The Express.
London, England, 1853-02-02 00:00:00

IMAM UT TUE PUBLIC HEALTH.

99,946 deatiisvWriregletereciiuWrg the lot quarter of
the year 18.52. In the corresponding quarter of 18.51 the
deaths were 99,218. The animal rate of mortality in the
last quarter is at the rate of 2.197 per cent., which is higher
than the average rate, or than the mortality in the corres-
ponding quarters of 1842-15, in 1848, in 1850-61, but
much lower than 2...45 and 2 389, the rates of mortality in
18-IG-17.
. . _

Cha diviling the country into two large divisions, the first
of 117 districts, comprising the chief towns, and a popula-
tion of 7,796,882, the setond of 606 districts, having a popu-
lation of 10,126,886, it is found that the mortality in the
own districts was, during the quarter, at the rate of 2.514
per cent. per annum, which is below the average (2.679),
while the mortality in the country districts was at the rate
of 1.982 per cent. perann um, or somewhat above the average
of the corresponding quarto,. (1.941).
The unfavourable condition still prevailing in the towns
is, however, too evident; to every four deaths out of •
given number Krieg in the country, 6 deaths occurred out
of au equal number living in the towns during the last
quarter; and on an average, out of equal numbers living,
four die in the towns during autumn to every three who
die in the country. The causes by which this mortality is
wrought affect the whole organization of children, and
must ultimately produce • degeneration of large numbers
of the English race. But there is apparently no reason
why, by the use of the same or more efficient means, the
health of all the town popidations should not be improved
to the same extent as the health of the navy. The work
would be greater; so would the benefit and the glory. It
is evident, however, that though her Majesty's government
may contribute to this happy change in the public health
by proposing and carrying out good laws, they can only be
successful in measures involving an infinite number of
details by the energetic action of the authorities and of the
people living in towns, where human lif• is now so much
impaired and shortened.
In London the mortality wee below the average. 13,681
deaths were registered in the December quarter, and this
Mlle, are stated in 13,302 instances in the weekly table.
2,8.51 of the deaths were referred to symotic diseases, 74 to
email-pox, 121 to mesas% $B3 to scarlatina (which has been
unusually fatal), 343 tit diembma, 14 to theism 41 to in-
fluenza, 634 to typhus (US h• in the pee preceding).
Erysipelas, fatal la 67 basemen, was eke kee prevalent then
usual. The deaths flees dime= of eueinkie a uncertain
seat, as well es be= trilmwehe Menem. ihsetwate
thus the beim hem smear in Lemke Mike the ive
last mamma wee 916, 342, 219, 281. ad IN; the deaths
from semempeleu 1,460 1,473, 1,466. 1,737, sad 1.1191. TM
eauseddaseemeiderableineresee is the Aesthete's' meow
lien dwkg the leettwo autumns is umknown. 1,492
died from diseases of the brain (TWA vary ineaaeHw
from year to year), 288 persons died of apoplexy, 931 of pa-
ralysis, 118 (40 above the usual number) from sphere,. 617
deaths wen referred I. dimness of the heart mad Mood-
vessels, 2,359 to diseases of the lunge and other organs of
respiration. Bronchitis was the wise of 1,006 deaths;,
pneamonia of 1,036 deaths. Hernia ileum, intussuseeption,
and stricture of the intestinal canal were fatal in 109 in-
stances, a number one-fourth above the average. 116
mothers died in childbirth, 46 by metria (or puerperal
fever), and 69 by other disuses incidental to that state.
The births in London during the quarter were about 20,482,
consequently one mother died to every 178 children bora
alive. The deaths from carbuncle and phlegraon (23),
though not considerible, are move numerous than in the
autumn quarter of 1851, and twice as numerous as in the
previous autumns (1848-60). 20 deaths were referred di.
featly to intemperance ; 27 to delirium 17411119•1;
64 to the want of breast-milk ; 2 to privation ;
ewe to eold; 26 to poison; 66 to burns sad scalds. 93
deaths were referred to hanging, strangling, and suithen-
ties ; and the numbers from these causes has rapidly in.
*reseed of late from 22 in the autumn of 1848 to 41, 64, 66,
and 93 in the autumns ascending. 108 deaths by drowning
have also been registered in the quarter, or 50 more than
the avenge of the corresponding quarters.
. .

The mortality in Surrey, Sasses, and Dampshire was
below the average ; in Kent about, in Berkshire above, the
average. The deaths in Reigate during the last three
autumns were 44, 51, 68 ; in Croydon, 132, 132, 176. In
Kingston, Dartford, and the Medway the mortality was
much below he *very_ e ; so also was it in Margate, Rem-
ote, Brighton, and Hastings. In Dover the deellis were
193, the mortality high ; in Pollees Island, Southampton,
and Winchester the deaths also exceeded the average num-
ber. The mortality to nearly all the districts of Berkshire
on the banks of the Thames was above the average ; scarla-
tina prevailed. The registrar's note on Southampton is as
follows :

-- -
Births 340; Deaths 311. Of the deaths there were regis-
tered in October 70, November 60, December 101. The
encase therefore is in Deeember, which may be chiefly
attributed to the state of the weather. which has been al.
most constantly wet. Nearly half of the deaths registered ,
in that month have been from diseases of the respiratory '
organs. The deaths from fever of all kinds have been only
3 in October, 6 in November, and 8 in December, including
one from " malignant fever," supposed to have been yellow
fever, the deceased having been one of the engineers of the
Ls Plata steam ship from the West Indies, which lost
several on beard from that fever.
--- - •

The registrar of Broughton, Stockbridge, who is a snr•
goon, says : " Since the Ist of August last upwards of 90
codes of fever have been attended by me in East Tytherly
alone. Under ono roof in two rooms (and one of them a
small one) 11 persons sleep. In one room the mother al

one family lies delirious, and in the other the mother and
daughter of the other both ill of fever. Nuisances sur-
round the (*Wile ; there is defective drainers on a clay
soil. In Broughton fever has raged and is still existing in
a very swampy locality."
The mortality was below the average in several districts
of the South Midland Counties; but Uxbridge, Peter-
lborough, Huntingdon, and a few other districts were ex-
' *option, to the rule. Ware suffered from rheumatic and
Intermittent fevers; Waddeedon (Aylesbury) and Mahan
Ferrero from ty_phus ; Suffolk and Norfolk were healthier
than usual; in Essex the mortality exceeded the average.
Low typhoid fever prevailed in Rayleigh, Rochford ; the
Registrar himself had attended 130 cases of low fever.
Typhus prevails to a great extent in the solitary parish
situated in a valley of Southminster, Maldon, in the low
village of Horninghane, St. Faith ; and in Downham
typhus prevailed in the vicinity of a foul pool of water in
the parish of Lyng (Norfolk) ; the cause was removed at
the Instance of the board of guardians, and the fever has
abated. The dirty ponds which are found all about the
country near farm and other houses are unquestionably
noxious, as is proved by this and many other examples.
The Registrar of Middle King's Lynn, where the births of
235 living children were registered, has ascertained that in
the year 1852, 21 still-born children were interred by the
sexton. In Ludham emigration, the Registrar says, appears
to have dimitii.heil the births.
The mortality was below the average in all the south-
western counties, exccpt Wiltshire. The health of North
Bradley is in • satisfactory state, which the registrar as-
cribes to the larger command of the necessaries of life
now possessed even by the poorest." The deaths in the,
Amesbury sulmlistrict exceed the births, owing to the pre-
valence of typhus in Bulford ani in Amesbury. An airy,l
healthy house has been engaged as a temporary fever hos-
pital by a gentleman in the neighbourhood. Fever prevails
in Cerne. In Lyme the sewers have been thoroughly
cleansed, and the Common Lodging House Act has been
carried out ; the deaths hove fallen considerably. Scarla-
tina has been fatal in Newlyn, St. Coiumb ; dysentery in
Falmouth, where the last of 21 deaths from the disease oc-
curred Nov. 15. Ilchcster is Eealthy ; a friendly society
of 210 members, of the a ge age of 30-5, has lost only
2 members by death since June, 1849 ; but at Kinston
Magna, Wincenton, fever of a very bad type has, within
the last three months, made its appearance in the parish.
The cottages are small, crowded, badly ventilated ; de-
cayed vegetables and refuse have been allowed to accu-
mulate.

in the sixth division, the deaths in Herefordshire and
Staffordshire are above, while the deaths in the other coun.
tits are below the average. Small pox has been fatal ia
Bristol ; and the registrar of St. Augu-tine notices a variety
of the disease which has been fatal in Thatched-house-lane.
Typhus and scarlatina prevail in Weobley, Ilenfordshire;
measles and hooping cough in Chin ; and the registrar of
Wem, Shropshire, records an instatee of fever apparently
generated by putrescent matter adjacent to the house.
Scarlatina has prevailed in Staffor..abire ; fever and pul-
monary complaints have prevailed in Birmingham. The
mortality has been above the average in Stokc-upon-Trent,
Wolstanton, and Newcastle-under• Lyme, also in Wulver-
, hampton and the districts around.
In the north-midland division, the mortality in the coun-
ties of Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby is above, in Lin-
coln below the average. The health of Leicester, Oraut-
ham,Buford, and Derby has nut been good. Scarlatina
has erea fatal in Loughborough, Spalding, Worksop, and
Nottingham, where typhus has also prevailed.
In Cheshire and Lancashire the mortality is above the
average ; 17.25.5 people died. Scarlatina has prevailed in
many districts, and typhus has in some places been epidemic.
The deaths in Liverpool are fewer, in Manchester mere, than
is usual.

Yorkshire experienced the average rate of mortality ;
10,657 persons died in the quarter. In Leeds and Sheffield
the mortality is below the average. Scarlatiaa, typhus, and
small-pox wire epidemic in many parts of the county ; 24
deaths from small-pox, 18 from scarlatina, happened in
Scarborough. The healthiness of Barnsley is referred to
the active employment of the labouring population.
The Northern Counties have been less healthy than usual ;
5,679 deaths have been registered; scarlatina has extensively
prevailed. Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the districts around,
Durham, Carlisle, Cockermouth, and Whitehaven, have lost
more than the average number of lives; chiefly, it would
appear, from scarlatina.
In Wales, 6,005 penons died. Small-pox, through the
neglect of vaccination, has been prevalent and fatal. Parts
' of Wrexham are in a filthy state, and there epidemics pre-
vail. Cardiganshire, and the other high districts of Wales,
have been as healthy so twat

---
FARADAY'S DISCOVERIES.

(Fran tbro Leador.)

In default of literary gossip this week, wo will
say a word on Faraday's lecture, "On the Magnetic
Forces," at the Royal Institution—a lecture which com-
manded the attention of the most crowded audience we re-
member within those walls. Faraday is still pursuing his
researches, and has not yet arrived at any conclusion suffi-
ciently definite to bring forward ; but be gave one of his
admirable expositions of the nature and objects of his
search in determining magnetic force, and called attention
to a most remarkable and far-re►ching discovery recently
made—a discovery which, while it opens new tracks

In the shadowy thoroughfares of thought,"
well.nllustratos the value of all direct and accurate observa-
tion, even when the observation 'seems to have little prac-
tical application. It is this. A German astronomer has
for many years been watching the spots on the sun, and
daily recording the result. From year to year the groups
of spots vary. They aro sometimes very numerous, some-
times they are few. After a while it became evident that
the variation in number followed a descending scale through
five years, and then an ascending scale through five subse-
quent years, so that the periodicity of the variations be-
came a visible fact. Now, of what use, asks the practical
Jones, is this fact? We know that every ten years there
has been a cycle of variations ; what then ? What are these
said spats, what do the groups mean, how do they affect us ?
Jones sees nothing but astral twaddling in this patient ob-
servation. And in truth, so long as the fact remains au
isolated fact, it is silent to us; but connect it with some
other fact, and it may discourse significantly. Can this be
done? There seems good hope it may.
While our German friend was busy with his groups of
I sun-spots, an Englishman was busy with the variations of
the magnetic needle. He, too, was a patient recorder of
patient observation. On comparing his tabular results
with these of the German astronomer, he found that the
variations of the magnetic needle corresponded with the
variations of the sun-spota,—that the years when the
groups wure at their maximum, the variations of the needle I
were at their maximum, and so on through the series.
This relation may be coincident ince y, or derivative; if
the latter, then do we connect astral and terrestrial mane-
tisse, and new reaches of science are open to us !
How beautifully this illustrates the slow and certain con-
quests of science, compared with the rapid and illusory
usurpations of metaphysics ! The facile method of a me-
taphysician would have been employed in vain upon these
sun spots. The "depths of moral consciousness" might
have been ransacked, and die I dee sat coesstruiren—the
construction of the true Idea would have been hopeless.
Nature answers if we °interrogate ;" but only if we inter-
rogate her, not if we interrogate ourselves. She will have
nothing to say to the Ides all **Ass

RIMIENTATION or THE LONDON UM/MITT.—
Oa Monday a meeting of the students and graduates in the
above mole ashy was held in the Botanical Theatre of the
tosandes,letalte preliminary steps for obtaining a member
to repaint Ike university in parliament. Mr. Lister having
taus the Asir, said the object for which they had met
was to gal*. the House of Cameo to allow them a
esgessomtedm I. parliament. He did net see why the Uni-
versity dined= should not be repainted u well as the
Hakessehlos et Oohed and Cambridge-1n fact, at the period
Ohs tomdation Lord Melbourne premised that it should
be pissed en the same tooting a those of Oxford and
OenakMge. Mr. Gangey psegamil the first resolution, to
the set that the meeting viewed with satisfaction the
shim beim taken by the meamittee to obtain &re-
presentative of the Uniamity is parliament. He con.
boded that the University had a right to be represented.
Mr. Freakish seconded the reielution, and observed that
Bir J. Graham had ezpreseed ea minion in favour of the
object, and Mr. Gladstone bad done the same, at least by
inuendo, and he urged those passe to us all their energy
to obtain what was their undoubted right—a member to
represent them in parliament. The resolution was put and
carried mos. con. The adoption of a petition to parlia-
ment, showing that there were about 800 graduates in the
University of the average age of 30—rather more than one-
third et whom were of the legal profession, and not quite a
third of the medical—and that, consequently, important
interests were connected with the University, was proposed
by Mr. Haynes, seconded by Mr. Baines, and carried una-

Duraccrus FIRE AT WALWOUTlL—Yesterday
morning, shortly after two o'clock, the inhabitants of the
sewlcreated town around the Lorimer-road, ani adjoin-
ing the Surrey Zoological Gardens at Walworth, were
aroused by a sudden err of " Fire!" It was soon ascer-
tained that the fire was confined tg an unfinished house in
Howard's-terrace, belonging to Mr. Thwaites, of Walworth,
near the Walworth Literary and Scientific Institution,
which was entirely consumed. Soon after the outbreak,
messengers were sent in every direction to the various fire
engine stations, and most of them speedily arrived, although
having just returned from a fire of a coal-brig in the Lime-
holies Canal, the men were nesesearily exhausted. One of
the first, with the two brigade engines from the Waterloo
and Southwark stations, we. th.it of the West of England ;
but owing to the foggy. state of the weather, and the shame-
ful state of the roads is this vicinity—they could not bring
their engines promptly to the scene of action. The dark-
ness of the night, from the intense fog, although the fire
was rating, compelled them in conducting the horses to
carry lighted links. Their efforts were unavailing to save
1 the house, which I. insure.' in the Sun-of lee for 6001.

ACCIDENT ON TUE SOCTII EASTERN RAILWAY.—
An accident occurred on the South Eastern Railway yes-
terday. The 12 30 p.m. train for Ramsgate left London at
its proper time, but when within two miles of the Pens-
burst station the whole of the train, except the engine, ran j
off the rails. Twelve passengers received cuts and bruises,
but fortunately none of a serious nature. By means of the
electric telegraph, assistance was quickly procured, and the
passengers, with the exception of one, who was conveyed
to Tunbridge, were transferred to other carriages, and the
train proceeded to Ramsgate. A careful examination of
the rails has been made, but no defect could be discovered ;
the cause of the carriages getting off the line therefore yet
remains to be ascertained.