The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-30 00:00:00

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE

WEEK.

( From the Report of the Registrar-General. )
The mortality in London is below the usual average
rate which prevails within its limits. In the week that
ended on Saturday, 995 persons—of whom 487 were
males, and 508 females—died. The total number differs
little from that of the preceding week, which was 1,018.
The corrected average of the corresponding weeks of the
previous 10 years was 1,213. But this result represents
more than the nominal rate of mortality, in consequence
of cholera, which was epidemic in 1849 and 1851, having
carried off in the corresponding weeks of those years
about 916 persons.
Of the 995 persons who died, 522 were under 20 years
of age, 147 were 20 and under 40, 146 were 40 to 60, 146
were 60 to 80, and 34 were 80 years of age and upwards
278 persons died of zymotic diseases, including 11 by
cholera, 71 by diarrhoea, 20 by smallpox, 45 by measles,
19 by scarlatina, 48 by typhus, &c.
Ten of the deaths by cholera are returned as infantile
cholera, and occurred to children under two years of age.
The deaths from diarrhoea have increased from 15
weekly in June, to 29, 48,62 in July, and in the last week
to 71. Of 90 deaths assigned to diseases of the res-
piratory organs, 41 were caused by bronchitis, 42 by
pneumonia, 4 by asthma, 3 by pleurisy, laryngitis,
&c. Phthisis was fatal i❑ 120 cases.
Half of the deaths that happen on an average in London
between the ages of 20 and 40, are from consumption and
diseases of the respiratory organs. The deaths from these
diseases in the last week were 65 ; the deaths from all
other diseases at the same period of life were 82. The
deaths from consumption and from other diseases of the
respiratory organs, at all ages, were 220.
The majority of these diseases arise from constitutional
conditions, and from the ordinary elements of insalubrity
—but there can be no doubt that the dirty dust suspend-
ed in the air, that the people of Los don breathe, often
excites diseases of the respiratory organs. The dirt of
the streets is produced and ground now by innumerable
horses, omnibuses, and carriages ; and the❑ beat up in
fine dust, which fills the mouth and inevitably enters
the air passages in large quantities. The dust is not
removed every day, but, saturated with water in the
great thoroughfares, sometimes ferments in damp wea-
ther, and at other times ascends again under the heat of
the summer sun as atmospheric dust.
The natural remedies would apparently be to transfer
from the principal thoroughfares some of the immense
traffic by horse-carriages to railways, and to keep the
streets, by daily cleansing, as clean as the streets are
kept in some of the continental towns. The inhabitants
of London would the❑ net have to dread diseases as fatal
as the "grinders' rot," or the "miners' asthma," from
mechanical impurities of the air they breathe.
Last week the births of 844 boys and 764 girls, in all
1,608 children, were registered in London. In the ten
corresponding weeks of the years 1846 55 the average
number was 1,394.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
reading of the barometer was 29.733 in. for the week
ending the 26th July ; the bky for the most part was
overcast with occasional showers. lightning W 33 fre-
quent at night on Wednesday, with thunder, which was
also heard on Saturday. Electricity was positive through-
out the week except Sunday. The atmosphere was warm,
and the average temperature was 2.3 deg. in excess on
the average derived from the same week for the last

38 years. v The mean daily temperature was 64.2 deg.,
or about 4 deg. above the temperature of the week pre-
ceding. The thermometer rose to 83.0 deg. on Wednes-
day ; from this point it fluctuated, and descended to
49.8 deg. on Saturday. The average dew•point was 6.0
deg. below the air temperature, and showed a difference
of between 8 and 9 deg. on Friday and Saturday, con-
sequently the air was drier on those days than during
the preceding part of the week. The direction of the
wind was chiefly from the south-west, and passed over
Greenwich at rates averaging 86 miles daily.

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS
NITMBEII OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED
IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, JULY 26
Zymetic Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart and Biood-vessels 3l
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 5
Premature Birth and Debility 23
Atrophy 3l
Old Age .. 37
Sudden .. 6
Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 42
Causes not specified 6