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SANITARY REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1877.
Sanitary Offices,
Town Hall, hackney,
10th May, 1878.
To the Board of Works for the Hackney District.
Gentlemen,
The continued prevalence of Small Pox, not only in
this district but in all London, is one of the most marked
events of the year as regards our mortality statistics, for
otherwise, the year 1877 would have been characterised by the
smallest death-rate recorded in this district since 1845, indeed
as it is, the mortality was unusually small, having been below
the average of the 10 years 1861-70. If this district had not
suffered to a greater extent than all London, there would not
have been much cause for surprise, although there would have
been for regret at this disease having again appeared in our
midst, as its tendency to recur in an epidemic form once in four
years in this metropolis is so marked as to have almost induced
an expectation of a considerable mortality in 1875, when the
number of deaths was very much below the usual minimum.
Indeed, the severe epidemic of 1871-72 appears to have so
modified the usual course of the disease as to have postponed the
outbreak for two years, as is shown by the table of deaths in all
London from 1840 to 1877 inclusive. It may be asked,—if the
tendency of this disease to assume an epidemic form at regular
intervals be so marked, what is the good of isolation, disinfection,
and other sanitary measures for preventing its spread ? One
answer is, that by diminishing the number of cases at a given
place is to diminish the intensity of the virus, so that many who
would contract the disease when the poison is of a given