, whose death was occasioned by
exhaustion produced by self-mutilation; a male, aged 32, from debility arising from
injury to the head; two men, aged respectively 24 and 45, from tetanus, or "locked
jaw,"—the one from an injury to the foot, the other from an injury to the hand.
"Acute urticaria," or nettle rash, is ascribed as the cause of the death of a child,
aged 12 months; a widow, aged 76, died in the London Hospital from chorea.