LON 23 REPORT ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OP THE CITY OF LONDON, FOR THE YEAR 1855-56. BY HENRY LETIIEBY, M.B., medical officer of health for the city of london, AND PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND TOXICOLOGY IN THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF THE LONDON HOSPlTAL. london: m. lownds, printer, 148½, fenchurch street. 1856. At a Meeting of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, held at the Guildhall of the said City, on Tuesday, October the 14 th, 1856:— The Medical Officer of Health laid before the Court his Annual Report, which was ordered to be Printed, and a Copy to be sent to every Member of this Court, and of the Court of Common Council. JOSEPH DAW, Principal Clerk. the SANITARY CONDITION OF THE CITY OF LONDON. EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT. To the Honorable the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London. 8, King Street, Finsbury Square, October 14 th, 1856. Gentlemen, In accordance with the usual practice of my predecessor, I lay before you a series of Tables having reference to the mortality of the City of London for the year ending at Michaelmas ; and although these tables exhibit many facts that might be made the subjects of ingenious speculation, and even of eloquent discourse, yet I will not venture, with the experience of a single year, to do more than give you a very simple account of their signification and value. 6 You will perceive by the first table, that the total mortality of the year is 2,910. This number is 490, or nearly 17 per cent. under that of the preceding year; and it is 280, or about 11 per cent. less than the average of the last eight years: in fact, the death rate of the whole City has been reduced from a general average of 24 per 1,000 of the inhabitants to 22. How much misery and desolation are represented by the difference in these numbers cannot be expressed; but you can easily imagine that an improvement to the extent of 11 per cent. in the health and vitality of a population is a matter of no mean importance; and I lay stress upon it, because I know that it is due, in a very large degree, to the operation of those sanitary measures which were put into action by my predecessor—"it is," to use his own metaphor, "the fruitage of that stately tree which begins to give evidence of its widelier spreading roots." I hope that the results of my own labours in your service will be equally beneficial. And now, in turning from the contemplation of what has been done, to the consideration of that which is still to be accomplished, I am reminded that there is yet a wide field of action before me, and that it will require great energy to deal with the many untoward circumstances .that beset a City life; for wheresoever there is a large aggregation of living beings, there are always fertile sources of 7 disease, arising out of the filth, the overcrowding, the defective diet, and the many bad and improvident habits of the poor and the reckless. There it is that the principles of sanitary medicine, and the legislation of a watchful government can be best applied. This, I am sure you will say, is amply illustrated by what follows. On looking at the death-rates of the several districts and sub-districts of the territory over which you have jurisdiction, it will be seen that their proportions differ in a very remarkable manner, and that they have contributed very unequally towards the general aggregate; for, while the total mortality of the whole City is at the rate of 22 per 1,000 of the inhabitants, that of the several sub-divisions is from 15 to 30 in the 1,000. In the City of London Union, for example, the mortality has been from 15 to 19 in the 1,000; and in that division of the metropolis which forms the Eastern part of the City the number of deaths has been from 22 to 28 in the 1,000; and worse still in one of the most densely crowded of all the metropolitan subdistricts—namely, the Southern part of the West London Union, the mortality has risen to 30 in the 1,000. Now, although we can have no hesitation in concluding that in the last case there must have been a frightful sacrifice of human life—for the mortality 8 of the place has been just double what it ought to have been ; yet we are by no means assured that in the first instance there has been a proportionate saving of it. True it is, that the average death-rate of the City of London Union is as low as 17.7 per 1,000 of the inhabitants ; but we must not lose sight of the fact that many influences have been at work in keeping down the proportion of deaths, which do not strictly belong to the sanitary affairs of the district. One of these arises out of a practice that is universally followed by the better classes— namely, that of avoiding as far as possible the aggravating circumstances of a City life, and of moving away into a more healthy district whenever the hand of sickness is placed upon them. This necessarily causes the exclusion of a large number of deaths which rightly belong to the City returns; and if these circumstances were not duly considered, we should be disposed to imagine that the state of the public health in the very heart of the metropolis is actually better than it is in all England, or even than it is in the average of our rural districts ; for, according to the last Annual Report of the Registrar General, the mortality of England is at the rate of 22.1 per 1,000, while that of town districts is 25.8, and that of the country 20.3. It would therefore appear from a superficial examination of these numbers, that the vitality of the City Union is actually 21 per cent. better than that of England generally, and 15 per cent. better than that of 9 the rural districts. I need not tell you that such a view of the matter is altogether erroneous. To be able to judge more accurately, therefore, of the City mortality, it is necessary to examine the returns of those districts where the population are more firmly fixed to their homes. Such localities are common enough in both the eastern and western divisions of the City; and there, as might be expected, the death-rate rises to from 50 to GO per cent. over that of the central division, and from 20 to 30 over that of all England. It is sad to contemplate this fact, for we are conscious that it involves a world of wretchedness and suffering; that in truth, it is an expression of how much might have been done to lessen the weight of misery, and to lengthen the days of human existence. It is, however, encouraging to know that bad as the present condition of things assuredly is, it is not nearly so bad as it was before the exercise of those remedial measures which were originated by your late medical officer; and, I entertain a hope, that with the appliances of sanitary medicine, and the earnestness with which you employ them, the time is not far distant when the deep shadow of death that darkens these localities shall be considerably lightened; when the returns of such places as Cripplegate, St. Andrews, and the south-western sub-district generally, shall no more stand out upon 10 the bills of mortality, as if there were plague spots in the city. And now, there is another circumstance to which I must direct your attention—it is that which relates to the early age at which the great bulk of your fellow citizens die. You will notice in the second table I have placed before you, that out of a total annual mortality of 2,910, as many as 1,119 perished before they had reached the fifth year of their age. This is at the rate of 38 per cent. of all the deaths. It ranges, however, in the different districts of the City from 30 to 40 per cent; and, as you might suppose, the infant mortality is greatest in the crowded alleys and courts of the Eastern and Western Unions. In all England the mortality of children under five years of age is, as nearly as possible, 39 per cent. of all the deaths. This is, apparently, a larger proportion than occurs in the City of London, and as in the last case, without due consideration, it might be made the ground of a false opinion as to the state of the public health. Let us therefore examine the facts a little more closely. London, as you know, is not the nursery of its population. Few comparatively of those who live and labor among you are citizens by birth. The great bulk of your population has entered upon a London 11 career after having passed the perils of infancy elsewhere ; indeed, your City is ever receiving fresh accessions of vigorous life in the very prime of youth. This relieves the metropolis from a weight of infant mortality that would otherwise press heavily upon it; and to learn, therefore, how great is the deathrate of your infant population, you must, as in other cases, compare the proportion of the dead to that of the living. In doing this, we find that while in England the mortality of children under five years of age is about 68 in the 1,000, and in country districts only 37 ; in the City of London it is 82, and in the western division of it, it is 104. This represents a mortality that is 52 per cent. over the average of England, and 181 per cent. over that of the country. At first sight you may not perhaps perceive the magnitude of this fact; but when you reflect on it, and consider that for every single death that should occur among the children, there are nearly three deaths, and that the surplus mortality is due, in a great degree, to causes over which you have control, you will then see how important is the matter, and will, I doubt not, be ready to admit that there is an urgent necessity for prompt and active interference. And then again, if we look to the mortality of the adult population, and compare it with what it should be in a healthy district, we shall notice that in every part of this metropolis the death-rate of the people is very large. Taking the mortality of 15 in the 12 1,000 as that which is natural to this country, and comparing it with that of 30 in the 1,000 which occurs in some parts of the City, you will perceive that the death-rate is exactly doubled; and if, in pursuing the inquiry still further, we ask what has been the mean duration of adult life among those who have passed away from us, we shall find that every man who dies in this City has been robbed of from ten to twelve years of his existence. I have brought this class of facts prominently before you in the fifth table of the appendix. You will there see that while in England generally the mean duration of life with men who have reached the twentieth year of their age is forty years, in the City of London it is but thirty, and in the western divisions of it it is only twenty-eight. What a contrast is this to the Divine intention, that at least three-score years and ten are allotted to man ; and what a commentary is it on the boast of civilization, that one of its noblest objects is the preservation of human life, of which it would have us believe it entertains the highest appreciation. To think that here in the very heart of civilised society, where the influences of wealth, and industry, and knowledge are exercised to their fullest extent, there should be such a disregard of human life, that if it be not sacrificed openly and by foul means, it is rarely made the subject of serious consideration. Who would imagine that in this City the natural mortality of the place is not only doubled, but that 13 men are stricken clown in the very middle of their career—that he who starts upon a City life at the age of twenty, hardly stands a better chance in his struggle for existence, than do the average of infants when they are a year old; for in the one case he only reaches to the age of forty-eight, and in the other, with all the dangers of early life, they will get to be forty-seven. I have endeavoured to elucidate this in the fifth table of the series, but I regret that it has not the signification it deserves; for, although it shows how the crowding of people into a limited space will affect their mortality both as to number and age, yet it will give you no idea of the extent to which persons are aggregated in some of your worst districts, nor will it show you how great are the evils which are consequent upon it. These can be learnt only from an actual inspection of the localities themselves; and I may here mention such places as Thompson's Rents, Providence Place, Blythe Buildings, Reeve's Rents, Montague Court, Rose Alley, Catherine Wheel Alley, Still Alley, Pea Hen Court, and Gun Square, which belong to the NorthEast District; Red Cross Square, Black Swan Court, Black Raven Court, Three King Court, and Crown Court, which belong to the South-East District; The Sun Courts, Vine Court, Willis Court, Smith's Court, and Bridgewater Place, which are within the North-Middle District; Fann Court, 14 Sugar Loaf Court, Crown Court, Bromley's Buildings, and Pennyfather's Rents, in the South-Middle District; Plumtree Court, Plough Court, Union Court, Holborn Buildings, Bear Alley, Ely Court, and Robin Hood Court in the North-West District; and Black Horse Alley, Harp Court, Crane Court, Helmet Court, Crown Court, Elliott Square, and Labour-in-Vain Yard, belonging to the South-West District. All these are made up of the dwellings of the poor; and such, in most cases, are their wretchedness, their filth, and their squalor, that to see them is to be sick at heart, and to be almost in despair at the thought of ever being able to overcome the difficulties which are opposed to sanitary progress. Nevertheless, it is here that the powers which you possess can be most beneficially exerted. It is here that the efforts of Hygiene will tell most advantageously in improving the health of the population; for, by removing the unwholesome influences which crowd about the habitations of the poor, you not only remove the more immediate causes of disease, but you give to nature the means of recruiting her strength, and of making labour sweet. You improve the tone and condition of the poor man's body, and so make him less susceptible of those minor influences which are inseparable from our social condition; and when to this we add the corresponding salutary change that must be effected in the morals of such a community, we cannot fail to be impressed with the importance of the subject, 15 and to be encouraged even in the midst of the disheartening circumstances that beset it. But to come back to the matter of the table: looking at the density of the population of England, and at the mean expectancy of life, we find, in the first place, that there is but one person to every half acre of surface, and secondly, that a man at twenty years of age may expect to live to sixty. In the City of London there are 179 persons to an acre, and the expectancy of life is only to fifty years; in the Western Division of the City there are 212 persons to an acre, and there the man must not hope to live beyond the age of forty. eight. Now if we bring to these facts our knowledge of the habits of those who are the denizens of such crowded localities, we shall have no difficulty in understanding how it is that the hand of death is so busy among them: in fact, what I have already said of the condition of Plumtree Court, applies in a scarcely less degree to that of the other places which I have mentioned. And although the mortality and sickness which are incidental to such a state of things are fearfully large, yet it is unfortunate that they are not such as to strike us with a due sense of their importance. What with the youthfulness of their victims, the constancy of their action, and the fact of their being extended over a long period of time, we are not disposed, at a first glance, to recognise the 16 mischief in all its magnitude, and we pass it by as a thing of but little moment. It is not so with the sudden flash of an epidemic. The quick sacrifice of a few thousand lives rouses us from our thoughtless abstractions, and tells us how great is the danger of neglecting our sanitary defences; but no epidemic, even in its most violent manifestation, can equal in its aggregate results the terrible mischief that is done by the slow and continued working of these endemic influences; and no district can be regarded as safe where the health of the people is sapped, as it is here, and where the children are bom, as it were, only to destruction. And this is not all, for it is in such places that the seeds of epidemic diseases are always lurking. There it is they wait for some last condition that is necessary to their activity; and, when once they have burst into life, it is there also they find the right soil for their continued growth and development; and then, like rank weeds, they spread fast and far into the cleaner ground of the neighbouring districts. When this happens, we are earnest enough in our endeavours to root them out, and we vainly regret that we had not crushed them in the germ. As to the nature of the diseases which are nurtured in such districts, you will see by the table that they are fever, consumption, and a whole group of infantile maladies. In all England the mortality from fever does not exceed 4 per cent, of the deaths. 17 In such places as Plumfree Court and the worst districts of the East and West London Unions, it mounts up to 7 per cent. Again, while the common infantile diseases are fatal generally only to the extent of 8'5 per cent., in the City Unions they reach to 21 per cent.; and then with regard to consumption, this does not ordinarily contribute to more thon 15 per cent, of the deaths, though in the West London Union its proportion is 21 per cent. Finally, as a subject of much interest, I have endeavoured to ascertain how the several trades and occupations have influenced the mortality of the people. Here, however, I have not had the means of calculating very precisely the death.rate of each particular class; and the results of my investigation must therefore be looked upon only as approximations to the general truth, and as evidences of what is yet to be done in this department of state medicine; nevertheless, they will show you that the mortality of particular classes is considerably above the average. I stated, but just now, that the expectancy of life among young men generally at twenty years of age, was up to sixty. You will perceive that this is nearly the expectancy in London with shopkeepers and domestic servants; for the mean age at which they die is 58.8 and 58.6. Butchers, poulterers, and fishmongers live to the age of 53.8. Carpenters, 18 cabinet makers, and workmen in wood, to 52.4. Clerks, accountants, porters and messengers reach to the age of from 52 to 52.3. The same is about the mean age at death of blacksmiths, gas fitters, and the workers in the coarse metals generally; while publicans, wine merchants, waiters, tailors, laborers, and shoemakers live to the age of from 49.9 to 50.3. Cabmen, carmen, ostlers, and draymen live only to 49.4; and soldiers, sailors, and policemen reach only to forty.eight years. A like difference exists in the longevity of females; for while the wife of the shopkeeper will live to be about fifty.seven years of age, and the domestic servant to 51.5, the wife of the publican and beer. shop.keeper, and the wife of the cabman and ostler will only reach to 44.2 and 48 years of age; and worse still, the poor needlewoman sinks into the grave at 42.6 years of age. These facts show that the influences which are at work in shortening the duration of life are not merely of a general character, but that they are affected by the habits of the people. Where there are bad food, close confinement, filthy dwellings, and improvident or vicious habits, there the life.time is short; but where the conditions are of an opposite character, as in the case of male servants and shopkeepers, it is nearly as long as it is in England generally. This is farther borne out by the per centage causes of death; for consumption and fever are most fatal 19 with shoemakers, cabmen, laborers, and needlewomen; and though a large mortality from fever occurs among domestic servants and nurses, yet this is easily explained by considering the infectious character of the disease, and the circumstances under which the subjects of it are placed. That home influences alone have much to do with the shortening of life is also evident from the fact that the wives of the several classes to which I have alluded are correspondingly short.lived. In the case of the laborer there is an apparent exception, for the longevity of the wife is greater than that of the shopkeeper; but this is explained by the fact that the laborer's wife is generally unprovided for at the death of her husband, and she seeks an asylum in the workhouse, where she reaches to a good old age: in fact about 30 per cent, of the deaths among the wives of laborers occurred in the workhouse; and their average age at death was 65. This reminds me that it would not be an uninteresting inquiry to determine what proportions of the several classes of the community die in the workhouses; for such an investigation might throw a light on the amount of widowhood and orphanage that are occasioned not only by improvident habits, but also by other controlable circumstances which beggar the community. During the past year the 20 total number of deaths in the workhouses was 456 —of which 231 were males, and 225 females. Of these fifty.two belonged to the laborer class, forty. one to the porter, ten to the clerk, twenty.three to the tailor, seventeen to the metal worker, thirteen to the publican, thirty.four to the shoemaker, fifteen to the soldier, twenty.three to the carpenter, fifteen to the cabman, twenty.nine to the shopkeeper, six to the butcher, thirty.nine to the domestic, and the rest are not specified. In all about 15 per cent, of the deaths occurred in the workhouses. How many more took place among those who were living without, while in the receipt of parish assistance, I cannot say. Nor can any estimate be formed of the amount of preventable poverty that is represented by these numbers. That you have done something, however, towards the removal of the most prominent causes of disease, and have rendered more safely habitable the worst districts of the City, is shown by the inspector's returns for each week of the year: from these I find that as many as 5,401 distinct inspections of houses have been made, and that 1,215 notices have been served for cleansing, draining, and otherwise improving the state of each locality. Besides which we have closed the last of the City churchyards, and have banished, as I hope for ever, the practice of burying the dead in the midst of the living. In alluding to this matter for the last time, I may say 21 that it is a subject for congratulation to this Court to know that, after years of continual struggle, you have at last been able to overcome the difficulties which beset the question, not the least important of which were the antagonistic and unworthy prejudices of those who should have been with you in the matter. I have also endeavoured, by means of my weekly reports, to draw attention to the fact that a large source of danger exists in the practice which is still almost universally followed of conveying those who are sick of fever and other infectious diseases to the hospitals in the public cabs. The poor also employ these vehicles to carry their dead to the distant cemeteries; and often the cabs become soiled with the corrupt matter that flows out through the joints of the badly made coffins. This cannot fail to be a prolific source of disease, and I regret that means have not been taken to put a stop to both of these practices. Lastly, there is another subject on which I ought to express myself freely and frankly: it is that of the drainage of this metropolis, a matter in which the metropolitan board is now debating. Without doubt some plan should be adopted which will effectually remove from London the sewage which now saturates the soil and pollutes the river. I do not pretend to offer an opinion on the locality 22 which should be chosen for the outlet of so vast a quantity of decomposing organic matter, but I do say that it should be a very distant one; for whether the powers of chemistry may hereafter come to our aid in deciding on the economic use of this material, or whether it is always to be let loose into the ocean as a thing which defies our skill in usefully appropriating it, in either case it must be manifest that the locality for its outlet should be as distant as possible from the metropolis; for, on the one hand, we must avoid the tidal flux and reflux of a very sea of putrifying matter, and in the other we must guard against the noxious emanations which will assuredly accompany any chemical manipulation of it. On these points I venture, therefore, to speak emphatically, because I know that there is a tendency, from economical motives, to adopt measures of a somewhat temporary and expedient character—measures which will be found hereafter expensive and elaborate disguises of a nuisance that is still untouched. Eloquently and with truth has Mr. Simon described the pernicious effects of the sewage miasms, and has told you that "from the polluted bosom of the river there steam up, incessantly, though unseen, the vapours of a retributive poison; densest and most destructive, no doubt, along the sodden banks and stinking sewers of lowest level; but spreading over miles of land—sometimes rolled high by wind, sometimes blended low with mist, and baneful, even to their margin that curls over distant fields. For 23 not alone in Rotherliithe and Newington—not alone along the EfFra or the Fleet—are traced the evils of this great miasm. The deepest shadows of the cloud lie here; but its outskirts darken the distance. A fever hardly to be accounted for, an infantile sickness of undue malignity, a doctor's injunction for change of air, may at times suggest to the dweller in our healthiest suburbs, that, while draining his refuse into the Thames, he receives for requital some partial workings of the gigantic poison.bed which he has contributed to maintain." This, and perhaps more, is what we may continue to expect, as long as with perverse ingenuity we labour to construct huge nurseries for the development of disease. By nature we are excellently well situated for the maintenance of health, and the river which winds through the city should be the channel for pure water and a free current of air, the source of life to us and not of death. How jealously therefore should we watch over its purity, and permit no motives, economical or expedient, to futilise the favors of nature. I have the honor to remain, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, HENRY LETHEBY, M.B. No. I.—Eighth Annual Enumeration of Deaths, relating to the fifty.two weeks dating from September 29th, 1855, to September 21th, 1856. East London Union. West London Union. City of London Union. Deaths in the four quarterly periods, terminating as follows :— Saint Botolph. Cripplegate. Workhouses. North. South. Workhouse. s. w. N. W. South. s. e. N. E. Workhouse. M. F. M. F. m. F. m. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. M. F. m. F. M. F. M. F M. F. I. In the quarter ending Dec. 29th. 743 71 54 74 53 28 25 32 22 54 51 17 14 24 11 24 30 22 25 17 10 23 29 18 15 125 127 53 54 105 31 35 54 47 27 52 33 II. In the Quarter ending March 29th 756 59 51 61 67 32 32 30 37 46 41 22 26 ' 20 24 26 13 22 24 21 14 29 32 8 19 110 128 64 67 87 48 44 39 46 35 61 27 III. In the quarter ending June 28th 747 61 57 68 64 16 13 35 33 54 57 23 16 23 18 17 17 24 18 17 16 29 25 25 21 118 132 29 68 111 39 41 34 42 33 54 46 IV. In the quarter ending Sept. 27th 664 46 44 52 68 15 15 38 20 49 50 14 15, 15 12 19 21 31 20 26 14 29 24 13 14 90 120 30 58 99 29 27 40 51 40 53 27 Sum of the four quarters 2910 237 206 255 252 91 85 135 112 203 199 76 71 82 65 86 81 99 87 81 54 110 110 64 69 443 507 176 247 402 147 147 167 180 135 220 133 1126 796 988 Total for the Year 2910 No. II.—Classification of the 2,910 Deaths, which occurred in the fifty.two weeks, dating from September 29th, 1855, to September 21th, 1856. Total Number of Deaths. AT WHAT AGES ? FROM WHAT CAUSES? 0 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 15 15 ta 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 50 to 60 60 to 70 70 and over. Violence, Privation, Poison, and Premature Birth. Fever. Acute Diarrhoea (not of infants), Dysentery, and Cholera. Scarlet.Fever and Cynanche Maligna. Small.Pox. Phthisis and other Tubercular Diseases. Erysipelas, Puerperal Fever, and Phlebitis. Diarrhoea, Bronchitis, and Pneumonia of infants under 3 years of age. Measles, Hooping.cough, and Croup. Hydrocephalus, Teething, & Convulsions of Infancy. Other Diseases, chiefly chronic. East London Union 1126 480 48 11 24 69 71 106 99 88 130 34 82 15 65 15 175 6 112 79 104 439 West London Union 796 312 30 7 16 56 76 73 73 75 78 34 51 8 38 10 163 11 66 53 74 288 City of London Union 988 327 32 16 19 69 77 99 111 110 128 72 26 11 27 8 152 3 78 44 86 481 Entire City 2910 1119 110 34 59 194 224 278 283 273 336 140 159 34 130 33 490 20 256 176 264 1208 Average of the last Seven Years 3190 1198 133 60 73 200 254 286 294 320 370 .. 139 186 104 38 .. 28 295 192 274 .. No. III.—Mortality in the City of London during Eight Years, namely from Michaelmas 1848, to Michaelmas 1856. Entire City. East London Union. . West London Union. City of London Union. Saint Botolph. Cripplegate. Workhouses. North. South. Work. house. s. w. n. w. South. S. E. N. E. Workhouse. Mortality from Michaelmas to Michaelmas. . 1848–19 3763 519 574 179 372 598 126 293 245 263 214 262 103 1849–50 2752 396 444 125 324 290 108 176 168 218 183 219 101 1850–51 2978 493 471 167 317 313 68 191 169 258 217 213 101 1851–52 3064 534 460 176 266 379 129 196 198 203 171 235 117 1852–53 3040 516 534 155 289 309 164 170 188 223 164 224 104 1853–54 3335 577 539 198 284 367 152 210 189 184 215 272 148 1854–55 3400 595 606 202 273 365 161 167 171 211 232 259 158 AVERAGE 3190 519 518 171 303 374 139 200 189 223 199 240 119 1208 816 1170 1855–56 2910 443 507 176 247 402 147 147 167 186 135 220 133 1126 796 988 No. IV.—Annual Rate of Mortality per 1,000 Living, of Males, of Females, and of Persons of Both Sexes, at different Ages, for the Year terminating September 27th, 1856, compared rvith that of England for 10 Years—viz., from 1844 to 1853. Deaths to 1000 living at All Ages. From 0 5 From 5 to 10 From 10 to 15 From 15 to 25 From 25 to 35 From 35 to 45 From 45 to 55 From 55 to 65 From 65 to 75 From 75 to 85 From 85 and over. East London Union Males 27.0 94.7 12.7 2.8 4.7 11.3 14.4 35.8 39.9 115.9 20.0 0 727.2 Females 23.7 83.9 8.9 2.5 60 8.3 15.7 14.6 50.0 54.1 206. 2 400.0 Persons 25.3 89.3 10.8 2.6 5.3 9.8 15.0 25.2 44.9 85.0 203.1 563.6 West London Union M ales 28.3 112.0 10.3 2.4 7.1 14.6 20.3 27.3 53.2 88.6 108.1 000.0 Females 26.9 96.4 13.3 3.2 4.5 10.7 18.1 20.3 51.1 91.0 205.6 461.5 Persons 27.6 104.2 11.8 2.8 5.8 12.6 19.2 23.8 52.1 91.3 156.8 230.7 City of London Union Males 19.2 69.0 8.2 2.7 4.2 6.7 15.5 21.7 49.8 87.6 190.1 200.0 Females 16.2 54.4 6.0 3.5 4.2 6.2 9.0 16.7 30.3 68.5 146.4 393.9 Persons 17.7 61.7 7.1 3.1 4.2 6.4 12.2 19.2 40.0 78.0 168.2 296.9 Entire City Males 24.0 88.8 10.4 2.6 5.0 10.2 16.3 27.8 47.4 96.7 133.8 314.3 Females 21.1 74.9 8.7 3.1 4.8 7.8 13.3 16.8 41.6 69.2 181.1 407.4 Persons 22.5 81.8 9.5 2.8 4.9 9.0 14.8 22.3 44.5 82.9 157.4 360.8 England Males 23.4 72.7 9.1 5.2 8.3 10.1 13.0 18.7 32.1 67.6 149.7 763.7 Females 21.9 62.5 8.9 5.4 8.6 10.7 12.8 16.0 28.5 61.1 136.7 739.4 Persons 22.6 67.6 9.0 5.3 4.4 10.4 12.9 17.3 30.3 64.3 143.2 751.5 The Table may be read thus:—Of 1,000 Males at all Ages, living in the East London Union, 27.0 died in the year; of 1,000 Males at from 0 to 5 Years of Age, 94.7 died; and so on for 1,000 at each of the Ages and Sexes. No. V.—The Density of the Population; proportion of Deaths to 1,000 of the Living; mean Age at Death of persons over 20; and per.centage of Deaths from different Diseases. Number of persons to an acre. Deaths to 1000 persons living. Mean Age at Death of persons. Causes of Death per cent. of all the Deaths. At all Ages. Under 5. From 45 to 55. At 20 and over. At 30 and over. 1 At 40 and over. Fever. Small Pox. Infantile diseases. Consump tion. M. F. M. F. M. F East London Union 291.0 26.9 97.0 25.2 51 54 55 57 59 61 7.2 1.3 21.1 15.5 West London Union 211.7 28.2 98.4 23.8 48 55 52 58 57 63 6.8 1.3 20.7 21.2 City of London Union 128.8 20.1 70.5 19.2 52 54 56 59 59 63 2.6 0.8 15.8 15.4 Entire City 178.6 24.2 86.9 23.3 50 54 55 58 58 62 5.4 1.1 19.6 16.7 England 0.48 22.6 67.6 17.4 60 61 63 64 67 68 4.2 0.1 8.5 14.8 Country Districts 0.16 15.9 37.1 11.3 – – – – – – – – – – N.B. The Deaths per 1,000 of those living in the City are calculated from the returns of the last eight years (1848.56), and those of England from the returns of the last ten years (1844.53). The mean Age at Death, and the per.centage Mortality from different diseases are deduced from the City returns of last year (1855.56), and from the English Life Table in the 5th Annual Report of the Registrar General. No. VI.—Deaths Classified according to the principal Occupations; with the Mean Age at Death of Persons aged 20 and upwards; and the Chief Causes of Death calculated to every 100 Deaths. OCCUPATIONS. Number of Deaths. Mean Age at Death at 20, and over. Causes of Death, per Cent. At all Ages. Under 20. 20 and over. Fever. Smallpox. Infant Diseases. Consump tion. M. F. M. F. M. F. Merchants, Shopkeepers, and Agents 376 102 76 103 95 58.8 57.3 2.9 1.0 25.2 14.6 Domestic Servants and Nurses 103 15 8 6 74 58.6 51.5 14.5 1.9 4.8 13.6 Butchers, Poulterers, Fishmongers, and Tripedressers 56 6 13 20 17 53.8 54.3 5.3 0.0 21.4 8.9 Carpenters, Turners, Cabinet.makers, Cork.cutters, &c 182 42 51 52 37 52.4 56.3 6.0 1.1 22.5 15.9 Porters, Messengers, Packers, and Warehousemen 289 63 65 102 59 52.3 55.7 2.7 0.0 20.7 21.1 Clerks, Accountants, Solicitors, and Schoolmasters 191 37 26 82 46 52.0 53.1 4.7 1.0 16.1 17.1 Blacksmiths, Gas.fitters, Gunmakers, Tinmen, &c 122 25 27 48 22 51.7 49.3 3.2 1.6 18.8 18.0 Wine.merchants, Publicans, and Waiters 94 22 16 42 14 50.3 44.2 2.1 3.2 22.3 19.1 Tailors and Weavers 180 54 44 37 45 50.2 56.9 5.0 0.0 25.0 18.2 Bricklayers, Paviors, Stone.cutters, and Laborers 343 91 80 106 66 50.0 57.7 4.9 1.7 20.4 21.1 Shoemakers, Harness.makers, Curriers, and Sadlers 190 48 47 55 40 49.9 54.9 5.8 1.5 25.7 21.5 Cabmen, Ostlers, Draymen, Carmen, and Stable.keepers 135 38 29 40 28 49.4 48.0 7.4 0.0 22.9 28.1 Soldiers, Sailors, Policemen, Beadles, and Firemen 145 31 30 42 42 48.0 53.0 4.8 1.3 20.7 13.1 Needlewomen 85 31 23 .. 31 .. 42.6 8.2 0.0 1.0 24.7 No. VII.—Monthly Meteorological Table, from Observations made at the Engineers Office, Guildhall, under the direction of Mr. Haywood. 1856 MONTHS. Pressure of the Atmosphere. Temperature of the Air in the Month. Mean Temperature. Rain.fall in inches during the Mouth. Mean. Range. Highest. Lowest. Range. Mean. Of the Air. Of Wet Bulb. On the Hoof. On the Ground. Of all Highest. Of all Lowest. Daily Range. May 29.831 0.762 70.0 35.5 34.5 57.3 45.1 12.2 51.9 48.4 3.53 3.62 June 30.044 0.764 80.0 43.5 36.5 68.4 53.3 15.1 61.6 56.7 1.12 1.18 July 30.031 0.656 81.5 48.0 33.5 65.8 55.4 10.4 63.3 58.3 1.40 1.41 August 29.980 1.238 86.5 48.5 38.0 72.1 57.3 14.8 64.7 60.2 2.81 2.89 September 29.890 1.182 70.0 45.0 25.0 62.6 51.0 11.6 57.3 53.8 2.05 21.5 Barometer.—The highest reading in May, 30.216, was on the 30th; the lowest, 29.454, on the 7th. The highest in June, 30.362, was on tte 7th; the lowest, 29.598, on the 20th. The highest in July, 30.346, was on the 30th ; the lowest, 29.690, on the 24th. The highest in August, 30.600, was on the 6th; the lowest, 29.362, on the 21st. The highest in September, 30.356, was on the 3rd; the lowest, 29.174, on the 27th. Temperature.—The highest in May was on the 21st, the lowest on the 5th. The highest in June was on the 27th, the lowest on the 23rd. The highest in July was on the 31st, the lowest on the 9th. The highest in August was on the 2nd, the lowest on the 23rd. The highest in September was on the 10th, the lowest on the 22nd. Rain.—The greatest falls occurred on the 12th of May, and on the 18th of August, when they amounted to 0.88 inch. On the 29th of September it was 0.79 inch.