London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Paddington 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington]
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The variations in the population of the Parish are presented in another light in the following table, which contains the rate of increase1 per inhabitant per annum in each of the decennial periods 1861-71 and 1871-81, in each Sub-district of the Parish, and in the Parish as a whole:—
| Decennium. | St. Mary's. | St. John's. | Paddington. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1861-71 | .04174 | .00352 | .02479 |
| 1871-81 | .01755 | .0020603 | .01026 |
From this table it will be seen that not merely is
the rate of increase of population diminishing in the
Parish as a whole, but that in St. John's Sub-district
it is a negative quantity. This diminution in the
rate of increase cannot be other than pleasing to the
sanitarian. Occupying, as the population of Paddington
does, a limited area, with definite boundaries
which, on account of surrounding Parishes, do not
admit of extension, a continually increasing population
can only mean a continually increasing density
and increasing complexity of the problems oi sanitation.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that the growth in
* The population of a district at two successive ccnsuses
having been ascertained, the rate of increase per individual per
annum for the intervening period may be determined by the use of
logarithms from the formula M = P X Rn; where M=Final
population, p = initial population, n = number of years (10),
R, = (r + 1), and r = rate of increase per individual per annum.