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inhabitants has increased, and we must therefore expect an
increase of mortality.
Summing up the above data, it is clear that the deaths for
the year are above the average; that they are more than in the
preceding year; and that the principal Zymotic diseases have
also increased. These Zymotic diseases are the principal concern
of the Sanitary Department of a Vestry; and no doubt if
all the conditions under which they occur were under the control
of sanitary officers, we could greatly reduce the mortality
arising from them. But this would require that we should ensure
a free supply of pure water; that the water receptacles be
kept clean; that the inhabitants be not too crowded in their
dwellings; that these dwellings should be kept clean; that the
clothes and linen be also kept clean, and especially purified
when epidemic diseases occur; that the dwellings be well
ventilated; and that the inhabitants should be well fed, and the
children well nursed and cared for.
The effect which the attendance to and neglect of these
particulars has upon the mortality of a population may be well
shown by the perusal of the subjoined Table, where the
mortality arising in infants and children of the poor is compared
with that of the rest of a parish.

Unfortunately, in a working population, the fluctuations and
uncertainty of trade cause great and irremediable distress.
And with this distress, and the resulting poverty, is too often
combined a total neglect of sanitary laws, particularly that
relating to cleanliness. In fact it is mostly a disagreeable and