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Officer, that the County Medical Officer is in his turn
able to draw up his Report dealing with the County
as a whole. The facts embodied in these figures,
and which are worth more than a cursory inspection,
show considerable improvement in the vital statistics
and apparently point to special circumstances
favourable to the public health. These circumstances
are, the ever improving sanitary conditions
and surroundings of the older buildings, the
stringent enforcement of the bye-laws for the
construction of the newer houses, the good fortune
of a splendid summer, and the favourable geological
and climatic conditions that Surbiton naturally
enjoys; and the result is a low death rate and a
minimum amount of sickness, with one exception
that I shall allude to further on.
Concerning these Tables and their purport, a few
explanatory comments may be useful.
Table I.—Shows the "Vital Statistics of the
Whole District during 1906 and previous years,"
together with the average of the preceding ten
years. An estimate of the population is a very
important item, and this becomes year by year an
increasingly difficult matter as the period since the
last Census, which was 1901 becomes extended.
There is the natural increase due to excess of births
over deaths to be considered, together with the special
local conditions appertaining to the number of new
buildings and the number of persons per house, the
establishment of new trades or works bringing
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