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149
The rate of infantile mortality in Paddington Was
138 per 1,000 registered births. In London the
rate was 141, and in the 27 largest provincial towns
it ranged from 131 in Brighton to 264 in Preston. In
the whole of England and Wales it was 144.
Infectious Diseases Notification Act, 1889.
Prior to 1889, the Notification of Infectious
Diseases had been enforced by means of local Acts in
more than fifty large towns; but in that year the
above general measure was passed, making the notification
of certain specified diseases compulsory in
London, and giving to provincial sanitary authorities
power to adopt it by resolution. The public demand
for such a measure is shown by the fact that nearly
all the large towns and a large number of the rural
districts have hastened to adopt it, the result being
that it is now in force among more than three-quarters
of the population of the country. The Act has
worked with great smoothness, and the way is now
paved for a general measure making Notification
compulsory throughout the country. The diseases,
the notification of which is made compulsory under
the Act, are Smallpox, Cholera, Diphtheria, Membranous
Croup, Erysipelas, Scarlet Fever, Typhus,
Enteric, Relapsing, Continued, and Puerperal Fevers.
Power is given to the local authority to add to this
list any other infectious disease after due notice, and
with the approval of the Local Government; and in