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cases to the total cases of sickness of all kinds has
been hardly 17 per 1,000, and of diarrhoea cases
barely 44 per 1,000, whereas in the preceding
ten years the averages were 64 and 88 per 1,000
respectively. This can have no other signification
than a great improvement in the sanitary condition
of the poor.
METEOROLOGY.
The chief facts connected with the meteorology of
the year are shown in the eighth table of the Appendix,
and, as usual, they have been deduced from the
observations at Guildhall, under the superintendence
of Mr. Haywood. The highest reading of the thermometer
(87° Fahrenheit) was on the 26th of July,
and the lowest (28° Fahrenheit) on the 15th of February
of last y ear. The average temperature for the
year has been 50.6 Fahrenheit, which is a little above
the normal average (51*7 ) for the last ten years.
The rainfall of the year has been excessive, amounting
to 30T5 inches against an average of 23.25 inches.
The chief increase was in the autumn quarter of 1872,
when it amounted to 12.35 inches, or nearly double
the usual quantity. The number of wet days in the
year was 181, instead of 152—the average annual
number for the last ten years; and the degree of
humidity of the atmosphere was just 80 per cent. of
saturation—the monthly ranges being from 72 per