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on this subject, which have been calculated by the Registrar
General.
The density of population would be largely in excess if the
acreage of the Marshes and of the River Lea, which bound our
district, were excluded from it, which they should be for this
purpose, as there would then be 43.1 persons per acre. As
regards the births to which I have just referred, it will be seen
that in 1867 there were only 3858 registered in the district
against 5469 in 1876; and also by comparing the births and
deaths in the two years, we see that the birth rate has increased
more rapidly than the death rate, as in 1867 there were 180
births to each 100 deaths, whilst.in 1876 there were as many as
193 births to 100 deaths. This is a very satisfactory return, and
goes a long way to prove the fallacy of the belief that a high
birth rate necessarily induces a high death rate; indeed, our
death rate for the year (1876) even including the deaths from
small pox, was as low as 18.5, being the smallest recorded
since 185G. The death rate for all London was also low in 1876,
despite the small pox epidemic, but it was 22.3 against 18.51 for
Hackney, which indicates a very satisfactory condition of our
public health. It is also especially noteworthy that our normal
death rate is 22.04 per 1000 population, so that there were about
540 deaths less than the normal number—that is to say, than
the number calculated by the English Life Tables on the ages
and sex of our population. The normal death rate was calculated
on the Census of 1871, and is correct for the present population,
certainly within 0 5 deaths per 1000 population. It will also be
observed that the marriages have largely increased since 1867.