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arrive at just conclusions upon the subject. During the last year it appears
that in the Whitechapel District out of every 1,000 of the population 32.3
died; but if we deduct the deaths of the non-residents (162) then the deathrate
is reduced to 30.2 in every 1,000 or 1 in 33 of the entire population.* The
births are in proportion of 35 per 1,000 or 1 in 28 of all living. The death
rate for all England is 22.3 per 1,000, and the birth rate is 33'1 per l,000.f
The number of inquests held during the year was 225 against 237 in the preceding
year. The uncertified deaths are 42 against 63. In a district like this,
where such facilities are afforded to the poor for obtaining medical assistance,
very few uncertified deaths ought to be recorded, and every such case, before
it is registered, ought to be inquired into; and more especially is a searching
investigation into such cases required at the present time when child murder
is of frequent occurrence. The uncertified deaths are chiefly of young
children. Mr. Castleden, the registrar for the Eastern Sub-Districts of Mile
End Old Town, informs me that out of 730 deaths registered by him only 2
are returned as "not certified," and 1 of these he distinctly recollects as being
a "chemist's case." If the uncertified deaths in this district were in the same
proportion as those in the Eastern Sub-District of Mile End Old Town instead
of being 42 they would be only 7.
The Medical Officers of the Union have attended, exclusive of the 2,978 in
the workhouse, 14,270 new cases of sickness, including 113 of small-pox, 525
of measles, 118 of scarlet fever, 153 of hooping-cough, 1,085 of diarrhoea, and
822 of fever. During the preceding year the total number of the cases of
sickness was 13,724 of which 109 were of fever. I may here remark that the
pauper list of sick cases in this district has been annually increasing
from 9,897‡ in 1856 to the large number of 14,270 in 1862. In the
total number of cases of sickness in the workhouse, viz., 2,978 there are
included 763 or 25.5 per cent, of fever.
In the month of September last all the slaughterhouses in the district (37 in
number) were inspected by myself and the inspectors previous to the owners of
such premises applying for the annual license. The amended Metropolis Local
Management Act, 25 and 26 Vict., c. 102, section 93, enacts that all cowhouses
shall be licensed annually. In order, therefore, that the Board should
be satisfied that all the cow-houses in the district were in a proper sanitary
condition they were inspected by Committees of the Board, and in all cases,
where the pavement, drainage, ventilation, &c., were defective, orders were
given that these defects should be remedied. The penalty for keeping cows,
* In the Eastern Districts of London the average number living to one death annually is 39; in all
London it is 42.
+ In all London the birth-rate is nearly 34 per 1,000 annually.
‡See Table No. 2.