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4760 deaths were certified by registered medical practiTioners;
314 were certified by inquests, and 112 were returned
a, is uncertified.
Diseases of the respiratory system, not including whooping
cough, caused the deaths of 1575 persons, or 31.2 per cent. of
the total deaths. This is rather below the Metropolitan rate,
which was 31.5 per cent. It must be remembered that these
diseases, which cause nearly a third of the total deaths, are
not alone due to exposure to cold—cold is often the exciting
cause, particularly in unhealthy people—but the great causes
which predispose to these complaints are, impure air,
deficiency of sunlight, and defective drainage. Those who
arc engaged in out-door employment, as a class, are not
subject to these complaints. The classes which pre-eminently
suffer are those who arc employed in badly ventilated workshops
and offices, with air vitiated, heated and deoxygenated
from burning gas, and those who live in imperfectly ventilated
and over crowded dwellings.
The condition of the subsoil has also much to do with the
causation of these complaints: it has been frequently shown
that after the efficient drainage of a district the death rate
from phthisis has fallen 20 to 3opcr cent.
The Zymotic deaths numbered 625: they will be treated
under their rcspcctivc headings.
The deaths from Alcoholism were 19, one of which occurcd
to a youth under 20 years of age; 10 between 40 and
Co;6 between the ages of 20 and 40; and 2 in persons over
60. The number was 8 in excess ot last year—5 occurred in
Brixton, 4 in Kennington (first) and 3 in Norwood.
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