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86
The death rates of Camberwell and its component districts
have been deduced from the figures representing the
parochial deaths given in the last column of Table VII.,
and from those giving the populations calculated for the middle
of 1886, contained in Table IV. The following Table
comprises these death rates, and (for the sake of comparison)
those of 1885—

It will be observed that while the death rates are all
remarkably low, considerably lower even than the lowest
of the death rates for the groups of Metropolitan districts,
which I have already quoted from the Registrar-General,
they are all but one (namely, that of St. George's) a little
higher than they were in the previous year. I have already
referred to the fact that such figures as I here place before you
are often misleading, and that they often imply fallacies. I
cannot doubt that it is so on the present occasion. I do
not propose to discuss the question, but I may indicate a few
of the sources of fallacy by which my conclusions are
doubtless to some extent vitiated.
1st.—I have assumed that in each district, and in the
parish at largo, the same rate of increase of population has
been going on year by year since 1881, as was ascertained to
have gone on year by year between 1871 and 1881. But it
is obvious that these rates of increase for the whole of the