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The 182 deaths from epidemic diseases which have occurred during this
quarter are in the proportion of 27.5 per cent, to the total deaths, minus the 100
deaths in the London Hospital.* The deaths from diseases of the respiratory
organs, 'which have been 126, are in the proportion of 19 per cent, to the
total deaths. The deaths from consumption have been 94 or 11.2 per cent,
of the total deaths, less the deaths in the London Hospital. In this district,
during the last quarter, the deaths from epidemic diseases have been at the
annual rate of 92; from diseases of the respiratory organs, at the annual rate
of 62; from consumption, at the annual rate of 45 in every 10,000 of the
population. The rate of mortality from these three causes is very high, and
indicates a very unhealthy condition of the district. It is true that the
mortality from the above specified classes of disease has been unusually great
over the entire metropolis; but this fact only serves to show of how great
importance it is that those whose duty urges them to investigate the causes of
an increased mortality should receive all possible assistance and encouragement
in the prosecution of their labors. In country districts the same high rate of
mortality as is found in towns does not exist. In large towns the proportionate
mortality under 5 years of age is double that which is observed
in rural districts, and above 5 years of age the relative proportion
of the mortality between a rural and suburban population is about one
third greater in the latter than in the former. This is a severe penalty upon
those who are compelled to live in towns, and the fact of this excessive mortality
deserves our most serious attention. The overcrowding not only of particular
rooms, but the massing together of houses without affording sufficient open
spaces in the front and back of every house to ensure proper ventilation,
together with the want of efficient house drainage, and the accumulation of
filth caused by the neglect of cleanliness in the majority of the people who
inhabit these confined places are the principal causes of the larger amount of
mortality in all large towns when compared with that of country districts.
On inspection it is found that many of the rooms tenanted by the poor are so
small as to afford a space of less than 100 cubic feet to each inmate (300 cubic
feet being considered the smallest space for healthy existence), and, owing to
the narrowness of some of the courts, the external air becomes stagnant and
contaminated by reason of the want of a current to carry away the impurities
surrounding and inseparable from inhabited houses. The most frequent cause
of overcrowding, in a single room, is a large family of children, while for the
preservation of health a more ample space is requisite; the increased demands
» Not a 6ingle death from any epidemic disease occurred in the London Hospital during this quarter.