ISL 43 REPORT on THE SANITARY CONDITION of the Parish of St. Mary, Islington, DURING THE YEAR 1875. by CHARLES MEYMOTT TIDY, M.B., F.C.S, Professor of Chemistry and of Medical Jurisprudence and Public Health at the London Hospital;—Master of Surgery;— Fellow of the Medical Society;— Late Deputy Medical Officer of Health and Food Analyst for the City of London;— Vice-President of the Society of Medical Officers of Health;— and MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH AND FOOD ANALYST FOR THE PARISH. J. & I. TIREBUCK, STEAM PRINTERS & LITHOGRAPHERS, Monkwell Street, E.C., and Islington. 1876. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page Sanitary Reports 3 Review of Sanitary Statistics since 1856 8 Value of Death Rates 9 Marriages 13 Births 14 Deaths 16 Mortality at different Ages 18 Causes of Death 19 Adulteration Act 19 Water Analysis 19 The Mortuary 21 Sanitary Work for the Year 22 Summonses 22 Slaughter Houses and Cow Houses 25 Dusting of the Parish 26 Conclusion 31 Tables 34-38 to the VESTRY OF ST. MARY, ISLINGTON. Gentlemen, The Life Balance Sheet of your Parish for 1875 shows that your losses and gains leave you 4376 lives to the good; or in other words, 4656 deaths and 9032 births have been registered in the Parish of St. Mary, Islington, during the year. Further, your marriage rate is 17.6 per 1000. This statement will be received by different people in very different ways. Questions such as these are suggested—What may be learnt from this statement of death and life ?—1s there any practical teaching to be derived from it, or are there any facts deducible from it, which may guide us in the future, so that, by an extra expenditure, or by extra attention, we may increase our credit and decrease our debit account ?—Where are our weak points, and how may they be strengthened ?—Are we in a better sanitary state now, than we were twenty years ago, before all this stir was made about sanitary matters ?—Are we with our elaborate drainage schemes and sanitary organizations, a healthier race than our forefathers, each being in the matter of nuisanc'es, "a law unto himself," and all of whom lived within a few yards of a score of cesspools,—which had to be emptied by the night-man when from insufferable smell they could be borne no longer, but without any peremptory Vestry notices, or orders from a Sanitary Department? I am quite prepared to find that some, into whose hands this report will fall, will never dream of asking these or any other such questions. Probably they will regard the report of the Health Officer as a very useless piece of trouble on his part, or at any rate, if they do not consider that point (which is not at all unlikely), they will say it is a very unnecessary expense. Parliament in its wisdom, or unwisdom, however, as the case may be, has required the officer to take the trouble of writing it. 4 Some will treat my report otherwise. With jealous eye on money transactions they will ask "What doth it profit ?" Some will suggest that a report from the Vestry Clerk, describing the many amusing legal incidents respecting "rights of way," and such like matters of litigation, would have far greater interest to the public than discussions on sanitary questions. Some will count the number of "1's" in the report, possibly regretting that they refer to a less favoured individual. Some will examine, side by side, the annual parish money account, and the annual parish life account, and having done so, will exclaim "Why all this waste?" To them the possible reduction of the parish rate, or its possible increase, will be regarded as of infinitely greater importance than the increase, or decrease of the death-rate. The health report is I know, not unfrequently, put aside at best for a few minutes the last thing, and too often would feel itself honoured if it even got this. I know I am speaking the mind of my brother medical officers when I venture to urge that it might be for the advantage of the metropolis if the various sanitary reports issued from time to time by the Medical Officers of Health in London and in the Country, received a little more attention and consideration than is usual. I admit that personally I have no grounds for complaint on this matter. I should be ungrateful if I did not express my obligations, not only at the courteous attention and indulgent criticisms that my reports have always received from the Vestry, but what is more, at the readiness with which the Members of the Vestry have in all cases met me, when I have deemed it my duty to make suggestions, such as I believed were for the good of the parish. More particularly I must express to the Sanitary Committee my special obligations for the hours of patient thought, they have at all times devoted to all matters I have brought before them, and without exception, the readiness they have ever shown to carry out sanitary measures. In no case have I ever asked for moral support as well as for authority, but that support and authority have been readily —although I must add intelligently—given. Indeed, a medical officer's work would be little else than a farce unless it was supplemented by the assistance of those to whom he should look for assistance. Still, granting all this, I feel sufficiently ambitious to ask for more and greater attention from the public, on the enormous questions of Life v. Death, and Health v. Disease. 5 If indeed I can attract a single reader by the adoption of a somewhat lighter and less orthodoxly dry style of writing than is ordinarily employed in making sanitary reports, and for the adoption of which I am well aware I lay myselt open to severe criticism, I shall, nevertheless, consider I am justified in adopting it, and what is more, intend to continue to adopt it in the future, let criticism be as severe as the several writers please. This must be my apology for a style I shall willingly alter when sanitary reports are duly studied, but which I have adopted with a very definite purpose. When the sanitary report and record of vital statistics receive a similar amount of attention to the monetary report and the records of profit and loss, the purpose I have in view will be served, but not till then. There is still another class we have to meet, and in their case we must be careful and cautious in the treatment. They read our report and mark it well; but they dive deeper, and go further than the mere report. Taking out of their drawers probably the various sanitary reports pennedyear by year by my distinguished predecessors and-by myself, they compare the statistics of this year with the statistics of the past twenty years, in order, if possible, to answer questions such as these—What amount of good has the sanitary work of nearly a quarter of a century effected ? How far have the prophecies of the earlier pioneers of Sanitary Science been fulfilled ? To what extent has the death-rate decreased as the result of sanitary improvements ? How far has disease been vanquished by cutting away its supplies, and by breaking down the means by which it spreads ? These of course are fair questions, and it is our duty to answer them—or at any rate, to attempt to answer them. At the same time, I am not unaware of the spirit in which these questions are usually asked. Too often the questions imply some such argument as this:— "Our sanitary arrangements cost so much. If we were to drop the department, should we be much the worse off one way (admitting we might be a little), and should we not be very much better off the other ? Granting our sanitary department is not a mere name, and that they do a little work which otherwise might be left undone; granting that they keep a few people in check who might otherwise be troublesome to their neighbours; granting that they get a few cesspools emptied that might otherwise be a nuisance, or compel a baker to limewhite 6 his bakehouse, who otherwise would let it go its own way; granting that they make a dust contractor, a varnish maker, or a tallowmelter adopt the best practicable means in carrying on his trade; granting all this, is it worth the money we spend ?" It is now twenty years ago that your Vestry appointed Dr. Ballard its first Medical Officer of Health. I have been endeavouring to gather together some facts to show the results of our work during the period between 1856 and 1876, and I venture to place before you in a table a few of the statistics I have worked out, and I will now invite your attention to it. I have stated, you will see, year by year, since 1856, in the various columns, the population of Islington, the number of deaths, the death-rate compared with the death-rate of London, the number and the percentage of deaths from Zymotic diseases, from diseases of the respiratory organs, from Tuberculosis (Phthisis), and lastly, the total and percentage deaths of children under five years of age. TABLE No. I. Table shewing Population, Number of Deaths, Death Rate, Deaths and Deaths per cent. from Zymotic Diseases, Phthisis, Diseases of Respiratory Organs, and also of Children under 5 years in Islington, since 1856. Population in the Middle of the year. Deaths from all causes, exclusive of nonresidents. Death rate per 1000 in Islington. Death rate per 1000 in London. Deaths from Zymotic Diseases and their percentage of total Deaths. Deaths from diseases of Respiratory Organs, (except Phthisis) and their percentage of total Deaths. Deaths from Phthisis and percentage of total Deaths. Deaths of Children under 5 and percentage of total deaths. REMARKS. 1856 125,335 2294 18.9 22.0 542=23.6 392=17.0 273=11.4 1066=46.4 1857 131,335 2410 17.7 22.8 553=22.9 422=17.5 294=12.2 1108=45.9 1858 137,337 2642 19.2 22.6 721=27.2 494=18.6 316=11.9 1238=46.8 1859 143,338 2670 18 6 22.3 746=27.9 375=14.0 338=12.6 1215=45.5 Small Pox. 1860 149,339 2845 19.05 24.4 663=23.2 622=21.8 313=11.0 1382=48.5 Small Pox. 1861 155,341 2941 18.7 33.2 846=28.7 457=15.5 329=11.1 1405=47.7 Hooping Cough. 1862 161,679 3010 18.6 23.4 849=28.2 478=15.8 320=10.6 1361=45.2 Measles. 1863 166,922 3854 23.0 24.6 1356=35.1 619=16.0 391=10.1 1885=48 9 Small Pox, Scarlet Fever, Hooping Cough. 1864 172,336 3843 22.3 26.4 977=25.4 794=20.6 408=10.6 1715=44.6 Measles, Small Pox. 1865 177,925 3813 21.4 24.6 1015=26.6 675=17. 6 438=11.4 1781=46.7 Hooping Cough, Small Pox. 1866 183,695 4172 22.6 26.5 1127=27.0 692=16.5 477=11.4 205 0=481 Cholera, Measles, Hooping Cough, & Small Pox. 1867 189,652 3760 19.7 23.0 838=22.2 791=21.0 415=11.0 1791=47.6 Scarlet Fever and Small Pox. 1868 195,802 4210 21.4 23.5 1143=27.3 737=17.5 458=10.8 2043=48.5 Scarlet Fever, Measles, Hooping Cough, & Small Pox. 1869 202,152 4265 21.1 24.7 1225=28.9 796=18 6 435=10 2 2125=49.8 Scarlet Fever (severe), Hooping Cough, & Relapsing Fever. 1870 209,057 4370 20.9 24.1 1305=29.8 818=18.7 461=10.5 2018=43.3 Scarlet Fever, Small Pox. 1871 214,932 4626 21.5 24.7 1351=29.2 872=18.8 474=10.2 1966=42.3 Small Pox, Hooping Cough. 1872 221,902 4030 18.2 20.4 957=23.7 791=19.6 471=11.6 1965=48.7 Measles. 1873 229,071 4393 19.3 22.3 915=20.8 983=22.3 487=11.0 1928=43.9 1874 236,899 4680 19.7 22.3 948=20.2 1022=21.8 473=10.1 2083=44.5 1875 244,680 4656 19. 02 22.9 984=21.1 978=21.0 464= 9.9 2152=46.2 Hooping Cough, Scarlet Fever. 8 And now, on reviewing this table, the first question that will no doubt suggest itself to your minds is this: "Can you show that the result of twenty years' sanitary work has proved in any way a means of reducing our death-rate ?" Or, to put the question in another and perhaps more practical form, "Can you show as the result of our spending money on drains, and sewers, and sanitary inspectors, that our chances of living are greater, and our chances of dying less in 1876, than they were in 1856 ?" A very fair question surely ! Well, judging by the death-rate, and by the deathrate only, I am compelled to admit that the results of twenty years' thought and work are rather discouraging, and appear at first sight anything but satisfactory. In 1856 we had a death-rate of 18.9 per 1000; in 1875 we had a death-rate of 19.02 per 1000. Further, it is a remarkable circumstance that within the past twenty years the smallest death-rate occurred in 1857—that is, one year after the appointment of a health officer, and at the very threshold of sanitary work. Do not suppose, however, this state of things is peculiar to Islington. On the contrary, it differs but little from what is recorded of London generally; 22.0 per 1000 was the deathrate of London in 1856, and the death-rate for 1875 is not less than 22.0, but rather more. Infant mortality, again, is much about the same as it was twenty years ago. Certainly in this there are slight signs of improvement of late years, but as certainly, this improvement is not sufficiently great to allow us to boast of what we have effected by our work. We may trust it is the harbinger of better things. In this matter we should be thankful for small mercies. The cloud, the size merely of a man's hand, betokened an abundance of rain. Phthisis is nearly as fatal now as in 1856. This year, in Islington, I record with pleasure the fact, that the percentage number of deaths from consumption is lower than it has ever been. This is satisfactory. Whilst, however, I would claim the full influence of improved sanitary measures, I cannot forget that probably this improvement may be in the main due to our increased facilities of diagnosing the disease in the earlier stages, our more perfect knowledge of the pathology of tubercle, and also in the fact that patients and their friends are more alive now, than formerly, to the necessity of early treatment, and of constant watchfulness and attention. 9 Are Zymotic diseases decreasing ? You say at any rate here we ought to find some improvement, for are not sanitarians always insisting that they are preventible diseases ? Here, again, there is a small but certain improvement, and it is extremely satisfactory to find it so. In 1856, 1857, 1858, 1859, the percentage of deaths in Islington from these diseases was respectively 23.6, 22.9, 27.2, 27.9, whilst the four last years (viz., 1872, 1873,1874, and 1875), show the percentage of deaths to have been 23.7, 20.8, 20.2, 21.1. Of course it may be urged that this is an accidental occurrence; but I think there can be but little doubt that so far as zymotic diseases are concerned, there has been of late a certain definite and noticeable improvement, as much in the cases that recover as in the fact of a decreased death-rate. But, inasmuch as our total death-rate remains fixed, it is quite clear that if we have lessened the fatality of one class of diseases, there must have been a certain compensation by an increased fatality of another class. This is an instructive fact, and it is no use for us to shut our own eyes to it, or to try and blind other people's eyes. The two points I am desirous of making clear to you are these:—1st. That so far as mortality is concerned, the records of the past twenty years show little or no marked improvement, and that therefore your chances of living and dying in 1876 are pretty nearly the same as they were in 1856. 2ndly. That although we have in a measure stopped the ravages of some diseases, still, in order to bring up the death-rate to what I may call its normal percentage, other diseases must have, and have, increased in a like ratio. I do not think this state of things is much to be wondered at. There must be some limit to the increase of the people, and nature has, in a great measure, it appears to me, taken the matter of population in her own hands. She would in this way (if people would only inquire of her, and listen to her answers) render many discussions to which we have been favoured of late as unnecessary as they are untempting. And another lesson I would draw, and it is this, "that," in the language of my late lamented colleague, Dr. Letheby, "the deathrates, as calculated in the usual way, are neither expressive of facts, nor reliable indications of the sanitary condition of a community." And here I should wish to guard against my meaning being 10 misunderstood. I should be the first to admit the value of correct statistical information, and also to acknowledge the accuracy with which the Registrar General collates the returns, and the consequent debt that sanitary science owes to him. I am quite ready to admit that an abnormal death-rate, like a tell-tale hand, calls upon us to examine the internal working of the machine and the causes of its altering its accustomed position, although we must be prepared to find that circumstances are at work to effect the change, other than those of a sanitary nature. It appears more than ever now-a-days necessary to make the fact clear that the death-rate, taken alone, is not the sure and certain indication of the sanitary state of a community (bad or good) that some would have you believe. The majority of people have not the time, supposing even that they had the will, to make more than a superficial and cursory examination of sanitary statistics, and they are naturally somewhat taken by so ready a method of estimating sanitary progress, and arriving at the results of sanitary labour, as the death-rate affords. They do not at the same time inquire, as they ought, what are the circumstances that influence the death-rate, and how far we can rely upon it as an accurate and truthful indication of prosperity, or the reverse. The various circumstances influenceing the death-rate have been pointed out with great clearness by Dr. Letheby. For example to begin with, see how largely the deaths must be affected by the migatory habits of the people, the coming in and the going out. On the one hand, we have the coming into the town of the young healthy life (the servant, the mechanic, the clerk) reared in the country village. This it is manifest must have a tendency to diminish the death-rate of the town, whilst the loss of the life from the village, although the gain of the town, necessarily increases the death-rate of the village, for it decreases the population of the village. On the other hand, and conversely, the migration from the town into the village either of the weak and of the ailing (going into the country to die) unfitted by some slow chronic disease perhaps, for the demands of a city life, or again, of those who have borne in the City the heat and the burden of the day, and who at the close of their life seek rest and ease in the country village, must of necessity increase the village death-rate, whilst it relieves the town death-rate. Imagine two such places. The country village sending its strength to the town, and the town sending its 11 aged and its ailing to the village. Would the death-rate of either the town or the country village express the sanitary condition respectively of that town or that village ? Again, there is a necessary error arising/row the existence of hospitals and such like institutions in certain localities. It would not be fair to compare the death-rate of a given square mile which includes, say the London Hospital, with another square mile where there was no such institution. The death-rate of these two square miles respectively would be no index whatsoever of the sanitary condition of those two parts. Again, we have an immensely important disturbing element in the Birth-rate. It is an unalterable law, that a high birth-rate means a high deathrate. Nor is this in the least degree astonishing. Suppose 1000 children to be born on a certain day—statistics prove that over 46 would die within one month of their birth, whilst at the end of the year there would be only 850 of those 1000 children still living. This seems a terrible story to tell, and undoubtedly it is so, but imagine it otherwise; and here I will again quote Dr. Letheby's own words: "If this were not so the increase of the population would be prodigious, for it is the means whereby the annual excess of births over deaths is kept down tothe reasonable proportion of 12.8 per 1000 of the population. If it reached to 18 per 1000, which is the average excess of two of the Counties of England, where the death-rate is also high (23.5), the population would be doubled in rather less than forty years. Consider for a moment the consequences of this. At the last census in 1871, the population of England and Wales was 22,712,266—in 40 years it would be over 45 millions, in 80 years, or in one long life time, it would be nearly 91 millions, and in 120 years it would be nearly 182 millions, which is the estimated population of India at the present time. This sort of thing could never last; for in about 240 years the population of England and Wales, unless it was exported in huge masses, would reach to rather more than 1,550 millions, and it would be as thickly placed over the whole country, as it is in London at the present time. I apprehend however, that long before that time arrived, the sanitarians who struggle to bring about this condition would be considered dangerous enemies to the public weal." Again, the relative proportion of males to females largely influences the death-rate. If there are more than a normal proportion of females in a community then you get a death-rate 12 below the normal, the death-rate of the male population being 23.3 per 1000, whilst of the female population it is only 21.5 per 1000. Hence the mining countries, having an excess of males, owing to the demands of trade, have a death-rate above the average, whilst towns devoted to woollen manufactures, where the demand for female labour is greater than for male, have a death-rate below the average. I will not follow this subject further. Admitting the accuracy of Registration and of the Census Returns (and he would not be a bold doubter who questioned their absolute accuracy even if he admitted their general accuracy), I have said enough to show that some care is needful in estimating your sanitary progress and the efficiency of your sanitary work by a death-rate, pure and simple. If the deathrate is to be, well I will not say the sole, but at any rate the great index of work done, the tell-tale of progress and of health, I should not have the conscience year after year to issue Sanitary Reports and to tell you every year that the death-rate is the same or nearly the same as it was last year, or the year before, or as it was 5, 10, or 20 years ago. We should tire of saying we hope for better days, and you would tire of hearing us express our hopes when they are hopes which are never realized. Local authorities must not, therefore I contend, be continually expecting their death-rate will be decreased, or regard their Medical Officer as an unnecessary official, and their Sanitary Department as a useless burden on the ratepayers, because their death-rate year after year remains the same. Give the death-rate its proper value, but remember it would never do if our Sanitary Report was merely a history of births. And remember too an excessive death-rate does not necessarily imply failure; sometimes (strange it may seem) it means success. For a large death-rate means a large birth-rate, and a large birth-rate means a large marriage-rate, and a large marriage-rate means prosperity, unless we are prepared to admit that the majority of Englishmen do not look before they leap. Again, I acknowledge the debt we owe the Registrar-General, for his returns without doubt are of incalculable value; but I cannot feel that with this table before me, detailing the sanitary statistics of our own parish for the past 20 years, a parish fortunate in early days in having secured the services and labours of a master hand and the energy of a master mind, can yet show little or no difference between the death-rate of to-day, and the death-rate of the day on which he first commenced his work. 13 Has then sanitary work been a failure ? Have the labours of a Graham, a Farr, a Simon, a Letheby, a Buchanan, a Ballard produced no fruit ? Have we no story of triumph to relate, no history of a victory to tell ? Most assuredly we have. Sanitary science has achieved a great success. Imagine us in 1876 living under the same conditions as, say 50 years ago. In 1801 there was a population of 10,212 persons, or in other words a population spread over the whole of Islington, about equal to the population of the ecclesiastical district of S. John's, Holloway Road. In 1871 the population was four times what it was in 1841. The open fields are now replaced by huge manufactories, blocks to air and light, and consequently to health. Belle Isle is not, as it once was, fragrant with clover and buttercups. All is altered ; and yet with the mass of human beings at the present time in Islington, living in homes surrounded by houses, these interspersed with factories and the like, robbed in a great measure of its open spaces, of green fields, and of country air, nevertheless, the death-rate remains the same—no more—despite it all. This is the great sanitary work we have effected. Imagine sanitary measures at the same standstill that they were fifty years ago, and then ask yourselves where, under such circumstances, would the inhabitants be now, and what deathrate should we have to chronicle. It has been the energy of sanitarians which has prevented outbreaks worse than the black death, and it must be to the same energy, and to the enforcement of the same sanitary regulations, only perfected by experience, that we must look in the future to preserve us from evils as bad, or even worse. The marriage rate, therefore, in Islington for the whole year is 17.6 per 1000 of the population. In the United Kingdom it was 14.3 for the first quarter; 16.2 for the second; 16.5 for the third; and 20.1 for the fourth. The marriage rate for the whole year was therefore 17.0 per 1000. MARRIAGES.—Table No. II. No. of Marriagea. Marriage Rate per 1000 of the Population. In quarter ending March, 1875 426 13.8 ,, ,, June, ,, 500 16.2 ,, ,, Sept., ,, 631 20.6 ,, ,, Dec., ,, 605 2,l62 19.6 17.6 14 The marriage rate, therefore, of Islington is very nearly identical with that of last year (17.5), whilst the marriage rate of the whole United Kingdon has increased from 15.6 to 17 per 1000. In Austria the marriage rate was 17.7 per 1ooo; in France, 15.70 per 1000; and in Spain 15.0 per 1ooo of the population. The marriage rate is not to be disregarded in noting the prosperity of a country generally, or of a neighbourhood in particular. The extraordinarily low marriage rate of the agricultural counties is a matter worth considering, especially when we remember that even the present very low marriage rate shows a decided sign of decrease. BIRTHS.—TABLE No. III. Western District. Eastern District. Whole Parish. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female. Total. Male. Female Total. 1st Qtr. 558 552 1,110 654 603 1,257 1,212 1,155 2,367 2nd „ 538 502 1,040 652 557 1,209 1190 1.059 2,249 2rd „ 499 488 987 606 604 1,210 I ,105 1,092 2,197 4th „ 487 507 994 663 562 1,225 1,150 1,069 2,219 Total. 2,082 2,049 4,131 2,575 2,326 4,901 4,657 4,375 9,032 The birth-rate of Islington is 36.9 per 1000. Of the 9032 children born, 4657 were males, and 4375 females. I append a table (Table No. 4), exhibiting the total births, the birth-rate, and the excess of births over registered deaths in Islington for the past twenty years. I would point out that during this period, there have only been four years, viz., 1862, 1863, 1871, and 1874, where the number of female children born, have exceeded the male children born. The birth-rate of all England was 36.6 per 1000, and of London 35.7. In Austria the birth-rate is 397; in Spain, 37.00; and in France, 25.8. We have further to record this year in Islington a larger percentage excess of births over deaths than the records of any previous year show. 15 Table No. IV. Showing Births, Birth-rate, &c., in Islington for the past Twenty Years. Total Births. Birth-rate per 1000 of the Population. Males. Females. Excess of Registered Births over Registered Deaths. Proportion of Females to every 100 Males. 1856 4309 34.3 * * 2015 * I857 4591 34.9 2391 2200 2181 92.0 1858 4413 32.1 * * 1771 * !859 4997 34.8 2595 2402 2327 92.5 i860 5184 34.7 2655 2529 2339 95.2 1861 5526 35.5 2891 2635 2585 91.1 1862 5580 34.5 2773 2807 2570 101.2 1863 6164 36.9 3073 3091 2310 100.5 1864 6317 36.6 3211 3106 2474 96.7 1865 6747 37.9 3409 3338 2934 97.9 1866 6908 37.0 * * 2736 * 1867 7374 39.0 3831 3543 3614 92.5 1868 7718 39.3 3974 3744 3508 94.2 1869 7483 37.0 3820 3663 3218 95.8 1870 7616 36.4 3881 3735 3246 97.5 1871 7655 35.6 3824 3831 3026 100.1 1872 8000 36.2 4051 3949 3970 97.4 1873 8522 38.5 4364 4158 4129 95.2 1874 8669 36.5 4316 4353 3989 100.85 1875 9032 36.9 4657 4375 4376 93.9 16 DEATHS. 4656 deaths were registered during the year 1875 in Islington. This gives us a death-rate of 19.02 per 1000 of the population. Of these 4656 deaths, 2312 were males and 2344 were females, 1946 deaths occurred in the Western district, of which 960 were males; and 2710 in the Eastern, of which number 1352 were males. In the year 1875 the death-rate of all England was at the rate of 20.3 per 1000; of London, 23.7; of Birmingham, 26.5; of Liverpool, 27.5; of Leeds, 26 4; of Sheffield, 24.8. In Philadelphia the death-rate is 22.27; in Vienna 31.42; and in New York and Berlin over 29.0 per 1000. I may note that in case of the births, the number of males born is invariably in excess of the females, whilst in the case of deaths the same excess of males over females holds good. In this way numbers are equalized. The following table tells its own story:— Table No. V. Shewing the deaths during the past ten years from the several diseases specified, and the number of deaths before and after five years of age. Estimated Population. Deaths from the principal diseases of a Zymotic nature. Deaths from Tubercular Diseases. Deaths from Diseases of the Respiratory Organs Deaths from Diarrhoea. Deaths from Diseases of the Digestive Organs. Deaths from Violence. Total. Total. Total. Total. Total. Total. 1866 183,695 before 5 years 505 703 203 677 375 692 142 165 30 195 42 64 after 5 „ 198 474 317 23 165 22 1867 189,652 before 5 years 310 495 193 598 398 711 158 170 37 181 43 70 after 5 „ 185 405 313 12 144 27 1868 195,802 before 5 years 472 632 204 641 365 737 256 274 33 199 35 58 after 5 „ 160 437 372 18 166 23 1869 202,152 before 5 years 624 828 190 606 393 796 201 223 27 165 42 70 after 5 „ 204 416 403 22 138 28 1870 209,057 before 5 years 532 868 214 668 371 818 218 241 29 186 27 45 after 5 „ 336 454 447 23 157 18 1871 214,932 before 5 years 530 943 199 665 384 872 210 235 20 197 41 62 after 5 „ 413 466 488 25 177 21 1872 221,902 before 5 years 457 570 210 665 413 791 204 222 27 168 33 59 after 5 „ 113 455 378 18 141 26 1873 229,071 before 5 years 377 430 233 700 484 983 258 273 32 215 46 64 after 5 „ 53 467 499 15 182 18 1874 236,899 before 5 years 384 501 257 728 503 1022 185 202 27 216 48 81 after 5 „ 117 471 519 17 189 33 1875 244,680 before 5 years 413 553 305 771 459 978 197 214 33 221 53 75 after 5 „ 140 466 519 17 188 22 18 MORTALITY AT DIFFERENT AGES. The following table (No. VI.) exhibits the numbers of the deaths that have taken place in Islington during the year 1875 at different ages, whilst in table,No. VII.,I have calculated the proportion of deaths at different ages to every 1000 deaths, and for purposes of comparison, I have appended the death ratio of the two previous years. Table No. VI. Under 1 year old 1306 From 1 to 2 449 „ 2 to 3 195 ,, 3 4 116 4 to 5 86 Under 5 2152 „ 5 to 10 170 „ 10 to 15 65 ,, 15 to 20 74 Under 20 2461 ,, 20 to 40 566 From 5 to 20 309 ,, 40 to 60 700 From 20 to 60 1256 ,, 60 to 80 770 „ 80 upwards 170 Table No. VII. Proportion of deaths at different ages in every 1000 deaths. 1873 1874. 1875. Under 1 year old 2667 273.0 280.1 From 1 to 5 years old. 172.1 172.0 181.5 „ 5 to 20 ,, 53.5 54.9 66.3 „ 20 to 40 ,, 119.5 125.8 119.2 ,, 40 to 60 ,, 153.7 146.8 150.0 ,, 60 to 80 „ 192.8 186.9 165.1 ,, 80 ,, 41.7 40.6 37.8 1ooo.o 1ooo.o 1ooo.o 19 CAUSES OF DEATH. On this I have little to say, beyond the information afforded by the ordinary table. (Table No. X.) Hooping Cough and Scarlet Fever have been epidemic, and I regret to note a considerable rise in deaths from Mesenteric disease. We have only three deaths recorded as having occurred during the past year from Smallpox. During the year ending June, 1876, I examined 65 samples of food which were submitted to me for analysis by your inspector. These consisted of— In addition to these the Islington Guardians sent me a sample of the Milk being supplied at their Schools, otherwise no sample was submitted to me by the public. This makes in all 435 samples examined for Islington since my appointment. In no case during this year was any adulteration detected, except in the Milk supplied to the Guardians, in which instance I gave a certificate, and a conviction was obtained by their solicitor, your Vestry Clerk. The Act has done a great good, and the fact of no action being in any other case necessary is the proof. I have regularly examined the water of the New River Company during the year. It was without exception clear and almost colourless when examined in bulk. The analyses during the several months I state in table No. VIII. The water has always been of exceedingly fine quality, and the examination of the water proves that very considerable care is taken in the preservation of the river and in the filtration of the water. As I shall have occasion every year to report on the whole of the Metropolitan waters, examinations of which are conducted monthly at my hospital laboratory, I shall not now say more on the subject of the water supply, but reserve it for another occasion. ADULTERATION ACT. 8 Tea. 6 Coffee. 6 Mustard. 8 Pepper. 7 Sugar. 9 Bitter Ale. 15 Whisky. 6 Ice Creams. WATER ANALYSIS. (Table No. VIII.) Analyses of the Waters of the New River Company, 1875. January. February. March. April. May. June. Constituents per Imperial Gallon of 70,000 Grains. Works. : Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works: Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs Grs. Grs. Total Solid 21.77 21.87 21.53 21.23 19.70 20.07 16.81 16.57 17.90 17.81 17.51 17.83 Chloride of Sodium 1.65 1.68 1.63 1.65 1.84 1.86 1.69 1.68 1.68 1.64 1.65 1.66 Insoluble Matters, consisting of Carbonates, Silica, Alumima, &e. 15.70 15.55 15.05 14.95 13.35 13.45 12.0 12.05 12.65 12.46 12.60 12.76 Actual & Saline Ammonia 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0.001 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ammonia from Organic Matter 0.005 0.004 0.006 0.005 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.003 0.004 0.003 Nitrogen as Nitrates 0.143 0.147 0.167 0.151 0.184 0.187 0.151 0.160 0.131 0.147 0.132 0.143 Oxygen required to oxidize Organic Matter 0.033 0.018 0.046 0.049 0.018 0.016 0.017 0.013 0.024 0.015 0.018 0.014 Hardness before boiling 14.9 14.9 15.0 14.9 15.0 15.2 13.6 13.6 13.5 13.6 13.5 14.0 Hardness after boiling 4.3 4.2 3.8 4.0 3.6 3.8 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.3 Constituents per Imperial Gallon of 70,000 Grains. July. August September. October. November. December. Works. Vestry Hall. Works Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Works. Vestry Hall. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. Grs. 17.20 17.36 18.73 17.77 18.47 17.57 18.73 18.47 20.83 20.67 21.60 21.47 Chloride of Sodium 1.63 1.66 1.65 1.64 1.65 1.63 1.67 1.65 1.54 1.54 1.65 1.64 Insoluble Matters, consisting of Carbonates, Silica, Alumima, &c. 12.40 12.70 13.40 13.00 12.30 12.60 12.75 12.60 14.26 13.95 13.86 14.25 Actual & Saline Ammonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.001 0.000 0.001 0.001 Ammonia from Organic Matter 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.006 0.005 Nitrogen as Nitrates 0131 0.134 0.115 8.131 0.131 0.118 0.147 0.166 0.131 0.147 0.149 0.131 Oxygen required to oxidize Organic Matter 0.026 0.023 0.030 0.056 0.029 0.028 0.025 0.030 0.050 0.054 0.046 0.049 Hardness before boiling 13.4 13.5 l5.0 14.3 14.6 13.8 14.5 14.7 16.0 16.0 16.5 16.4 Hardness after boiling 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.3 3.3 3.0 3.0 3.8 3.3 3.3 3.8 3.8 21 TABLE IX. The quantity of Water supplied during the year is as follows:— No. of Houses. No. of Gallons daily. Gallons of Water to each House. January 122,890 23,953,000 194.9 February 122,900 24,217,000 197.0 March 122,999 15,274,000 205.4 April 123,137 26,519,000 216.1 May 123,193 28,964,000 235.1 June 123,280 29,378,000 238.3 July 123,493 27,179,000 220.1 August 123,522 28,613,000 231.6 September 123,628 30,633,000 247.7 October 123,862 27,271,000 220.1 November 123,888 25,207,000 203.4 December 123,915 26,160,000 203.0 THE MORTUARY. From 1st July, 1875, to the 30th June, 1876, 359 bodies have been received at the mortuary. 114 inquests have been held in the coroner's room during the same period, the sum of £21 5s. having been received and paid to the Vestry for the accommodation. I wish I could say that the mortuary had been more generally used by the public than it was at first, but at present there is no sign of improvement in this direction, although I still hope to see it. The place, however, is a credit to the Vestry and the parish, and if never more used, there would be no room for fault-finding on the ground of waste, its erection being most amply vindicated even in its present use. It has been visited several times during the year by Medical Officers of Health and Members of Town and Country Local Boards, so that it may soon prove to be only one of the first of its kind built, for both the buildings and arrangements have been very generally approved. 22 SANITARY WORK OF THE YEAR 1875-6. See Table No. 11. This table of our sanitary work has been prepared in the usual manner, showing in the first place the number and variety of the inspections, re-inspections, and calls made by the District Inspectors during the year, and in the second part are set forth the amendments which have been made. In addition to these improvements the three District Inspectors reported that dust was required to be removed from 6,693 houses, this number being quite exclusive of the removals ordered as the result of the special work of the Inspector of Dust, which is noted at the bottom of the table. Many of these 6,693 removals were reported as arising out of the ordinary inspections and visits of the Inspectors as enumerated in the table, although in respect to the remainder they not only called at the houses and ascertained that dust was required to be removed, but in doing this they also specially visited 5,397 other houses where requisition for removal was not made. We were again short handed in the Sanitary Department for four months of the year, but on the whole I find that the table compares favourably with those of former years, more especially if we consider that the epidemic of Scarlet Fever entailed a large amount of extra work, which cannot very well be particularised in a table of this kind. I regret, however, that it is not possible to have a larger number of the poorer class of houses systematically inspected, as it is often by such means only that their cleansing and reparation are effected, and that overcrowding is kept in check. By the authority of the Sanitary Committee, carbolic acid was again used as in previous years in the watering of some of the streets during the summer; McDougal's powder was also used in the hottest and driest part of the season in the courts, and in connection with the Sunday morning cleansing of the channels of the Essex, Caledonian, and Holloway Roads, where these thoroughfares are used as market-places until late on Saturday night. SUMMONSES. During the year seven summonses, not previously referred to, were issued by the authority of the Sanitary Committee, six of them being heard at the Clerkenwell Police Court, and one by the Justices in Petty Sessions at the Vestry Hall. In the latter case a convice was obtained, a penalty of 40s. and 7s. costs being inflicted for the 23 slaughtering of sheep by a butcher who had no licence. Of the six heard at the police court, two were issued in connection with the seizure of a quantity of diseased meat in the Cattle Market Area, part of it being the carcase of a diseased cow which had dropped dead in the street, and had then been conveyed to one of the Corporation Slaughter Houses, and there dressed as if fit for human food. Being obliged, however, to depend chiefly upon unwilling and adverse witnesses, the case fell through, and the summonses were dismissed with costs, although, (and perhaps it will be thought singular enough) one of the parties—acowkeeper of Hackney—was convicted upon the same evidence, and fined £5 at a neighbouring police court for knowingly sending the identical cow through the streets while suffering from pleuro-pneunomia, contrary to the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1869, under which the Metropolitan Board of Works prosecuted as the local authority. Another summons was taken out under the 38th Section of "The Sanitary Act, 1866," against a man and wife for removing articles of clothing, bedding, &c., which had been exposed to infection in a house in which their own two children and several other persons had had Scarlet Fever, without any previous disinfection. This summons was also dismissed, but without costs, the private medical attendant in the case, whom we were compelled to call, and by whom the removal had been advised, giving evidence contrary to our expectation in direct exculpation of the defendants. A summons under the same section against another party, but connected with this case, was then withdrawn; and a further summons against the defendants, previously referred to, for failing to comply with a notice to disinfect under the 22nd Section of the Sanitary Act, 1866, was subsequently heard and dismissed by the same magistrate, and in doing so he impugned the certificate which I had given, and upon which the notice had been served, as being worthless, because I had not myself seen the infected persons. Had this latter case not have been so intimately associated with the other summonses under the 38th Section, so as to render the circumstances attending it quite exceptional, it would have been of the utmost importance that an appeal should have been made against the decision of the magistrate, as I regard this section as perhaps the most valuable one in the whole of "The Nuisances Removal or Sanitary Acts," and as certainly containing the principle upon which all our sanitary 24 legislation should, in my opinion, proceed; but of this I hope to be able to treat more fully at another time. However, as an after event proved, no appeal was really necessary; for the sixth and last summons was successful, under the same section, before another magistrate, the case being that of a solicitor, who, as the owner, had failed to comply with the notice to disinfect a portion of a house, and in whose default the work was done by the Vestry at an expense of £1. This sum was paid, together with is. penalty, and 4s. costs, upon the order of the magistrate. The defendant urged that only the occupier should be called upon to disinfect, but the magistrate pointed out that the matter is left in the hands of the nuisance authority, and that he could not, therefore, interfere with them in the exercise of their discretion upon this point. As I wish, in concluding this part of my subject, to explain the nature and mode of our usual proceedings under this 22nd Section of "The Sanitary Act, 1866," I place here for reference the greater part of this Section as follows:—"If the nuisance authority shall "be of opinion, upon the certificate of any legally qualified medical "practitioner, that the cleansing and disinfecting of any house, or "part thereof, and of any articles therein likely to retain infection, "would tend to prevent or check infectious or contagious diseases, "it shall be the duty of the nusianee authority to give notice in "writing, requiring the owner or occupier of such house, or part "thereof, to cleanse and disinfect the same as the case may "require; and if the person to whom notice is so given fail to "comply therewith within the titne specified in the notice, he shall be "liable to a penalty of not less than one shilling, and not exceeding "ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make "default; and the nuisance authority shall cause such house, or part "thereof, to be cleansed and disinfected, and may recover the expenses "incurred from the owner or occupier in default in a summary "manner; * * * * *" It has been my practice, and that of my predecessors, for some years past, acting under the direction of your Sanitary Committee in carrying out this Section, to initiate proceedings in disinfection by signing the certificate which is necessary, from a legally qualified medical practitioner, before the Nuisance Authority can act and upon 25 which the notice is served in due course, I have given this certificate, and shall continue to do so upon the registration of deaths from infectious diseases, when each case has been verified by the inquiries of the Inspector at the houses indicated, or upon receiving information of cases of infectious disease after due inquiry by the Inspector, both at the house itself, and of the medical attendant when necessary. I confess that I do not myself see how else this beneficial Section could have been thoroughly put in force, as it has been in Islington, if no disinfection could have been done unless in cases where the Medical Officer of Health had himself visited the patients in concert with their medical attendants, and have ascertained for himself the nature of their diseases. Such a thing is impossible, and I must continue to be content in running the risk of having my certificates contemned; for although hearsay evidence may be improper in a Court of Justice, it is a necessity in our sanitary work that the reports of our Inspectors should be accepted as reliable, and acted upon in all such matters, other evidence being quite superfluous in all ordinary cases. THE SLAUGHTER HOUSES and COW HOUSES IN ISLINGTON. At the Annual Licensing of 1875 there were 97 applications for the renewal of licences to Slaughter Houses, and 71 applications for the renewal of licences to Cow Houses, and one fresh application for a licence to a proposed Cow House. I had again as usual previously visited and inspected the whole of these 169 premises, and had reported respecting them to the Sanitary Committee, and upon their recommendation the Vestry authorised an absolute opposition to the new application for a Cow House licence, and the renewal of licences to three of the Slaughter Houses, two of the latter having been unsuccessfully opposed at the previous licensing. Upon this occasion the Metropolitan Board of Works also opposed in the two cases just mentioned, and the licenses were refused, one of the applicants not being in attendance. In the third Slaughter House case, opposed by the Vestry, some of the neighbouring inhabitants, who had several times complained to the 26 Sanitary Department during the summer, also opposed, and the licence was refused by the Justices. It might be well here to explain that the Slaughter House itself is not ill adapted for the purpose designed, but the only approach to it being through a narrow paved passage (leading from a main thoroughfare), down which cattle and sheep had to pass in, and the offal and manure had to be brought out in wheelbarrows, the refuse being sometimes deposited upon the pavement before being put into the cart, this, in addition to the fact that the Slaughter House had been rather extensively used during the year by the then occupier in killing for the market, had caused the place to become so great a nuisance to the inhabitants that I could not but deem it desirable to advise its entire suppression. This case having entirely arisen out of local circumstances, of which the Metropolitan Board of Works could have no knowledge, they did not take any part in the opposition which was successfully raised to the granting of the licence. As regards the Cow Houses, the one new application for a licence was refused, whilst another of the applicants not being present the licence lapsed, so that the number of Cow Houses actually licensed was 70, and the number of Slaughter Houses 94, which, as regards repair and general arrangements, it is gratifying to know will compare most favourably with any in the Metropolis. THE DUSTING OF THE PARISH. In the note to which reference has already been made at the bottom of Table No. XI., it is recorded that during the twelve months over which the Table extends, viz., Lady Day, 1875, to Lady Day, 1876, the Inspector of Dust visited 21,614 houses, and found that dust was required to be removed from 9,564, or just 44 per cent. of the houses visited. To these 9,564 there must be added the 6,693 removals, which were reported as being necessary by the other Inspectors, making a total of 16,257 premises, from which the contractors were required to remove dust, consequent upon the initiative of your Inspectors, as compared with a total of 16,345 in 1874-75. During the same period, letters and postal cards were recorded in the Sanitary Department, requesting the removal of dust 27 from 26,571 premises, and there were also entries in respect to removal from 10,296 premises, owing to personal applications which were made at the Vestry Hall. These together give a total of 36,867 premises from which dust was ordered to be removed in compliance with requests from parishioners; so that including the 16,257 mentioned above, the contractors were required, in writing, by your officers, to remove refuse from 53,124 premises, as compared with 37,126 and 27,838 in the two previous years. Table No.XII. contains a summary of these 36,867 applications, which are stated word by word, and quarter by quarter, for the twelve months over which the contracts chiefly extend, viz.: from Lady Day, 1875, to Lady Day, 1876. I say chiefly, because the contract for Wards 6 and 8 terminated at the end of the first six months, when the Vestry took up the work. To this latter circumstance I shall again refer, but for the present I must continue to deal with the numbers as a whole. This enormous total of 36,867 is by a long way the largest number of applications received in any one year since a record has been kept, being 16,086 in excess of the 20,781 received in the previous year; 20,461 in excess of the 16,406 of the year 1873-4; and 22,683 in excess of the 14,184 of the year 1872-3, these increasing tokens of neglect actually corresponding with the largely increasing payments being made to the contractors, as will be seen on reference to Table No.XIII. The tabulated applications show that of the 36,867 requests, 11,594 were received during the first three months, or at the average rate of about 890 each week, and 12,083 during the last three months, or about 930 a week. The intermediate quarters show 6,881 and 6,309 respectively, or an average rate of about 530 and 485 in each week. The weekly average for the whole year was 708, and the daily average 118. Taking the first and last quarters together, the applications were 23,677, or nearly two-thirds of the whole, as compared with 13,190, or rather more than one-third received during the second and third quarters of the year. 28 Following, again, the method adopted in former years, it appears that during the whole period the applications, amounting to 36,867, were equal to 136.1 per cent. of the total number of the inhabited houses in the parish, viz., 27,079.* In the first quarter there were 11,594, equal to 42.8 per cent.; in the second 6,881, or 25.4 per cent.; in the third 6,309, or 23.2 per cent.; and in the fourth 12,083, or 44.6 per cent. The two mean quarters together were 13,190, or 48.7 per cent., and the two extreme quarters 23,677, or 87.4 per cent. In contrasting the work of the different contractors, we may also point out that Mr. Edward Jackson, who dusted Ward 1 with 4,844 houses, had 8,174 applications, or 168.7 Per cent. against 95.4 per cent. in the previous year. Mr. W. T. Williamson, with Wards 2 and 4, containing 6,665 houses, had 9,239 applications, or 153.6 per cent. against 79.5 per cent. in the previous year, when he dusted Ward 4 only. Mr. John Williamson, Jun., with Wards 3 and 5, containing 6,810 houses, had 10,242 applications or 150.3 per cent., the smaller Ward, No. 5, actually showing, when taken alone, the enormous percentage of 212.7. Mr. J. Rendell, with Ward 7, containing 3,320 houses, had 3,766 applications, or 113.4 Per cent. In Ward 6, with 1,997 houses, there were 2,556 applications, or 127.9 per cent., Mr. J. Rendell, the Contractor, being answerable for the first six months, with 1,698 applications, or 85.0 per cent., being equal to 170.0 for the year; and the Vestry for the last six months, with 858 applications, or 42.9 per cent., being equal to 85.8 for the year. In Ward 8, again both last and least, containing 3,443 houses, there were 2,890 applications, or 83.8 per cent., the Contractor, Mr. Wm. Winn, being answerable for the first half-year, with 1,728 applications, or 50.1 per cent., being equal to 100.2 per cent. for the year; and the Vestry for the last half-year, with 1,162 applications, or 33.7 per cent., being equal to 67.4 for the year—a lower percentage by far than any appertaining to the work carried out by the Contractors during this period, although it compares unfavourably with the 21.1 per cent. of Messrs. J. and A. Stroud when they last dusted this same Ward (No. 8) in 1873-4. * Vide Note to Table under review. 29 The Sanitary Committee again devoted a great deal of time to the investigation of the numerous second, or repeated applications, and other special complaints against the Contractors, and the result was that penalties, amounting to £871, were inflicted during the year, Mr. Edward Jackson being fined £31; Mr. John Williamson, Jun., £44; Mr. J. Rendell, £26; and Mr. W. T. Williamson, £770, who has brought an action, which is now pending, against the Vestry in connection with this matter. In closing my review of what I shall call (because I confidently hope that it will be) the final record of the dusting of the Parish of Islington by the Contractors, I cannot but express my decided opinion that in every respect, and especially as regards the almost fabulous number of applications, the Contractors exhibited a total disregard of the obligations involved in their contracts, which were, during the whole period, most obviously, and even scandalously evaded. One would think that the utmost bounds of the consciences of these Contractors must have been reached in contemplation of the provoking and persistent negligence they were displaying towards the inhabitants, and the burden and reproach they were thereby imposing, I sincerely trust for the last time, upon the Vestry and their officers. I had indeed anticipated that the indifference of the Contractors would increase in view of the prospect of the whole of the work soon slipping from their grasp, and I did not look for any improvement during the continuance of their reign; but I could scarcely have believed it possible that business men could have gone so far as they did; and from this reproach I regret that I cannot except any of the Contractors named in the table, which, when compared with those of former years, will convince the most sceptical of the righteousness of this condemnation. To have been liberated from another year's tyranny (of the same, or of a worse character) in respect of even two-thirds of the Parish, is a matter for very great thankfulness. We can even afford to be grateful to the Contractors themselves for suddenly precipitating so great a boon by their imprudence in the following of evil counsel to their own hurt, and demanding in their tenders at least an increase of rather more than fifty per cent. upon the prices of the previous year for the work still remaining to them in Islington. No doubt, from the fact that the Vestry had 30 appointed a Permanent Committee, charged with the work of carrying on the dusting and slopping of two out of the eight Wards of the Parish, and the proposal of the Committee to accept the same responsibility in respect to two additional Wards, the Contractors were naturally led to believe that tenders were being invited from them by the Vestry in February last for the remaining Wards, equal to about two-thirds of the Parish, positively for the last time, and that if they did not seize this opportunity, no other would be given them, of endeavouring to compensate themselves in prospect of the loss they were fully expecting to sustain in being deprived of what they not improbably regarded as their vested interests in undertaking and neglecting the parish work, and hence came the increase in their demands. With the particulars as to the slopping tenders (which, however were also largely raised on this occasion) I am unacquainted, as they do not concern my department, but I have thought it might be well for us just at this juncture to look back over the various amounts which have been paid by the Vestry for the dusting of the several wards of the parish from 1868 to March, 1876, and I have therefore tabulated the figures, and they will be found set forth in Table No. XIII. at the end of this Report, and I have also added to it the amounts of the lowest tenders received in February last for the dusting of wards 1, 2, 3, and 4, which together amounted to the sum of £4,914 as against the £3,238 paid in the previous year, the increase being £1,676, or 51.7 per cent. If this demand had been a little less exorbitant the Vestry might perhaps have accepted the inevitable in the hope of an early deliverance, but as it was it soon became manifestly clear that the contractors had not only over-estimated the value of the services which they were offering, but had also miscalculated as to the absolute necessity that they supposed to exist for their services being accepted at all. Upon the recommendation of the Sanitary Committee the tenders were refused, and after referring the matter to the consideration of a joint committee, the Vestry finally resolved to undertake the whole of the work themselves. This decision was in my opinion both wise and necessary, and has, I believe, been fully justified by the manner in which the Dusting and Slopping Committee are devoting themselves to the duty with which they they have been entrusted. They are, I am glad to know, thoroughly in earnest and determined that this important business shall be 31 properly and effectually carried out, and with both energy of will and thoroughness of purpose combined, they will no doubt be successful. Their first quarter's dusting from Lady-Day to June, 1876, with 6,159 applications, including, as we may fairly reckon they did, the legacy left them by the contractors, is the promise of better things to come. I have also observed with much satisfaction that they are certainly conferring upon the inhabitants of Islington the pleasure and wholesomeness of cleanly streets, kept free from the accumulations which were once so common. We are now, at any rate, obtaining good results from the efforts that are made, and fair returns for the money expended. I hope, however, that the Committee will soon be released from the necessity of hiring horses, carts and men by the day from Contractors, as this system of hiring undoubtedly involves a very heavy expense, if at the same time we are desirous of securing a thoroughly efficient service. The purchase of a sufficient number of horses and carts for the whole of the dusting and slopping-work, and even horses for some of the watering, would require only the investment of a capital, no larger in amount than the payments required by the Contractors for the Dusting and Slopping of the current year; and the adoption of this course I beg most heartily to recommend. In again warmly commending the diligence and industry of your Inspector of Dust, Mr. Pain, I must also report my entire approval of the manner in which the other Inspectors and Officers of the Sanitary Department have carried out their onerous duties, both in respect to the dusting as well as in connection with their other work. CONCLUSION. And now, Gentlemen, I would venture to point out that in Sanitary work a Medical Officer of Health is of but little use unless each member of the parish strives himself to be a sanitarian. To effect any great good, we may work together, and even then we shall do but little, unless the public work with us. I do not mean by this that the public are to send anonymous complaints to the Vestry offices, or even to make personal complaints, where, on investigation, a reason is found for the complaint, but no reason in 32 the complaint. We shall always steadfastly aim (for in this I feel I have an able, zealous, and faithful colleague in your Superintendent Sanitary Inspector, Mr. Collingwood, with whom it has now been my duty and privilege to work for nearly four years, and to whose indefatigible industry, no less than to his unswerving honesty of will and purpose, many of the Vestry will join me in bearing testimony), I say we shall always aim at making Sanitary work in our parish real, that is at carefully sifting the complaints that are genuine from those that are imaginary—But we have to trust in a great measure to outsiders to inform us when there is a real grievanceThere lies the difficulty, but it is only a difficulty which increases when as sometimes happens we find it necessary to obtain evidence to enforce Sanitary requirements. As yet the public generally have not roused themselves to the importance of true sanitary work. It is this apathy we have to contend with, and which is the true barrier to the carrying out of more efficient sanitary measures. That apathy is too often ignorance. I will make but one suggestion to meet the difficulty. If at every church and chapel (for here we ought to find the true spirit of work and progress), Sanitary Organization Societies (not Charity Organization Societies), were started, what an immense work they might effect ! Ignorance is the parent of filth, and filth is the parent of disease; knowledge is the parent of cleanliness, and of the love of the beautiful, and these bring forth health. We may be certain of this, that in sanitary measures, even so simple a thing as cleanliness requires to be learnt just as much as the Latin grammar; and similarly too, its use is not always appreciated at the time it is being learnt. Where else can we look for it to be taught, but to recognised teachers ? Were I asked to make a list of the Nations of the World, arranging them according to their position in the scale of civilization, I should fix that position, according to the amount of soap used per head of the population. I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, 1st October, 1876. C. MEYMOTT TIDY. THE YEAR 1875. TABLE X. DEATHS REGISTERED IN ISLINGTON DURING (Deaths of Non-residents West. East. Cause of Death. All Ages. AGES Un. 1. 1- 2- 3- 4- Under 5 yrs. 5- 10- 15- 10- 40- 60- 80- up. 1946 2710 All Causes 4656 1306 449 195 116 86 2152 170 65 74 556 700 770 170 438 546 (Classes.) I. ZYMOTIC DIS. 984 356 153 92 70 51 722 85 28 10 74 41 20 4 345 587 II. CONSTITUTL. 932 169 77 36 17 11 310 31 15 35 274 191 71 5 902 1257 III. LOCAL 2159 446 200 63 29 21 759 52 20 28 176 450 592 82 218 269 IV. DEVELOPMNL 4877 286 12 2 ... ... 300 1 ... ... 19 3 85 79 43 51 V. VIOLENT DTHS. 94 49 7 2 ... 3 61 1 2 1 12 15 2 ... ... ... Not Specified ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 401 483 (Orders.) l. 1. Miasmatic Dis. 884 283 150 92 70 51 646 85 28 10 68 27 17 3 2 1 Small pox 3 1 1 ... ... ... 2 ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... 37 41 Measles 78 20 29 11 10 6 76 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... 89 133 Scarlatina 222 15 25 34 38 29 141 55 10 4 12 ... ... ... 9 17 Diphtheria 26 2 1 4 5 3 15 5 1 1 3 ... ... ... 1 ... Quinsey 1 ... 1 ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... 11 21 Croup 32 1 8 10 5 3 27 4 1 ... ... ... ... ... 96 77 Whooping Cough 173 79 53 20 5 8 165 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... 20 31 Typhus & Typhoid 51 ... 1 6 5 2 14 8 4 3 13 7 2 ... 5 8 Erysipelas 13 4 ... ... ... ... 4 ... ... ... 4 3 2 ... 3 3 Pyaemia 6 ... ... ... 1 ... 1 1 2 ... 1 1 ... ... 12 7 Puerperal 19 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 18 ... ... ... ... 1 Carbuncle 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Influenza ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 1 1 Dysentery 2 1 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 99 115 Diarrhæa 214 158 31 7 1 ... 197 2 1 ... 2 2 ••• ... 2 3 Cholera 5 2 ... ... ... ... 2 ... ... ... 2 ... 8 2 ... ... Ague ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... 14 24 Rheumatism 38 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 ... 12 14 3 ... 12 26 2.Enthetic 38 28 3 ... ... ... 31 ... ... ... 2 2 1 ... 9 25 Syphilis 34 28 3 ... ... ... 31 ... ... ... 2 1 ... ... 3 1 Stricture of Urethra 4 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 1 ... ... Hydrophobia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Glanders ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16 29 3.Dietic 45 2 ... ... ... ... 28 ... ... ... 4 12 1 ... ... 2 Privation 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 ... ... 10 18 Want of Br. Milk 28 28 ... ... ... ... 28 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Purpura and Scurvy ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 9 Alcoholism 15 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 10 1 ... 9 8 4.Parasitic 17 17 ... ... ... ... 17 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 8 Thrush 17 17 ... ... ... ... 17 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Worms ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 60 101 II.1. Diathetic 161 2 ... 2 1 ... 5 1 2 1 16 77 55 4 5 7 Gout 12 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 7 ... 6 17 Dropsy 23 ... ... 2 ... ... 2 1 ... ... 2 3 14 1 4 4 Hæmorrhage 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 5 1 ... 42 62 Cancer 104 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 10 62 29 2 ... ... Cancrum Oris(Noma) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 11 Mortification 14 2 ... ... 1 ... 3 ... 2 ... 2 2 4 1 285 486 2. Tubercular 771 167 77 34 16 11 305 30 13 34 258 114 16 1 17 46 Scrofula 63 21 22 3 2 2 50 5 2 1 5 ... ... ... 39 87 Tabes Mesenterica 126 79 24 8 5 2 118 4 2 ... 2 ... ... ... 167 297 Phthisis 464 22 7 3 2 ... 34 9 6 33 251 114 16 1 62 56 Hydrocephalus 118 45 24 20 7 7 103 12 3 ... ... ... ... ... 239 350 III.1. Nervous Syst. 589 161 54 21 9 6 251 13 2 8 40 96 151 28 40 42 Cephalitis 82 25 15 9 6 4 59 9 1 1 6 4 2 ... 42 60 Apoplexy 102 ... ... ... ... 1 1 ... ... ... 5 40 48 8 29 53 Paralysis 82 1 1 ... ... ... 2 ... ... 1 1 16 47 15 ... ... Insanity ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 Chorea 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... 2 ... 10 22 Epilepsy 32 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... 2 11 12 3 3 97 85 Convulsions 182 131 34 12 2 1 180 1 ... ... 1 ... ... ... 20 86 Brain Diseases, &c. 106 4 4 ... 1 ... 9 1 1 4 16 24 49 2 91 156 2. Organs of circ. 247 2 2 1 ... 1 6 5 6 5 27 83 105 10 1 7 Pericarditis 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 1 ... 1 1 2 ... 1 2 Aneurism 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 1 101 ... 89 147 Heart Disease 236 2 2 1 ... 1 6 2 5 5 25 81 2 10 TABLE X. FIFTY-TWO WEEKS ENDING 1ST JANUARY, 1876. in Hospitals excluded.) West. East. Causes of Death All Ages. AGE8 Un. 1- 1- 2- 3- 4. Under 5 yrs. 5- 10- 15- 20- 40- 60- 60up. 438 54 3. Respirat. Orgs. 978 249 140 38 20 12 459 26 4 8 53 165 227 36 19 3 Laryngitis 55 20 18 4 3 5 50 4 ... ... 1 ... ... 241 27 Bronchitis 519 130 62 20 6 3 221 3 ... 2 17 76 169 31 6 7 Pleurisy 13 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 3 7 ... 142 182 Pneumonia 324 91 56 14 11 4 176 15 2 6 27 61 33 4 18 15 Asthma 33 2 ... ... ... ... 2 ... ... ... 1 18 11 1 12 22 Lung Diseases, &c. 34 6 4 ... ... 10 4 2 ... 4 7 7 ... 85 136 4. Digestive Orgs. 221 28 2 1 ... 2 33 5 2 5 36 68 67 5 5 8 Gastritis 13 2 1 ... ... ... 3 1 ... 1 1 3 4 ... 8 8 Enteritis 16 7 1 ... ... 1 9 1 ... ... 2 1 2 1 10 12 Peritonitis 22 ... ... ... ... 1 1 2 1 4 7 5 2 ... 4 3 Ascites 7 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 4 ... 2 ... Ulceration of Intes. 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 1 ... 4 4 Hernia 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 1 6 ... 6 4 Ileus 10 2 ... ... ... ... 2 ... ... ... ... ... 6 2 2 1 Intussusception 3 1 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 2 ... ... ... ... 2 Stricture of Intest. 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 1 ... 1 1 Fistula 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 ... ... 8 12 Stomach Dis., &c 20 3 ... ... ... ... 3 ... ... ... 1 6 10 ... ... ... Pancreas Dis., &c. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 12 Hepatitis l5 1 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 5 5 4 ... 2 13 Jaundice 15 8 ... 1 ... ... 9 ... ... ... 1 3 1 1 29 56 Liver Disease 85 3 ... ... ... ... 3 1 ... ... 15 39 26 1 1 ... Spleen Disease 1 1 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 31 48 5. Urinary Organs 79 ... 1 ... ... ... 1 2 1 1 11 27 33 3 2 1 Nephritis 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 2 ... ... 3 5 Disease of Bladder 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 1 5 1 13 17 Nephria 30 ... 1 ... ... ... 1 1 1 1 3 11 12 ... 3 7 Diabetes 10 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 5 4 ... ... ... Stone ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 2 Prostrate Disease 4 ... ... ... ... ... ......... ... ... ... ... ... 4 ... 8 16 Kidney Disease 24 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 8 8 2 5 7 6. Genera. Organs 12 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... 5 4 2 ... 1 4 Ovarian Dropsy 5 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 2 1 ... 4 3 Uterine Diseases 7 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... 3 2 1 ... 6 9 7. Orgs. of Locomo. 15 1 ... 1 ... ... 2 1 4 1 3 2 2 ... 1 5 Spine Diseases 6 1 ... ... ... ... 1 1 1 ... 2 1 ... ... 5 4 Bone Diseases 9 ... ... 1 ... ... 1 ... 3 1 1 1 2 ... 7 11 8. Skin, &c. 18 5 1 1 ... ... 7 ... ... ... 1 5 5 ... ... ... Phlegmon & Abscess ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4 5 Ulcer 9 1 ... 1 ... ... 2 ... ... ... 1 3 3 ... 3 6 Skin Diseases 9 4 1 ... ... ... 5 ... ... ... ... 2 2 ... 61 56 IV. 1. Dis. of Childn. 117 116 1 ... ... ... 117 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 53 16 Premature Birth 99 99 ... ... ... ... 99 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 Cyanosis 6 6 ... ... ... ... 6 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 1 Snina Bifida 4 4 ... ... ... ... 4 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 2 Other Malformation 5 5 ... ... ... ... 5 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 1 Teething 3 2 1 ... ... ... 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 11 2. Dis. of Adults 21 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 19 2 ... ... ... ... Paramenia ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 11 Childbirth 21 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 19 2 ... ... 45 120 3. Dis. of Aged 165 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 85 79 45 120 Old Age 165 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 85 79 102 82 4. Dis. of Nutritn. 184 170 11 2 ... ... 183 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... 102 82 Atrophy & Debility 184 170 11 2 ... ... 183 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 39 V. 1. Acci. or Neg. 75 41 7 2 ... 3 53 1 2 1 7 10 1 ... 9 10 Fract. and Contus. 19 ... 2 1 ... 1 4 1 ... ... 5 8 1 ... 1 ... Wounds 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... ... 5 1 Burns and Scalds 6 ... 4 ... ... 2 6 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 Poison 3 1 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 1 1 ... ... 2 1 Drowning 3 ... 1 ... ... ... 1 ... 2 ... ... ... ... ... 17 20 Suffocation 37 36 ... ... ... ... 36 ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... 1 5 Otherwise 6 4 ... 1 ... ... 5 ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 2 6 2 Homicide 8 8 ... ... ... ... 8 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 6 3 Suicide 11 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 5 1 ... 2 1 Wounds 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 1 ... ... 1 ... Poison 1 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 ... ... ... 1 2 Drowning 3 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 ... ... 1 3 Suffocat. and Hang 4 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 2 1 ... ... ... Otherwise ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4. Unclassed ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... TABLE XI. HOUSES INSPECTED AND SANITARY IMPROVEMENTS EFFECTED, From March 29th, 1875, to March 25th, 1876. South East District. South West District. North District. Total. Number of Houses inspected 985 895 556 2436 Re-inspections, Calls made, &c 2968 2903 1957 7828 Visits to 211 Bakehouses 161 149 86 396 Do. 70 Cowhouses 122 125 60 309 Do. 94 Slaughter-houses 172 128 69 369 Do. Stables and yards 41 81 13 136 Do. Factories and Workshops 10 20 1 31 Do. Fields, Lanes, &c 99 73 107 279 Do. 36 ( Factories, Horse Slaughter-houses, Piggeries, &c., Belle Isle) ... 216 •• 216 Total Inspections, &c 4558 4590 2849 11997 IMPROVEMENTS. Drains Constructed 25 32 1 58 Improved or repaired 103 120 55 278 [Traps fixed 91 179 43 313 Cesspools Abolished 7 4 2 13 Cleansed or disinfected .. .. .. .. Privies and Water Closets Pan, trap and water supply furnished .. 7 1 8 Pan and trap only furnished 24 5 8 37 Water supply furnished 13 13 • • 26 Dust Bins Constructed 1 11 11 23 Repaired and covers adapted 1 7 9 17 Surface Drains and Pavements of Yards Constructed .. 3 1 4 Relaid 90 100 20 210 General Water Supply New receptacles provided .. 3 3 6 Receptacles repaired and cleansed 5 9 7 21 (Water supply provided 11 5 1 17 Other Improvements Houses generally repaired 112 16 8 136 „ &c., cleansed or limewashed 182 194 54 0 „ ventilated .. .. .. .. Overcrowding abate 1 20 2 23 Illegal use of underground Rooms for sleeping discontinued .. 1 .. 1 Other Amendments, or Nuisances abated 61 109 24 194 Houses or Rooms Disinfected 143 133 5 328 Total Improvements 870 971 302 2143 Total Premises Improved 546 611 231 1388 N.B.—From the 29th March, 1875, to the 25 th March, 1876, the nspector of Dust visited. 21,614 houses and found that Dust was required to bo removed from 9564 of these houses. Table No. XII. Summary of Applications for Removal of Dust from 25th March, 1875, to 25th March, 1876. Contractor. Ward. Three Months ending ! 19th June, 1875. Three Months ending 18th 8ept., 1875. Three Months ending 18th Dec., 1875. Three Months ending 25th Mar., 1876. Total during Twelve Months' Contract. Amount paid to Contractor for whole period. Inhabited House Census, 1871. Number of Applications to every 100 Houses. Total Applications during previous Twelve Months' Contract. Number of Application to every 100 Houses during same period. Mr. E. Jackson 1 2,195 1,517 1,676 2,786 8,174 £740 4,844 168.7 4,625 95.4 Mr. W. T. Williamson 2 1,585 695 622 1,714 4,616 £694 3,412 135.2 3,115 91.2 Mr. J. Williamson, Jun. 3 1,897 775 789 1,738 5,199 £860 4,440 117.0 3,419 77.0 Mr. W. T. Williamson 4 1,435 621 620 1,947 4,623 £944 3,253 142.1 2,588 79.5 Mr. J. Williamson, Jun. 5 1,323 1,049 950 1,721 5,043 £465 2,370 212.7 2,097 88.4 Mr. J. Eendell (six months) 6 955 743 .. .. 1,698 £145 1,997 85.0 1,933 96.7 The Vestry ( do. ) 6 •• 358 5 00 858 •• .. 42.9 Mr. J. Rendell 7 1,138 819 735 1,074 3,766 £410 3,320 113.4 1,679 60.6 Mr. W. Winn (six months) 8 1,066 662 .. •• 1,728 £270 3,443 50.1 1,326 3. 4 The Vestry ( do. ) 8 •• •• 559 603 1,162 .. .. 33.7 Totals 11,594 6,881 6,309 12,083 36,867 £4,528 *27,079 136.1 20,781 76.7 Removals ordered from Reports of the Inspector of Dust and other Inspectors 3,794 2,142 3,278 7,043 16,257 Total Removals 15,388 9,023 9,587 19,126 53,124 * The actual number of inhabited houses during this period was probably about 30,000, the chief additions being to Wards 1 and 3; but as I could not accurately apportion the total increase, it seemed better to use the Census numbers throughout. Table No. XIII. Amounts paid to Contractors for the Removal of Dust from June, 1868, Michaelmas, to March, 1876. 1868. 1869. 1870. 1871. 1872. 1873. 1874. 1876. Lowest Tenders for year ending, March, 1877. Increase upon amounts paid in previous year. Contractors whose Tenders were lowest. June, 1868, to June, 1869. June, 1869. to June, 1870. June,1870, to June. 1871 June, 1871, to June, 187 2. June,1872, to March 1873. Nine Mos. March, 1873, to March, 1874. March, 1874, to March, 1875. March, 1875, to March, 1876. £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Ward 1 Paid to Mr. Dodd in this year for the whole Parish. 150 1677 544 500 544 690 740 1,190 450 Mr. E. Jackson. Do 2 295 444 454 490 500 694 1,144 450 Mr. W. T. Williamson Do 3 300 644 460 690 740 860 1,190 330 Messrs. Jackson Bros. Do 4 350 845 590 644 844 944 1,390 446 Mr. W. T. Williamson. Total 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see below Ward 5 1,095 1,677 2,477 2,004 2,268 2,774 3,238 4,914 1,676 700 1,260 730 1,200 750 750 465 145 Six mos. Do 6 Do 7 410 400 950 410 Do 8 440 450 270 Six mos. Totals 6, 6, 7, and 8 .. 700 1,260 1,580 1,200 1,600 1,700 1,290 Totals 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see above] .. 1,095 1.677 2,477 2,004 2,268 2,774 3,238 Totals whole Parish 200 1,795 2,937 4,057 3,204 9 mos. 3,868 4,474 4,628 * Wards 6 and 8 were dusted by the Contractors, only for the first six months of this year, 1875 to 1876, so that the amount is about £415 less than it would have been had the other six months been included in the Contracts.