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[No. 7.
REPORT
ON THE
HEALTH OF PADDINGTON
DURING THE QUARTER ENDING
MIDSUMMER, 1862,
BY J. BURDON SANDERSON, M.D.,
Medical Officer of Health.
PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE VESTRY.
Population of Paddington, April, 1861 75,807.
Vestry Hall; July, 1862.
During the quarter ending June the 28th, 1862, 329 persons died in
Paddington. The mortality was not only far less than in either of the preceding
quarters, but less by 27 than that of the corresponding quarter of last
year. This difference appears, on comparison of the Tables to be entirely
referable to diseases of children under five years of age, and in particular to
the diminished frequency of Scarlatina, and of cases described in the Medical
Certificates as diphtheria and malignant sore throats. Contagious Typhus
has continued to prevail in other parts of the metropolis, but few cases have
occurred in Paddington, so that the total mortality from fever has not materially
exceeded the average.
During the past three months 266 houses have been systematically
inspected with reference to their sanitary condition. As will be seen from
Table III. of each quarterly report, the duties of the Sanitary Inspector are
divided between those arising from systematic or rotatory visitation, and
"inspections consequent on complaints." In the Parish of Paddington the
number of complaints received is so considerable, that the greater part of the
Inspector's time is occupied in attending to them; it is to be regretted that few
of them have to do with real sanitary evils, the greater number relating to
grievances which cannot be regarded as injurious to health, and which therefore
do not lie within the scope of sanitary legislation. In other cases the aid
of the Inspector is called in on account of mere constructive defects in houses,
by occupiers who find an appeal to the sanitary board a very convenient way of
exerting gentle pressure on their landlords, forgetting that in a Parish of such
an extent as Paddington, the systematic supervision of the dwellings of the
poor, and the periodical visitation of wharves, slaughter-houses, and cow-houses,
is more than sufficient to afford useful occupation to the officer. By every hour
which is taken up with extraneous matters, the time which can be given to
these important duties, is retrenched, and the public utility of the appointment
is diminished.
The extent of the work which might be performed by the Inspector may be
judged of by the number of particulars on which he is required to give information
in respect of every house which he visits, and the variety of sanitary
improvements which are carried out under his eye, in pursuance of the orders
of the Sanitary Committee. As regards the general condition of each house
he reports on the state of repair and cleanliness of the rooms, passages, yards
and offices, in carrying out which duty, he is guided by a principle of very
general application—that all foulness is injurious to health in proportion to its
proximity. In the inhabited room it is more mischievous than in the staircase
or passages, and more objectionable in the interior than outside. On his report,
orders for cleansing, limewashing, are made, extending either to the whole or
part of the house. During the last few years the issue of such orders has been
much increased, and in those streets which are inhabited by the poorest families