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151
Hospital—107 from St. Mary's and 14 from St. John's
Sub-district. It is impossible to say how many cases
were treated at home, inasmuch as the Infectious
Disease (Notification) Act did not come into force
until the 31st October, 1889.
In London the rate was 0.18 per 1,000 inhabitants,
as compared with an annual average rate of 0.44
during the preceding decennium.
Diphtheria caused 39 deaths in Paddington, as
compared with 75 in the preceding year, and with an
annual average of 29 during the preceding decennium.
28 of the deaths occurred in St. Mary's and 11 in
St. John's Sub-district. The rate was 0.33 per 1,000
inhabitants.
All the houses in which the deaths occurred were
carefully inspected, attention being specially directed
in each case to the condition of the water supply and
to the soundness of the house-drain, as proved either
by the water-test or by the smoke-test or by the
peppermint-test. In the large majority of cases defects
of some sort were discovered, and made subsequently
good.
The localities in which deaths from this disease
occurred are shewn in Table VA.
In his Annual Summary, the Registrar-General
states "that the mortality from Diphtheria had been
increasing steadily for many years, but in the last two