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and in 1871, in a population of 3,254,260, it was 1746. The deaths
from Fever in the Whitechapel District in 1861, were 63, while in 1871
they were 40. In 1862 these deaths were 250, and in London 3635. In
1838 the deaths from fever in London were 4078, and in the Whitechapel
District 368.
In my Report for the Quarter ending Sept. 30, 1871, I drew attention
to the defective ventilation of the dwellings of the poor, and I pointed out
that there was an intimate relation between such defective ventilation and
the mortality from tubercular and other diseases of a similar class; and I
further showed, by the returns of the Registrar General, that this class of
disease, which is generally admitted to be caused by the breathing of impure
air, has a greater mortality than the whole class of miasmatic diseases; the
latter being 23.4 per cent. of the total mortality, while the former amounts
to 27.8 per cent. During this quarter the deaths from miasmatic diseases
have been 87, viz., 69 from epidemic diseases, six from erysipelas, two from
puerperal fever, two from pyaemia, four from rheumatism, and four from
croup ; while the deaths from those diseases which are principally caused
by the breathing of impure air have been 176, or rather more than double
the number of deaths produced by the miasmatic class.
Nothing to my mind is more clear than that the attention of the Board
and the Sanitaiy Officers must be directed to the defective state of the ventilation
of the dwellings of the poor; for consumption, and the whole tubercular
class, viz., scrofula, mesenteric disease, hydrocephalus, convulsions, premature
birth, teething, atrophy and debility, and tubercular meningitis, are chiefly
caused by the defective ventilation of dwelling-houses, and particularly of
sleeping-rooms, in which at least one-third of one's existence is passed.
Impurity op the Atmosphere in Crowded Localities.
The question of the impurity of the atmosphere in crowded localities
will probably, in due time, receive that consideration from public authorities
which its importance demands, and then energetic measures in dealing with
confined courts will be adopted.
Chemists have proved, by experiment, that not only is "the atmosphere
of some rooms deficient in the due proportion of oxygen, but it contains
three times the usual amount of carbonic acid, besides a quantity of aqueous
vapour, charged with alkaline matter, which stinks abominably."*
In the Sixth Annual Report of Dr. ANGUS Smith, Inspector under the
Alkali Act, 1863, numerous tables are given of the composition of the air in
several localities in England and Scotland, particularly in reference to the
amounts of oxygen, carbonic acid, ammonia, albuminated ammonia, or
ammonia from organic matter, &c. As a result, from experiments made
by that gentleman, it appears that the condition of the air in different
localities may be settled by experiment. "We may therefore possess a
certain reliable standard of the impurity of the atmosphere, below which,
houses and courts could be authoritatively condemned—opinion giving way
*See Dr. Letheby's Report for the Quarter ending March, 1857.