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The uncertified cases of death are 7, of which 5 are recorded as having been
occasioned by convulsions, and the other two as the result of premature birth.
The deaths in the Workhouse are 71, viz., 40 males and 31 females; this is
19 above the number in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The deaths
from epidemic diseases are 11, viz., 6 from fever, 3 from diarrhoea, 1 from hooping
cough, and 1 from scarlet fever.
The Medical Officers of the Union attended 2,730 new cases of sickness, from
which return it appears that small-pox has diminished from 96 to 14; fever, from
114 to 61; hooping cough, from 33 to 10; while measles has increased from 28 to
243, of which number Mr. Sequeira attended 167, or more than two-thirds of the
entire cases. The average number of fever cases per week, which in the year 1857,
was 22 per week, is now reduced to 4.7 per week, and during the three weeks from
the Saturday ending June 30th to the Saturday ending July 14th, only 2 cases of
fever were attended by the Medical Officers of the Union. This great diminution
in the number of fever cases, which has taken place amongst the poor, is an exceedingly
gratifying circumstance to all persons concerned in carrying out the provisions
of the Metropolis Local Management Act; for, as considerable improvements
have been effected in the sanitary condition of the district, we are I think
justified in considering this diminution of fever cases, in a great measure, attributable
to these sanitary improvements.
The cases of illness in the Workhouse were 482, of which 238 were attended by
Mr. Chamfneys, and 244 by Mr. Richardson. The epidemic diseases which are
included in the above returns are 47, viz., 4 of small-pox, 3 of measles, 2 of scarlet
fever, 2 of hooping cough, 24 of diarrhoea, and 11 of fever. There were also 9 cases
of ague, a disease which, of late years, has been very prevalent in this district, 3 of
rheumatic fever, and 2 of delirium tremens. The fever cases admitted into the
Workhouse appear to have been of a very severe type, as 6, or more than half of
those admitted, died. In the corresponding quarter of the previous year, the cases
of illness in the Workhouse were 345, including 14 of fever, 16 of diarrhœa, and
2 of small-pox.
The retention of dead bodies in rooms occupied by the poor, in crowded
neighbourhoods, until putrefaction is far advanced, is not unfrequently complained of
as a nuisance. Two complaints of this nature, one from the north and the other from
the south side of the district, have recently been made to me by persons living in
close proximity to the houses where a dead body had been so long kept as to become
a nuisance. These cases were promptly visited, and the friends of the deceased, in
each instance, were impressively told of the danger which was likely to accrue to the
neighbourhood by the prolonged retention of the corpse, and they were earnestly
requested to inter the body without delay. Chloride of lime was ordered to be
sprinkled over the room and passage to lessen the offensive smell. The. orders given
in each of these cases were complied with, and consequently no further proceedings
were necessary.
When a death occurs in a family occupying a single apartment, used both as a
sitting and sleeping room, and in which the domestic cooking and washing are conducted,
it is of great importance to the surviving members of the family and other
inmates of the house, that they should be saved from the danger and inconvenience
attending a prolonged retention of the dead body; and I would draw the attention of the
Board to the existence of a Legislative enactment which provides a remedy for this
evil. In the Act of the 11 and 12 Vic., c 63, called an Act for the Promotion of
the Public Health, the 81st sec. provides "That the Local Board of Health may, if
they shall think fit, provide, fit up, and make bye-laws, with respect to the management
and charges for the use of rooms or premises, in which corpses may be received, and