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7
MEDICAL OFFICER'S REPORT.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen,
To-day I havo the honor to place before you the
Tenth Annual Report of tho Sanitary condition of tho Saint
Saviour's District; and on tho present occasion tho pleasure of
doing so is considerably onhaucod by the consideration that the
year 1865 was distinguished by an increased amount of vigilance in
tho prosecution of measures for tho prevention of disease, and a
very material diminution of sickness and death.
During tho past year thoro were causes of disease in operation
d from which, if they could havo been foreseen, wo should havo
predicted a probable increase of mortality. In largo towns, and
especially in districts such as this, tho wear and tear of tho physical
frame demand a good supply of animal food. This, from tho almost
unprecedented price of meat, tho poor havo been unable to obtain.
The first three months of tho year wero unusually cold, and J
consequently diseases of tho respiratory organs were at that period
very fatal. After that mouth, excepting tho month of August, tho
temperaturo was above tho avcrago of 24 years—tho air temperature
in September reaching 86 degrees, and the water of tho Thames 68.
It is a fact highly encouraging to those engaged in sanitary work
that although the intense cold of tho winter added to the mortality
of London, the almost tropical heat of the summer produced no
sensible effect.
From an examination of the Statistical Tables appended it will
be observed that there wero 788 deaths registered in this District
during the past year. This is a smaller number than has boon
registered in any year since tho establishment of this Board, 103
fewer than in tho year preceding, and 148 fewer than the average of
the past ten years. Of tho total mortality 22 died in Guy's
Hospital, only three of whom previously resided in either parish.
There wero also 81 Coroner's Inquests upon bodies of porsons who
had been drowned and washed ashoro iu this District, but whoso
previous residenco was in other parishes.
Nearly tho whole of the deaths in those wards of Guy's
Hospital situate in the parish of Saint Saviour wero occasioned by
fire. A mortality therefore of about fifty is due to sudden, violent,
or accidental causes, which no amount of caution on tho part of
District Boards could have prevented.
The Table of comparison of mortality according to ago gives an
increaso of 18 deaths among infants under ono year old. Of those
who were upwards of 80, 29 died—a number exactly corresponding
with that of last year. In every other division there was a marked
decrease.