The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-06 00:00:00

INCitEASE OF POPULATION.

As the births were 179,020, the deaths 121,304,
the natural increase of population was 57,716 in 92
days, or on an average of 627 daily.
About 15,367 emigrants of English origin sailed
in the 92 days from the ports in the United King-
dom at which there are emigration officers ; 7,833
sailed to the United States, 823 to the American
colonies, 5,518 to Australia, and 1,193 to other
places; on an average 167 English emigrants left
the country daily.
PRICES, PAUPERISM, AND THE WEATHER.

The price of wheat is rising. It was 38s. sd. a
qr. in the last three months of 1864, and 445. 10d.
a qr. in the last three months of 1865. The rise is
nearly 17 per cent. on the low price of 1864. Beef
by the carcase in London was on an average sid.
per lb. ; about id. below the price of the correspond-
ing season of 1864, and id. per lb. dearer than it
was in the autumn of 1863. The mean of the quoted

prices of beef ranged from 41d. to 7d. a lb.; mutton
from 54d. to 81d. in the last three months. The
average price of mutton in the last three autumns
was 6d., 6; d., and 6-id. a lb. The rise in the price of

beef was 10 per cent., of mutton 15 per cent., in two
years. This was partly the result of panic, and of
interference with the supply of the markets, as the
destruction of stock had not been considerable when
the prices rose; and the rise itself was anticipated
and augmented by the extra profits of the butcher.
The best potatoes at the waterside market, South-
wark, sold at prices ranging from 60s. to 90s. a ton;
from 3s. to 4s. 6d. the cwt. The prices are much
lower than they were in the autumn of 1864.
On an average 129,036 paupers received complete
relief in the workhouses; 725,259 paupers out of
doors received relief sufficient to supply some of their
wants, but not enough for subsistence. The numbers
relieved in the workhouses scarcely varied ; the
numbers out of doors fell from 804,941 to 771,879,
and to 725,259 in the last three autumnal quarters.
The temperature of the quarter was 46 deg. Fahren-
heit, equal to 8 deg. centigrade.

The autumnal season was characterised by high

temperature, storms, and a heavy rain-fall. The
mean temperature of the year at Greenwich Obser-
vatory was 2.3 deg. above the average of the sea-
son. The temperature of December there was nearly
as high as that of November ; its mead temperature
was 3.4 deg. above the average of 94 Decembers.
The rain-fall on 47 days was 9.2 inches at the Royal
Observatory, or 2.1 inches above the average. The
excess of rain fell in October, when the fall was
5.9 inches ; in December the fall was only 0.9 inch,
or fully an inch below the average.
The rain-fall determines to some extent the water
supply, and the excess in October made up the de-
ficiency in the early part of the year. The rain-fall
depends upon a great number of conditions, and
consequently varies in every part of the country.
Thus 20.2 inches of rain fell at Allenheads, 191 at
Truro, and only 5.8 inches at Liverpool Observa-
tory. The average rain-fall at Mr. Glaish er's 50
stations was 114 inches ; which is equivalent to
1,151 tons of rain per acre, or to 42,561 million
tons on the whole area of England and Wales. If
the country ever suffers from the want of water, it
is from defective storage or defective distribution.
In the mountainous regions the annual rain-fall in
some places has been found to amount to 190
inches. It would be a great advantage to get the
water of the hills unpolluted for the supply of men
and domestic animals in the plains.

DEATHS ; AND THE STATE of THE PUBLIC HEALTH.
The threats which were held over our heads of a
new form of fever, the invasion of two points of
the southern coast by epidemic cholera, which has
ravaged the Continent, and the prevalence of cattle
plague all over England, led us to await the result
of the returns with some anxiety.
It is gratifying under these circumstances to find
that the mortality has been lower than it was in the
autumn of 1864, and has been only •104 above the
autumnal average.
121,304 deaths were registered in the quarter,
and the mortality was at the rate of 2.284 per cent.
annually.
In the districts of the chief towns the mortality
was at the rate of 2.564 per cent., or •134 above
the average.
The mortality in the country districts was, as
usual, lower than the mortality in the town districts;
it was at the rate of 1.927 per cent., and only .012
above the average of those districts.

Thus the rate of mortality in the country districts
was about 19, in the town districts nearly 2G, and in
the kingdom generally nearly 23 per 1,000 living.
The mortality was lowest in the south-western
counties (19), highest in the north-western counties
(29) ; thus the annual rate was 10 per thousand
higherin Lancashire and Cheshire round the Mersey
than it was in the counties between the Bristol
Channel and the Channel which divides England
from France.
It is gratifying to find that the mortality rate of
London (24) is lower by 2 in 1,000 than it was (2G)
in the autumn quarter of the previous year.
The mortality has been excessively high through
the year in prosperous Yorkshire ; it is still 2 above
the county average (23), but it is somewhat lower
than it was in the autumn of the previous year.

Asa general rule the mortality has been higher
,han their average in the counties north of the Dee

and of the Humber, and lower than the average in
counties of Wales and of the Midland and Southern
region of England, around the basins of the Severn,
Trent, and Thames.

The great towns of the United Kingdom may be
arranged thus in the order of the autumnal mortality
rate per I,ooo—Bristol 24, London 24, Dublin 26,
Birmingham 26, Edinburgh 29, Hull 29, Leeds 33,
Salford 34, Manchester 36, Glasgow 40, Liverpool
41. The mortality in 63 of the country districts
was 18 during the same season.
It is sad to see this great sacrifice of human life in
so many of our large towns, where the productive
industry of the country is most active, and where
the science of the country is applied to almost every
purpose, except the maintenance of the hygienic
conditions on which men can live in health.

Itis satisfactory to observe at the same time traces
of dawning light. London has undertaken great
sewage works ; Manchester is already supplied with
abundance of water; and we may hope to see ere
long a generous rivalry in our cities in the race of
improvement. When pure water on the constant
supply system is brought to every house, and the
dirt in cesspools, which is the source of zymotic dis-
ease, is carried away to fructify the soil, the muni-
cipal authorities will have laid the solid foundations
of the sanitary edifice. The inspection of articles of
food by health officers, measures for the regulation
of lodging-houses or of any of the houses in which
fever is generated, and several other duties, they
may also undertake; but after all this is done, the
crowning success must be achieved by the people
themselves. Temperance, self-control, and skill in
protecting themselves and their children from evil
are every day called into requisition. The preser-
vation of life depends upon careful attention to
small things, and should be taught as a part of com-
mon education.

Mr. Leigh's able sanitary report on Manchester
shows how much has been clone, and how much re-
mains to be done, in that city. It is to be regretted
that Manchester has yet no health officer, but it is
indebted to the Statistical and the Sanitary Socie-
ties for the publication of much valuable practical
information.