Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/857

 HEALTH.] LONDON 827 viding three lines of intercepting sewers on the north side of the river, which convey the discharge 11 miles below London Bridge, and two lines on the south side, which convey their discharge 4 miles farther down. These works comprise 80 miles of main intercepting sewers, in addition to four pumping stations to raise the sewage from the lower levels. The total length of the main street sewers entrusted to the board was about 165 miles, one-fifth of which consisted of offensive open sewers, while many of the others were of most defective design or out of repair. The total cost of repairing these sewers, and connecting them with the new main drainage system, was estimated at 800,000, and works to the value of 750,000 have been executed. The sum expended on main drainage and main sewers up to 31st December 1881 was 5,684,470. The opinion seems to be increasing that the present method of getting rid of the sewage of London is radically wrong, and undoubtedly the sewage discharge may reach propor tions which may absolutely demand a new supplemental scheme. For the four 3 ears ending 1878 the average daily sewage discharge was 122J millions of gallons, in 1878 it was 157i- millions, and it is now estimated at 180 millions. The conservancy of the Thames was in 1857 transferred from the corporation to a body of twelve, nominated by various authorities, and presided over by the lord mayor; and in 1867 the conservancy of the upper reaches from Staines to Cdcklade was vested in a board, of which the conservators of the lower reaches formed the majority, Under the auspices of these two boards not only has the navigation of the river been very much improved, but very stringent care has been exercised to prevent its unnecessary pollution. In 1868 the Lea was also placed under the control of a conservancy board. The expenses of the boards are defrayed by tonnage dues, tolls, pier dues, fines, and licences, and contributions from the canal and water companies. The sanitary condition of the streets and houses is under the care of vestries and district boards, but great variety exists in regard to the efficiency with which the work is performed. Ceme- An Act passed in 1845 provides for the prohibition of interment teries. in any of the cemeteries within the metropolitan area by order in council, and forbids the construction of new burial grounds within 2 miles of the metropolis except on the approval of the secretary of state. The power of constructing cemeteries for their several districts is granted to the vestries, who may borrow money for this purpose from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, and are required to appoint a board for their management. The commis- sionprs of sewers for the City of London are the burial board for the City parishes. The secretary of state has the power to issue regulations in regard to the construction of cemeteries and the arrangements connected with interment. Among the more import ant suburban cemeteries are Kensal Green (in which many eminent persons have been interred), Brompton, Hampstead, Highgate, Abuey Park, Nunhead, and Norwood. Climate. HEALTH. Apart from the deleterious influence of smoke and defective sanitary arrangements, London must be Street sanita tion. regarded as exceptionally healthy. Although subject occasionally to rapid alternations of temperature, the climate is generally mild and according to the seasons equable, with an early spring and a long autumn. The following table (IX.) gives a summary of Greenwich meteor ology for thirty-two years, 1849-80 : Weekly Movement of Ail- in Miles. Yearly Fall of Rain in Indies. Mean Dryness of Atmo sphere. Mean Tempera ture for the Year. Mean Temperature for Quarters ending in March. June. Sept. Dec. 1811 24-8 59 49-3 39-9 52-7 60-4 44-1 In 1306, when the population did not exceed 50,000, Smoke the citizens of London petitioned Edward I. to prohibit ^ ^ the use of sea coal, and he passed a law making the burn ing of it a capital offence. John Evelyn, in Fumifugium, written in 1661, complains that on account of the increase of coal smoke the gardens no longer bear fruit, and instances various cases in which the smoke had been pre judicial to health, but the influence of smoke in increasing fogs and intensifying their evils seems not to have been appreciable. The smoke-producing area has since then increased from about 3 square miles to over 100 square miles, and the average daily consumption of coals in domestic fireplaces has mounted to about 27,000 tons, or in winter probably to 40,000 tons, which in certain states of the atmosphere produces a cloud of smoke resting for days over the central districts of the town, and shutting out the sun, even when it does not descend in foggy weather as a thick, impenetrable, and partly poisonous mass of darkness. During the fogs of 1879-80 asthma increased 220 per cent, and bronchitis 331 per cent., and in the week ending February 13, 1882, the death-rate, owing to the dense fogs, rose from 27 1 in the previous week to 35 3, diseases of the respiratory organs rising to 994, the corrected weekly average of this class of diseases being 430. The evil is mainly due to the smoke of domestic fireplaces. The death-rate of London has steadily declined since the beginning of the century, when it was first exceeded by the birth-rate. A record of the births and deaths of London entitled &quot;Bills of Mortality&quot; was made by the parish clerks in the plague year of 1593, and from 1603 was continued even after the rsturns had begun to be published by the registrar-general. Though they only included the births of persons baptized according to the forms of the Church of England, and the deaths of persons buried in consecrated ground within the parishes included in the &quot; Bills,&quot; and were in many cases very carelessly compiled, they place it beyond doubt that even in years when London was exempt from the plague the rate of mortality required a large immigration from the country to take the place of those who died in London. Previous to 1593 the great plague years were 1349, 1361, and 1369. The following table (X.) shows the number of births and deaths in the great plague years of the seventeenth century, and the average annual number for every decade in the 18th century: Death- rate and birth rate. V l^t Deaths from Plague. Births. Excess of Deaths. Average 10 Years ending Deaths. Births. Excess of Deaths. Average 10 Years ending Deaths. Births. Exce-s of Deaths. 15H3 17,844 10,662 4,021 13,823 1710 21,461 15,623 5,838 17TO 22,001 17. 156 4.S45 1G03 42,042 3fi,269 4,789 37,253 1720 23,90 J 17,111 6,798 ! 1770 24,943 19,784 5,159 1G25 | 54,265 35,417 6,783 47,482 1730 27,492 18,203 9,289 i 1780 23,851 19,248 4,603 1636 | 23,8.59 10,400 9,522 13,837 1740 26,492 16,830 9/162 1790 2:!, 080 21,477 1,603 1665 j 97,306 68,596 9,967 87,339 1750 25,352 14,457 10,895 1SOO 24,270 22,605 1,66.5 The average mortality of London in 1881 was 21 6 per 1000, or 1 1 less than that of the twenty other large towns of England, while the rate for England was only 20 - 5. It is to be remembered that London contains a comparatively small proportion of working class population. Its sanitary condition is still very far in advance of that of Paris, where at present the death-rate is about 130 for 100 in London. The registrar-general calculates that according to the density of London its normal death-rate should be much lower than it is, but, besides the fact that mortality is influenced by other causes than sanitary arrangements, the extended area augments the evil results of density, and the lesser density in some districts cannot counterbalance the excessive crowding of others. Table XI. gives the annual rate of mortality per 1000 persons living for various periods, and Table XII. the number of births and of deaths from the principal zymotic diseases and from all causes :