London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hackney 1860
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
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REPORT
To the Board of Works of the Hackney District.
Gentlemen,
I append a table shewing the close correspondence between the vicissitudes of the weather and the mortality during the quarter.
| Week ending | death. | temp. | Week ending | death. | temp. | Week ending | death. | temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 7 | 27 | 45.8 | Feb. 4 | 41 | 38.7 | March 3 | 35 | 34.8 |
| „ 14 | 34 | 43.8 | „ 11 | 43 | 36.6 | „ 10 | 40 | 41.2 |
| „ 21 | 43 | 38.0 | „ 18 | 39 | 37.0 | „ 17 | 31 | 36.3 |
| „ 28 | 40 | 39.8 | „ 25 | 33 | 33.8 | „ 24 | 40 | 40.5 |
| „ 31 | 44 | 43.4 |
The temperature of the week previously has been placed against the
mortality, i. e. the temperature of the week ending December 31, against
the mortality of the week ending January 7, and so on for the rest. We
perceive that the deaths increased very greatly when the cold weather
set in, but that they diminished after it had become settled, then increased
again as the mean temperature of the week increased, and the vicissitudes
of temperature became greater. The effect of cold weather also does
not terminate immediately, as may be seen by this table. I take this