The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-20 00:00:00

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE

WEEK.

(Prom the Report of the Registrar-General.)
The inhabitants of London axe not in an average state
of health. 1,250 deaths were registered in the week that
ended on Saturday, Aug. 16, whereas the corrected ave•
rage of the corresponding eight weeks of previous year.,
when cholera was not epidemic, is 1,127. In the second
week of August 1849 and 1854 cholera was epidemic,
and the deaths amounted to 2,230 and 1,833.
Summer ohorera now prevails to a slight extent, and
was fatal in 22 cases; diarrhoea was fatal in 253 cases ;
242 children died of these diseases under the age of 10 ;
11 of the adults were under 60 years, and 22 were 60
years of age and upwards.
Of 1,250 persons of the various stated ages, 760 were
under 20 yerrs of age; 150 were of the age 20-24 ; 146
were 40-60; 156 were 60 SO ; 39 only were of the age of
SO and up ards.

620 of the persons whose career was cut short under
GO years of age died either of zymotic diseases, or of
the respiratory organs of consumption.

These diseases are natural to man, but their ravages
aro greatly aggravated by the physical impurities of the
atmosphere, seen from a dieta.cce hanging in a cloud
over London.

The smoke of our manufactories has been rendered
less dense than it was by Lord Palmerston's Act. It
will ascend as dark as ever in winter from the fires of
340,000 houses ; but Dr. Aroott has shown that the
evil may be greatly diminished, and by the mere modi•
fications of lighting the fire from the top much of the
smoke is burnt.

The dust of the principal streets, which are now co•
vered with horse dung, watered every day, and beat up
by omnibuses, may be got rid of by frequent cleansing,
and by new processes. The railways which traverse the
southern, the eastern, and the northern parts of London
would, if extended to the centre and the west, not only
relieve the thickest thoroughfares, but facilitate the move-
mentsand the traffic of the population, dwelling in houses
which it was computed at the last census could be all
visited by going over something more than 6,563 miles
of ground.
The third class of atmospheric impurities is invisible,
but it arises from the long retention of the excrement of
London under the houses and in the sewers. According
to the estimates of Mr. Lawes London could supply the
farmers of England daily with 29 tons of ammonia, 51
tons of carbon, 14 tons of phosphates, 32 tons of mineral
matter, and 14 tons of other matter, making in the ag-
gregate 140 tons of dry manure, dissolved naturally in
about 19 times its weight of water. The country requiriet
this precious manure, which Loudon is anxious to get
rid of at any reasonable cost, as it is now known to be
as insalubrious as it is offensive.

The problem for the engineer to solve is, how can 8,000
tons of town guano he returned daily to the disinfecting
soil, from which it was chiefly taken, with the least
offence to health and with the least cost I Shall it be
distributed by pipes or by railways ? Shall it be disin-
fected by water, earth, ashes, or any chemical compound?
Under the present arrangements some hundreds of
thousands of tons of this matter lie in store in London.
putrifying c-spools, and percolating the streets, while
the residue is thrown into the Thames at great cost.
All these impurities of the air we breathe in London
have evidently a natural tendency to increase more ra-
pidly than the population, and can only be removed by
the vigilance, intelligence, and energy of the boards of
works.

Every substantial sanitary improvement they effect
will be as evidect as the diminuLion in the mortality in
the districts which now receive a purer water, and which
will, it may be expected. ere long receive it on the sys-
tem of constant supply.
During the week the births of 793 boys and 782 girls,
in all 1,575 children, were registered in London. In the
ten corresponding weeks of the years 1846-55 the ave•
rage number was 1,427.
The meteorology of the week underwent great changes.
The barometer stood at 29.763 in. on an average. The
mean temperature of the air was 66.9 deg. during the
week ; it was 0.3 deg. on Sunday, 71.1 deg. on Mos.
day, and fell gradually to 62.5 on Saturday. The high-
est temperature of the air in the shade rose to 87 deg.
on Monday. The lowest temperature of the air, 48.5
deg., was observed on Saturday night. The thermome-
ter in the sun rose every day t'r 100 deg. and upwards,
attaining 105.5 deg. on Wednesday. The temperature
of the Thames was 70.4 deg. The dryness of the air
was indicated by the 9.1 deg. of difference between the
temperature of the wet and dry bulb thermometers.
The wind was south-west, and moved at the mean rate
of 90 miles a day over Greenwich. Nearly half an inch
(0.4) of rain fell on Thursday ; and rain fell also on Mon-
day and Saturday in gentle showers. The electricity
was positive during the week.

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS
NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED

EN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAYS AUG. 16.

Zymotic Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels - $9
Diseases of the Lungs and other Organs of

Respiration .
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion ..
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c.
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin, &c.
Malformations
Premature Birth and Debility 44
Atrophy 4B
Old Age
Cudden. lO
Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 6O
Causes not specified

62
14
4
5

DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES 1,250
Population Deaths in cone- Deatl s
Enumerated. sponding week in the
..._ .

Itsl. - of 1555. Week.
West Districts
North Districts 490,396
Central Districts 393,256
East Districts 485,522
South Districts

Totals
Males
Fomales

1,095

625
625

1,250