The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-02 00:00:00

STATE CP THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

The health of the population generally has been bad ;
and the mortality has greatly exceeded the average.
134,605 deaths have been registered, which is 20,000 in
excess of the corrected average of the winter quarters.
This addition to the ordinary mortality of winter, which
is in England the most fatal season, is referable to the
low temperature, with the consequent hard times,
against which it is difficult for the wages classes to make
an adequate provision ; and in other countries, where
there is no such system of relief as is administered
under the English poor law, the suffering and the mor-
tality are much greater in severe seasons than they are
in England.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK.

(From the Report of the Registrar-General. )

In the week that ended on Saturday the' number of
deaths registered in London was 1,132. This is rather
more than the number of the previous week ; but the
last two returns together afford sufficient proof that the
public health is advancing to a more satisfactory state
In the. ten corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54 the
average number of deaths was 1,006. That the actual
number may be compared with the average, 100 should
be added to the latter, to allow for increased population ;
and the comparison will then show that the mortality
of last week did not much exceed the ordinary mortality
at the end of April.
Diseases of the respiratory organs grow less prevalent
and fatal, and to this circumstance chiefly the decrease
of the total mortality is owing. Excluding phthisis and
hooping cough, that class of diseases which, when the
weather was cold, caused 433 deaths in a week, pro-
duced in the last three weeks 282, 222, and 190, show-
ing a steady decrease. Phthisis was fatal in 176 cases
last week, a number as great as that which usually oc-
curred in the depth of winter. Hooping cough, which
carried off 50 children in each of the last two weeks,
prevails less than it did. The mortality from zymotic
diseases, in the aggregate, is near the usual amount, 30
deaths are referred io small-pox, 15 to measles, 45 to
scarlatina. Five from the last-mentioned disease oc-
curred in Woolwich, 3 in Peckham, and 3 in Kensing-
ton.

Last week the births of 892 boys and 864 girls, in all
1,756 children, were registed in London. In the ten
correspondint weeks of the years 184554, the average
number was 1.495.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 30.140 in. The
mean reading was above 30 in. on every day except Satui -
day. At the beginning of the week the highest reading
occurred, and wai 30 40 in. The mean temperature of
the week was 44 deg., which is 4.5 deg. below the ave-
rage of the same week in 38 years. Tne mean tempera-
ture was below the average on every day except Tues-
day, when it bardly exceeded the average. The coldest
day was Sun lay (che 22d), when the mean temperature
was 39.4 deg., which was 7.6 (I( g. below V e average ;
and the lowest temperature occurred on that day, and
was 29.6 deg. The highest temperature in the week
was 68.0 deg., and occurred on Tuesday, and the lowest
on the same day was 207 deg., nearly the lowest in the
week, and showirg a range of 38.3 deg. The mean
dew•point temperature was 37.3 deg., and the mean
difference between this and the mean temperature of
the air was 6.7 deg. The wind blew from the north and
north-east ; and no rain fell except a slight shower on
the morning of Saturday. On that day the temperature
of the air was 58 deg. at noon, and fell 10 deg. by three
o'clock.

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS.