The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-01 00:00:00

STATE OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH.

The number of deaths registezed in the 3 months
was 100,986, considerably more than in the same
quarter of 1860, which was 86,423, but less than in
that of 1859. And over England the fluctuation in
the deaths was generally similar to that which is
shown in the aggregate number. The annual rate of
mortality did not rise quite to the average : for the
former was 199 in 10,000 of the population, the
latter is 202. In the cold September quarter of
1860 the rate was 171.

The mortality in the country and small towns
was 178, whereas that of the large towns was 221.
The respective average rates are 176 and 235:
whence it appears that in an equal number of the
population (10,000) there were 43 deaths more in
towns than in country; but the health of the former
was better last quarter, relatively to their own
former experience, than that of the latter, for the
mortality among the rural population slightly ex-
ceeded its average.
The town and country rates of mortality in the
summer of 1860 were respectively 184 and 159.
That season differed from the summer which has
just passed chiefly in this respect, that it was much
colder, and consequently diarrhoea prevailed much
less than it has recently done. In 10,000 persons
the excess of deaths this year over those of 1860 was
37 in towns and 19 in the country. Other causes
besides diarrhoea affect in various ways the results;
but the facts are sufficient to show that this com-
plaint !rules with a more deadly effect where
"houses thick and sewers annoy the air." It de-
serves to be noticed that the annaul deaths from
diarrhoea in London ranged from 452 to 841 in the
years 1840 5 ; they suddenly mounted to 2,152 in
1846 ; they continued high during the whole period
1847-59, which embraced two cholera epidemics ; '
they were 3,335 in 1859, which is more than a sixth
part of the deaths from diarrhcca that year in Eng-
land. They fell to 1,383 in 1860. When an effi-
cient system of drainage has come into operation in
London and the large towns, and other sanitary
works haye sweetened the air aboye and the earth

beneath, the permanent reduction of diarrhcea will
be, it may be hoped, among the good results that
will be gained ; but that improvement " at home,"
which is so much needed by the poor, increased
comfort in their dwellings and order in their habits,
better food and purer drink, will probably be still
more effectual in abating that disease by which so
much infant life is yearly destroyed.
Among public sanitary undertakings by which
periodical outbreaks of diarrhcea and other diseases
are to be met there is none of more hopeful charac-
ter than the introduction into towns of water pure
and ample. An eminent statesman, to whom muni-
cipal institutions are greatly indebted, has declared
that the erection of public drinking-fountains should
engage the attention of municipalities and other re-
I presentative bodies,which have the power of levying
the local rates. It must be still more an object of
concern to establish its circulation within the houses
of all classes of the community. And, if the purity
of Loch Katrine cannot be attained, it is still pos-
sible by improved mechanical means to reduce the
contrast, far too palpable as it exists at present,
between much of the water supplied to towns and
that of the model Highland reservoir.
An increase of deaths in Strood (Kent) was due
to dysentery and scarlatina; and the Registrar re-
marks that "in a district having a large marsh
surface there will always be an autumnal dysentery,
especially when the season is warm and dry, as the
last quarter was in a remarkable degree.
Diarrhoea is reported as having been prevalent
and fatal in Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Shef-
field, York, Yarmouth, Norwich, and many parts of
both town and country. Of 292 deaths in the
Deansgate sub-district of Manchester, 73 were
caused by infantile diarrhoea. Some observations
on the subject by Mr. Leigh will be found in their
place in the Registrar's notes. Of 254 deaths in
the sub•district of Regent's-road, Salford, 61 were
from diarrhcea. In West Wymer, Norwich, the
same complaint was fatal in 50 cases in a total num-
ber of 177 recorded ; at Deritend, in Warwickshire,
in 59 cases out of 187.

Low typhoid fever is very prevalent at Steyning,
in Sussex, where in consequence of bad drainage it
is believed to cling with greater tenacity. The total
deaths in Brighton were 427 against 342 in the
same quarter of 1860. Fever prevails in the more
more crowded parts of the town of Buckingham,
where drainage and ventilation are stated tobe very
imperfect. At Worcester, where there has been a
great deal of typhoid fever, almost every case has
been accompanied by "pustular eruption or ulcera-
tion of the throat, which sometimes became almost
diphtheritic." Typhus carried off a man, his three
adult sons, and his granddaughter, who occupied
two houses at Snitterfield (Stratford-on-Avon). It
was very prevalent, though not very fatal, at Yeadon
in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Of 29 deaths at Somersham (St. Ives) 9 were
caused by diphtheria; and of 31 at Ixworth, in
Suffolk, there were also 9 (in Great Livermore
parish) from the same disease. It was fatal in 7
cases in Holt, Norfolk. Five deaths, all in one
family, occurred from it at Burnham, in the same
county; and in the neighbouring sub-district of
Snettisham " a malignant form of sore throat is
very prevalent, of which more than 30 cases (6 fatal)
occurred in the parish of Hunstanton. Diphtheria
raised the mortality at Loddon and Diss. It was
fatal in 6 cases at Ellesmere. It prevailed greatly
at Leake in Leicestershire, and caused 5 deaths out
of 26 at Holt in North Wales.
The registrar of the Dale-street sub-district,
Liverpool, complains both of its moral and sanitary
condition, and draws attention to the following
comparison, which is sufficiently striking :—ln his
own sub-district, containing a population of 28,698
persons, there were 266 births and 236 deaths in
the quarter. In the sub-district of West Derby,
with a population of 53,000, there were 497 births
and only 208 deaths. The registrar of the more
favoured locality partly explains the cause of so
great a difference ; he writes—" There have not been
so few deaths (in West Derby) in any quarter since
that ending June 30, 1856, though the population
is now from 12,000 to 14,009 more than at that pe-
riod, which proves that the inhabitants are in an
unusually healthy state, owing in a great degree to
the great care taken by the authorities of Liverpool
in cleansing the streets, sewers, and courts." It
may be inquired whether the same watchful and
beneficent care is not extended by the Liverpool
authorities to the Dale-street district, where it is
stated that ashpits are an abounding nuisance. The
authorities in charge of this locality will not plead
the want of successful example as an excuse.
The report from Salisbury is as cheerful as that
of West Derby ; it runs as follows :—" The deaths
are much below the average, which can only be
accounted for by reference to the sanitary measures
that have been adopted within the last few years.
The city is thoroughly drained, running streams in
every street called canals are covered over, and a
supply of better water is obtained. The beneficial
effects of these measures are now beginning to be
felt."

AIV IRISH WAKE AND ITS CONSE-
QUENCES.

Yesterday morning an indescribable scene of up-
roar occurred on the banks of the Serpentine, in
Hyde•park, amongst a considerable number of Irish
people, who had congregated for the purpose of
searching for the body of a younr, married Irish-
woman, who had committed self-destruction by
throwing herself into the water, through a quarrel
with her husband the previous night, said to be the
effects of an Irish wake, in which they had taken
part during Tuesday night and following morning.
It appears, from the statement of friends of the de-
ceased, whose name is Ellen Crawley, aged 23, living
at 2, Prince of Wales-yard, Exeter-street, Chelsea,
that she, with her husband, buried his mother on
Tuesday. The usual wake was celebrated through
the night, during which time the deceased drank
with some young men, and chatted too freely to
please her husband, who became very jealous, and
after their return home, between nine and ten
on Wednesday evening, a quarrel ensued, and the
husband pushed her out of the house, The de-
ceased then, in a fit of violent passion, declared
her intention to drown herself in the Serpentine,
and ran away, pursued by her husband and
others. The young woman must have reached the
park just before the gates were closed for the night,
and instantly precipitated herself into the water,
without scarcely time for reflection, as very slortly
afterwards her pursuers arrived, and finding the
gates shut climbed over the railings, and she war
nowhere to be seen. Early yesterday morning
the husband instituted a search along the banks
of the Serpentine, followed by a number of his
countrymen and women. On arriving at the south-
eastern end they discovered a dark object in the
water, and believing it to be the body of the hap-
less woman, two boatmen of the Royal Humane
Society proceeded in a boat to the spot, where they
picked up the body, and conveyed it with all speed
to the receiving-house, followed by the crowd, which,
from the howling and other noises of lamentation,
soon became much increased. Mr. Superintendent
Williams immediately sent for the society's medical
officer, but it was totally useless, as she had evidently
been in the water since the preceding night. Upon
her person was found £l2 in gold, very carefully
sewn up in a blue flannel petticoat. The body
awaits the coroner's inquisition.