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years 1890-98, equivalent to a reduction of 15.3 per
cent. In the Metropolis the notifications in 1899 (as
compiled from the returns issued weekly by the Metropolitan
Asylums Board) numbered 42,354, being 2,3 37
below the corrected average for the nine years, and
equivalent to reduction of 5.3 per cent., or a little more
than one-third of the reduction which occurred in the
Parish.
The local sickness-rate based on the notifications
was 6.44 per 1,000 in 1899, as compared with rates
of 6.04 and 7.94 in the two preceding years (see Table
6.) The Metropolitan rates were 9.31, 8.29, and
10.18 for the corresponding years—in each case over
2.0 per 1,000 higher than the local rate.
In Paddington, the reported cases of erysipelas
(146) and of enteric fever (97) were above their respective
averages—the former to the extent of 5 cases,
the latter, of 32. In the Metropolis, the cases of
diphtheria (13,366) were 2,699 in excess of the average,
those of enteric fever (4,463), 1,140 in excess, and
those of puerperal fever (330), 46 in excess. The
reduction in the prevalence of diphtheria* in Paddington
was a very satisfactory feature of the year—
203 cases being reported, 72 less than the average;
equivalent to a reduction of 26.2 per cent. In the
Metropolis the cases of this disease were 23.4 per cent.
• Throughout this Report, unless otherwise stated, membranous croup
is considered to be identical with diphtheria.