The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-02 00:00:00

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING- THE

WEEK.

(Prom the Report of the Registrar-General.)

The total number of deaths registered in London in the
week that ended last Saturday was 1,485. In the 10
corresponding weeks of the years 1345-54 the average
number was 1,190, which, if raised in a certain propor-
tion for comparison with last week's deaths which oc-
curred in an increased population, becomes 1,309. The
result obtained is an excess in the rate of mortality now
prevailing, as compared with the average rate for the
last week of the year.

Before the cold weather, which was recently experi_
enced, set in, the weekly deaths were about 1,100 ; I.st
week the deaths registered exceeded that number by
nearly 400. This increase is to be referred, in part, to
the operation of natural causes in producing or aggra-
vating diseases, and thereby increasing the rate of mor-
tality, and partly to a cause which is pericelical and in-
cidental to the registration. At the end of the quarter
there is an influx into the register books of coroner's
cases, which, if they had been registered when they oc-
curred, would have been spread more equally over the
last and previous weeks.

Both bronchitis and pneumonia exhibit an inerea,e in
the cases is which they were fatal over those of previous
weeks. The former disease caused 119, 119, 161 deaths
in 3 preceding weeks ; in the present return the number
has risen to 204. Pneumonia has increased in the last
2 weeks from 80 to 107. llooping-cbugh predominates
in the zymotic class, and was fatal in 66 cases, scarlatina
in 50, typhus in 50, measles in 37, small-pox in 17.
Measles pravail in St. Clement Danes and part of
Marylebone. Scarlatina and typhus appear to be ex-
ceedingly rife in the anb•district of St. Peter, Walworth,
where 8 deaths occurred from the former or the latter
form of epidemic disease. Mr. Turner, the registrar,
reports that of the 8 cases, 4 occurred in one family in
Park-place, East-street. Three children were buried on
one day. It appears that the house was in an unwhole-
some condition, and that remedial measures, at last found
to be necessary, were delayed in consequence of the sick-
ness that attacked the family.
Last week the births of 805 boys and 753 girls, in all
1,563 children, were registered in London. In the ten
corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54, the average
number was 1,332.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.447 in. The
mean temperature, which in the previous week was 28.2
deg., was last week 44.8 deg., which is 7.2 deg, above
the average of the same week in 33 years (as determined
lay Mr. Glasher). The highest temperature occurred on
Friday, and was 53.4 deg. The lowest was 24 deg. on
Sunday (the 23d). The mean teraperatnre was above
the average o❑ every day of the week, and on Friday
this excess was 10.7 deg. The mean dew-point tempe-
rature was 41.7 deg., and the difference between this
and the mean air temperature was 3 deg. The wind
ble w from the south-west. The amount of rain was 0.83
'in., which fell almost entirely on the first four days. The
amount of horizontal movement of the air on Wednes-
day was 325 miles.

MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS
NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED
IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, DEC. 29
Zymotic Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 64
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
Atrophy
Old Age
5udden........................................................
Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 123
Causes not specified

33

DEATHS fllOll ALL CAUSES
Population Deaths in Corte- Deaths
Enumerated. sponding week in the
18.51. of 1854. Wec k .
West Districts
North Districts 490,396 ...... 281 ...... 309
Central Districts 393,256 ..... 211

East Districts 485,522 ...... 367
South Districts

1,508

1,485
743
742

Totals
Males
Females.
BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

Males
Females..

TOW • • • 1,563