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26
year; 29 of these were removed to extra-Parochial
Hospitals.
Of Small Pox 40 cases have come under notice,
26 of which were removed to extra - Parochial
Hospitals.
The Public Mortuary has been in operation since
September, 1876. During that period the Mortuary
has been gratuitously open for the reception and
disinfection of bodies in all cases where the removal
of the dead was conducive to the safety and comfort
of the living. In the period of sixteen months,
ending December 31st, 1877, seventy-four bodies
were removed into the Mortuary. Of these bodies
ten were cases of infectious disease in which disinfection
was required, and where the removal of the
corpse was probably the means of preventing the
spread of infectious disease. In 52 cases bodies
were removed from the presence of families living
in a single room, and where, but for the public
Mortuary, the living would have lived and slept in
presence of a decomposing corpse, and, possibly, a
post mortem examination would have been made
before the interment could take place. In 22 cases
the bodies have been those of casual strangers,—
homeless, or occurring in Hotels or lodging houses.
31 Inquests have been held upon bodies lying in
the Mortuary, and 21 post mortem examinations for
judicial purposes have been made in the Examination
room which adjoins the Mortuary.
The reduction of the death rate to 15.4 per 1000