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12
The death-rate from epidemic diseases for this year, in relation to the
total mortality, is 14.6 per cent.
There have been, for the 12 months ending October 3, 1874,* 24 deaths
from pyæmia, 8 from puerperal fever, 43 from croup, and 22 from erysipelas.
If these are added to the deaths from epidemic diseases, as given above, the
the rate of mortality from miasmatic diseases is 18.4 per cent.
The deaths from tubercular diseases, exclusive of consumption, have
been 148; from consumption 296, from cancer 47, from convulsions in
children 86, from atrophy and debility 79, from teething 22, from premature
birth 22, from congenital syphilis 7, from suffocation in bed 13, from diseases
of the urinary organs 91, from burns and scalds 36, and from mechanical
violence 138; of these, 26 were caused by horses and vehicles in the
streets. The average number of deaths per week, caused by horses and
vehicles in the streets of London, are 45, and if this number is multiplied
by 8, it will give about the number of accidents which occur weekly in
London from these causes.
The deaths from consumption and other tubercular diseases amount to
444; and if we add to these the deaths of children who die from kindred
diseases, such as convulsions, atrophy and debility, and teething, it will be
seen that they amount to 631, which is at the rate of 24.1 per cent. of the
total deaths in this District, and exceeds that which is caused by the whole
class of miasmatic diseases by 5.7 per cent.
The deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs, exclusive of consumption,
were 440, which is at the rate of 16.8 per cent. of the total
mortality.
From the above statistics it appears that while the deaths from epidemic
diseases are 14.6 per cent. of the total mortality, the deaths from diseases of
the respiratory organs are 16.8 per cent., and from tubercular and allied
diseases 24.1 per cent. As all these diseases are as preventible, and perhaps
more so than those of the epidemic class, more attention should be given to the
prevention of them than has hitherto been bestowed. This want of attention
may be to some extent accounted for by the defects of the sanitary laws, as
they give very little power to Local Boards either to demolish houses unfit
for human habitation, of which there are several hundred in this District,
or to regulate the construction of houses, although they give large powers
relative to the drainage and ventilation of them. "We must therefore content
ourselves by simply advising the public how the large mortality arising
from diseases of the respiratory organs may be diminished. The advice
upon this subject, as given by the Registrar General, and quoted in pages
6 and 7 of this Report, will, if followed, lead to a large reduction of
*I am obliged to substitute the year ending October 3rd, 1874, for the year
ending 2nd January, 1875, as I have not received the returns of the causes of death
for the last quarter, with the exception of those from epidemic diseases, which are
published by the Registrar-General in his weekly returns.