View report page

6
including 15 of Small-pox, 21 of measles, 23 of scarlet fever, 101 of hoopingcough,
124 of diarrhoea, and 116 of fever. In the corresponding quarter of
last year, the total number of cases was 3,569, including 11 of small-pox, 4 of
measles, 14 of scarlet fever, 52 of hooping-cough, 153 of diarrhoea, and 148
of fever.
The cases of illness in the workhouse have been 861, including 1 of smallpox,
2 of measles, 4 of scarlet fever, 1 of hooping-cough, 42 of diarrhoea, 9 of
erysipelas, 1 of carbuncle, 3 of rheumatic fever, 3 of delirium tremens, and 179
of fever; of these latter 22 died. Of the total cases, Mr. Champneys attended
448, and Mr. Richardson 413. In the corresponding quarter of last year the
total number of cases of disease in the workhouse was 824, including 145 cases
of fever, of which 14 were fatal.
The water-waste preventers which have been erected in the district have
stood the test of a long and severe winter. They appear to act very satisfactorily,
being at the same time economical to the landlords, and highly advantageous
to the tenants. From these machines, a glass of pure water, always
cool and fresh, can at any time be drawn ; so that the poor who live in those
courts in which a water-waste preventer is erected have a better supply of
water for drinking purposes than the more wealthy classes who obtain their
supply from a cistern within their own houses.
I have to report that another of these machines has been erected since my
last report, and that there are now eight of them in operation in the district.
The mortality, although it has been rather less during this quarter than it
was in the corresponding quarter of 1864, is nevertheless very great. The
annual rate during this quarter has been, excluding all the deaths in the London
Hospital, 31-3 per 1000; and so long as this district continues to be so densely
populated, we must expect to find that its rate of mortality will be above that
of those districts where the population is spread over a larger area; but as this
state of things cannot be prevented, greater attention is demanded on the part
of the sanitary officers and those in authority in putting in force the powers
intrusted to them to remove the sources of ill-health among the people. In the
crowded and ill-ventilated courts in which there is no thoroughfare, the atmosphere
contains a considerable amount of decomposing animal matter which is
highly prejudicial to the health of the inhabitants. As this decomposing matter,
from the want of sunshine and currents of air, does not readily become oxidized,
it is of the utmost importance that all practical means should be adopted for
producing artificial currents of air through them, which may be effected by
flushing them daily with water. Owing to the great traffic which is almost
incessantly going on in the streets, it is impossible that the cleansing of them
three times a week, even if the cleansing should be well done, can be sufficient
to keep the streets clean and free from the injurious emanations which are
given off from decomposing animal and vegetable matter. They should therefore
be cleansed daily. The public dustbins should be emptied daily, and the
dung from stables and cow-yards should also be daily carted away.