[Report 1888] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicester Borough.

  • Leicester (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report 1888] / Medical Officer of Health, Leicester Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    95/120 (page 93)
    during infancy, and in the decay of the body as old age approaches. (See Mortality Tables in Appendix). They num¬ bered last year 541, of which 1 17 were due to Premature Birth, 228 to Atrophy and Debility (the greater portion of these being under one year of age), and 168 were ascribed to old age and general decay, of which 68 were persons aged 80 years and upwards, 35 being men and 33 women. In Table XVIII. is given the distribution of these deaths from Developmental Disease, through the seven wards of the Borough. CLASS VII.—DEATHS FROM VIOLENCE. Only 77 deaths were caused in the Borough, as the direct result of some form of violence. There was no case of either murder or manslaughter returned. 23 were from fractures and contusions, 10 from burns or scalds, 1 from accidental poisoning, 11 from drowning, and 20 from suffocation. Of the latter, 17 were infants under a year old. 12 deaths were returned as suicidal, of which 9 were by hanging, 2 by poison, and 1 by cutting of the throat. T1 le deaths from violence were 2^9 per cent, of all deaths, exactly the same rate as in 1887, or 0^52 per 1000 of the popula¬ tion living. In the twenty-eight large towns of the country, the rate was o-68 per 1000, being highest in Cardiff, with a rate of ro8 per 1000, and lowest in Brighton, where it reached only C30 per 1000 per annum. CLASS VIII.—ILL-DEFINED & UNSPECIFIED CAUSES. It is satisfactory to find that only 13 deaths have to be excluded from the preceding seven classes, from vagueness or want of definition as to the cause thereof, and thus come to be placed in Class V III. : amongst these are deaths from “ Natural Causes,” “ Tumour,” “ Dropsy,” &c.