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official. Under these circumstances, I trust the Local Government
Board will see its way, in future, not to unduly press Medical Officers
of Health of the large districts for their annual reports. If it should do
so, then I feai that they will only be presented hurriedly, and at the
cost of accuracy and thoroughness.
I must also explain that this year also, the Local Government
Board, for the first time, forwarded certain blank tables to be filled up.
It so happened, however, that the manner in which the statistics of the
department had been compiled, prevented me completely filling up
the forms; it could only be done by retabulating all the mortality
returns for the year, which, of course, was out of the question. The
tables hitherto in use in Islington, were those originally drawn up by
Dr. Edward Ballard, when he was Medical Officer of Health to this
Vestry, many years ago. I have, however, now arranged that in future,
the tables shall be prepared in the new, and, as I think, the better
manner. They are the same as those in use by nearly every Medical
Officer of Health, and as those approved by the Incorporated Society of
Medical Officers of Health. With these observations, I shall now
proceed to the report.
POPULATION.
As all vital statistics are more or less based on the Census returns,
I append the results of that taken in 1891, so far as they have been
published.