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239
As regards North Paddington, the 7 cases were
equal to a rate of 0.07 per 1,000 persons of all ages,
or more correctly to one of 0.1 per 1,000 females.
The frequency of the disease in reference to the births
was 2.7 per 1,000. In the ten years 1890-99,25,093
births have been registered in the Sub-District, and
72 cases of puerperal fever reported, giving a frequency
of 2.8 per 1,000 births. In South Paddington 4,501
births were registered in the same period and 4 cases
(3 in 1893 and 1 in 1894) reported, equal to a
frequency of 0.6 per 1,000 births. In the Metropolis
133,120 births were registered in 1899, and the 330
cases of puerperal fever were equal to a frequency of
2.4 per 1,000 births.
The exact interpretation of the term "puerperal
fever" has been a subject of discussion since the
introduction of notification in 1890. There is 110
doubt that the term as commonly used includes not
one but many diseases, so much so that the last
edition of the "Nomenclature of Diseases" recommended
that the term should be abandoned and the
disease more correctly described according to the
phenomena presented. The difficulty experienced in
defining the term has resulted in neglect to notify many
cases which were intended to be reported. The only
argument which could justify such neglect has now been
put out of court by the official opinions given at the
beginning of the year by the Royal College of