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malformation of the heart, one from diseased spine, and, happily, only one woman
perished in child-birth. 48 old people succumbed to nature's decay, and 54 in all to
varieties of malnutrition and debility, 28 of these being children.
This class must be credited with a fatality of 4.0 per 1000: its child-rate was
1.2 per thousand.
CLASS V.—VIOLENT DEATHS.
These were chiefly due to drowning. The reach of the Thames on which
Rotherhithe is placed, its long foreshore, and large dock-water area, with the active and
sometimes perilous occupations pursued therein, are alone the cause of a numerically
formidable death-roll. Numerous floating bodies are from time to time received by our
Coroner's Officer: and from the heavy road traffic, street accidents are not uncommon.
The 50 Inquests held resulted in a finding of violent death in 41 instances, 28 of which
were "drowned cases." The remaining verdicts were various, and sometimes
hypothetical, the practice followed being to dispense as much as possible with medical
evidence, and never to fortify it with a post-mortern examination, if this can by any
means be omitted. The Scotch plan of holding a preliminary investigation by a special
expert before summoning a jury to make an Inquest would tend frequently to diminish
charges on County Rates, and afford reliable statements of the actual cause of Death.
We are most fortunate in possessing a suitable Mortuary, and have thus a great
advantage over some more favoured parishes.
Without one, the difficulties of repressing infectious disease, would, I think, be
doubled, but our want of a disinfecting apparatus (owing to our having no available site)
is to be regretted. For further details, vide Tables III, IV and V.
METEOROLOGY.
For the first three weeks the thermometer was higher than the average by 5
degrees. Then came a cold period, of the same duration, after which the temperature
rose, and remained fur four weeks marking 7 degrees above its mean height. In the
second quarter there was a great down-fall of rain with alternations of heat and cold :
the rain-fall in this time was 13.2 inches (7.6 inches more than the average). This
amount had not been exceeded previously since 1815. It was remarked, that on the
same day in June, 3½ inches of rain fell in less than an hour at Camden Town, none at
Kew, and only half an inch altogether at Greenwich. During the next quarter, the
temperature varied greatly, as did the rain-fall, which in July was the least registered
since 1815. In August, again, it was nearly as much as in the April quarter, and in