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comparison with other localities, as in taking the number of
deaths only, no reliable data are given for comparison, and
to calculate the infantile death-rate on the population, or on
the deaths at all ages, as is sometimes done, is absolutely
valueless'
There were 91 such deaths during the year, or 77 per
1,000 births, an increase of 6 on last year's rate, when there
were 82 deaths, and a rate of 71. The previous year there
were 125 deaths, and the rate 111. The average for the past
ten years is 115.
Only twice previously, as pointed out in the commencement
of the report, has this low figure been surpassed. This
was in 1905, when the rate was 69, and last year when it was
71. The average for the 143 smaller towns in the RegistrarGeneral's
Returns, that is, towns with populations from
20,000 and under 50,000 at the last Census, is 111. Wimbledon's
figure compares very satisfactorily with this'
The infantile mortality amongst illegitimate children was
162.8, as compared with 75.6 for the legitimates'
Fortunately for the infantile mortality the last two
summers have been cool and damp, and it is seen that the
general mortality largely depends on the infantile mortality
as shown by Chart No. 1.
We must not congratulate ourselves too much on the
excellent infantile mortality figure or even on our death-rate,
as the Chart showing the general death-rate and infantile
mortality rate for the 15 districts round London shows that
similar districts are sharing in the general lowering of both
these rates, partly due to increased sanitation, but mostly
influenced by the climatic conditions'
One cannot speak too highly of such institutions as the
Mothers' and Babies' Welcome Society, and would wish that
the country at large would undertake work on the same lines'
At present there are only 16 similar institutions existing.
Hitherto the authority to whom these young mothers
turned, or whose advice was thrust on them, was the ever
willing neighbour, whose sole qualification for administering
advice on a subject, which, with a delicate child often taxes
the resources of a medical man to the utmost, are that "she
has had eleven children and buried eight of them."
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