The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-22 00:00:00

THE UNIDENTIFIED DEAD.

At a time when the disappearance of Mr. Speke is the
subject of so much correspondence in the public press, it
may be interesting to record a few facts relating to the
number of deaths registered in England and Wales,
of persons who died unrecognised. in 1866. It is well
known that an index is prepared at the General Re-
gister Office, Somerset House, at the end of every
quarter, wherein the names and surname of every de-
ceased person are recorded in strict alphabetical order.
The index also gives the age at the time of death, and
it also records the registration district wherein, it
occurred. This list is, in fact, a key to the volume con-
taining the legal document, which states the date of the
death, the civil condition of the deceased, and also the
exact cause of death. In the four quarterly volumes of
1866, there are thus'indexed the deaths of more than five
hundred thousand persons who died in England and
Wales in the course of the year. It frequently happens,
however, that there are cases of persons who meet with
fatal accidents, and of whom nobody seems to know any-
thing. There are also numerous fatal cases of apoplexy
and heart disease, terminating suddenly, and many persons
dying of these diseases are unidentified. Cases of suicide
are of common occurrence, and it is very probable that
many of these bodies are recognised. Altogether, there-
fore, it is not very surprising to find that there were about
1,053 deaths of unknown persons recorded in 1866. Of
this latter total 687 were males and 347 were females, and
that there should be more unknown males than females
admits of easy explanation. Besides the fatal accidents
and also cases of suicide, the official index includes
numerous cases of sailors who have lost their lives at sea,
and whose bodies have been washed ashore on various
parts of the coast. This, and the fact that men are more
exposed to accidents than women, are doubtless the true
reasons of the excess of unknown males ; but besides
this it is a fact that suicides are three times more
numerous amongst men than amongst women. Con-
tinuing the analysis of the list, so far as it relates to ages,
it will be found that the deaths of 529 unknown
children were recorded under one year old. Probably the
greater part of these deaths resulted from violence or ex-
posure ; but still it is exceedingly likely that in many
cases the persons having the custody of the child may have
been so poor that they determined to run all risk rather
than incur the expense of burial. Shame, too, doubtless
operated in many cases, and therefore, to prevent all trace,
the body may have been left exposed in public places. There
were also 288 persons who were unrecognised, but whose
age is recorded in the index, and there is an ugly total
of 243 deaths of unknown persons, and whose age is
not given in the book. In the latter cases the clue to after
discovery manifestly becomes fainter ; it is, however, not
altogether hopeless, inasmuch as the register to which
reference is made from the index often gives the civil
condition of the deceased as well as the time and place of
death. In London alone there were 330 persons who
died unidentified in the year 1866—namely, 191 males and
139 females. The destruction of infant life was here
exceedingly great, 245 unknown children having died
under one year old, that is to say, more than two-thirds of
the entire unrecognised deaths in the metropolis. In
71 cases the age is recorded, and in 14 cases no age is
entered. In many cases the body has not been dis-
covered until some considerable time after death,
and therefore decomposition has • set in. This is
probably the reason why the coroner so repeatedly
omits to give the age (and it is from his
information that most of these deaths are registeted), but
still an approximate age may prove very valuable in after
years, in cases where searches may be instituted. There
were 19 deaths recorded in England in 1866 of persons
whose names and sex do not appear to have been ascer-
tained. Twelve of these cases were children under one
year of age, and in seven instances no are is ' 4.ed.

The statues of the Kings in Westminster Hall
are stated to have cost £3OO each.
The Italie of Florence announces that Admiral
Farragut, with some officers of the Franklin, has left
that city for Venice.

Mr. Holman Hunt was a candidate to fill one of
the vacancies at the Royal Academy at the late election
but his name was for some reason withdrawri

The letter of the judges, critici3ing the proposal to
place the trial of election petitions upon their shoulders
does not meet with the unanimous approval of the week-
lies. The Spectator speaks of it as being " cavalier in style
and weak in substance," and reminds their lordships that
theiiconstitutional duties are those which they are called
tipcin to perform under the Constitution, and that Parlia-
ment, and not the judges, has the constitutional right to
change the Constitution.. On the other hand, the Solicitors'
Journal looks upon the objections of the judges as un-
answerable.

The John „Bull states that the Archbishop of Canterbury
has appointed Tuesday, March 3, for a special meeting of
the National Society, to consider the Education question,
and a very large attendance is expected. Archdeacon
Denison, in a letter to the. Eight Hon. Gathorne Hardy,
just published by Messrs. Rivington, supposing that the
Government bill will contain a conscience clause, "the prin-
cipal instance of that combined secular, financial, and reli-
gions tyranny which is peculiar to the 19th century," contends
that if the House of Commons will not accept the " reli-
gious liberty " aspect of the question, there is nothing left
for bishops, clergy, and people to submit to but an
ineyitable,wrong, only let them care that they, are neither
directly nor indirectly parties to its infliction. He con-
cludes by expressing his conviction that the National
Society had better c Jule to an end than accept a conscience
clause.

BABY FARMING AND BABY MURDER. —ln carry-
ing on the investigation into the character and conse-
quences of the system of baby farming in the metro-
polis the British Medical Journal has become possessed
of clues, which it has followed up, which lead to its
now pulilishing the proofs that in many parts of the
metropolis there is carried on, under the most flimsy,
d►sgu►se or quite openly, a criminal trade equally dan-
gerous to the morality and the health of the com-
munity, and constituting a felonious offence. It pro-
duces evidence that the majority of the persons who
publicy offer retirement for ladies, and facilities for
" leaving baby," are engaged in this traffic ; and it gives
verbatim extracts from the notes of conversations in which
these persons have announced their business and stated
their terms. All ranks of society are involved in injury by
this system ; and the statements transcribed in the British
Medical Journal are such as lead us to the conclusion that
this traffic in life is extensive ; that it is carried on in
open daylight, and without any concealment ; that the
police authorities could easily stop a great majority at
least of these crimes, as now practised ; and that all classes
of society are interested in home steps being taken for the
purpose.