pletion of the century, in 1950, the inhabitants of the metropolis will have reached the enormous amount of 10,396,857. On referring to the first and second weekly reports of the RegistrarGeneral for the year 1850, I find that the number of persons in London to an acre, in 1849, was 30; of the number to each inhabited house at the same period, 7·4, i. e., in every ten houses there were 74 persons; and in the third weekly report, that the metropolis covered a space of 73,715 acres, or about 115 square miles, including Hampstead, Wandsworth, and Lewisham. The following table shows the space and number of houses required for the inhabitants of London during every decennial period from 1850 to 1950 inclusive, assuming that 30 persons live on an acre, and 7.4 in a house : TABLE II. In the above estimate of 30 persons to an acre are included several parts of London at present but thinly populated, such as Wandsworth, Hampstead, and Lewisham, which accounts for the small number of persons apparently distributed over the above-mentioned space. According to the returns of the several water-companies, 155 gallons of water are daily supplied to each inhabited house in London. In Table II. it is computed that a house is inhabited by 7.4 persons, so that the average quantity of water supplied to an individual is 21 gallons, inclusive of the amount used for buildings, street-waterings, and domestic purposes. Table III. has therefore been formed on the assump-tion that 21 gallons per diem is the average quantity required: TABLE III. From this table it appears that, in 1850, the quantity of water that ought to have been supplied to the metropolis was 46,849,110 gallons, allowing 21 as the average for each person. In 1900, London will require 101,137,302 gallons; and in 1950, the amount requisite will be 218,333,997 gallons, a quantity the present means in use would be wholly incapable of supplying. Leaving the quality for future consideration, I purpose showing the amount of sewage hourly infiltrating the Thames; and as this is the source to which we must ultimately look for the chief supply of water to meet increasing demands, it is obvious to all how important a subject is the question of its purification, as bearing not only on health, but also on national wealth. Regarding the Thames at present as little better than a common sewer, it is now calculated the amount of excrementitious substances that are daily poured into it. Modern physiologists estimate the quantity of solid matter yielded by an individual in the course of 24 hours, at about 5 ounces, and the average amount of liquid at 2 pints. In the following table, the calculation is based on the assumption that 2 pints is the quantity contributed by each person to the sewers of London* :— TABLE IV. From this it appears that, in 1850, the number of gallons of sewage which passed into the river was 557,728. During 1900, there will be 1,024,016, and in 1950, it will have increased to 2,599,215 gallons. In the above estimate, it must be borne in mind that at present many houses in the metropolis are not sewered at all; but the loss derivable from this source is more than compensated for by the surplus residua of manufactories, slaughter-houses, &c. In 1828. Much surprise has often been expressed at the indifference shown by a great commercial and agricultural country to the evident loss of wealth arising from the waste of so much valuable manure. attention was first directed to this subject by Mr. John Martin, who, in a pamphlet bearing on the question of the purification of the river Thames, first pointed out the loss the nation yearly experienced through neglect of so evident a source of wealth. He was subsequently followed in the same path by Liebig, whose chemical investigations still further contributed to arouse public attention to the subject. Had it not been for the labours of the above gentlemen, the subject might still have remained in abeyance, and the farmer left in the continuance of no better prospect than that derived from his present inferior manures, when he might be supplied with a better article at one-fourth the present price. In 1827, the importation of bones alone, for agricultural purposes, amounted to 40,000 tons, and Mr. Huskisson estimated their cost to be from 100,000l. to 200,000Z. sterling; and this is but a tithe of what the outlay for guano has been, the fertilizing properties of which are not superior to the sewage of London. But the most important question connected with this subject is the effect produced on the health of towns, through the want of a comprehensive and well-devised system of sanitary measures; experience demonstrating how much a healthy condition of cities depends on * Older authorities estimate this at about 4 pints. efficient drainage, open and airy streets, and a plentiful supply of water. As population advances, excrementitious substances must of necessity increase; and if more than a balance between cause and effect, i. e., between health and one of the chief exciting causes of disease, is to be maintained, hygienic measures must increase also, and corporate and private interests succumb before comprehensive and active measures for the general good. With a view to show the difference in mortality between London as a town, and England and Wales collectively, I have prepared Table V. in which is given the annual number of deaths to 100,000 persons* (50,000 males and 50,000 females); also the number out of which one will die in each year, including the difference per cent. between the metropolis and England and Wales, distinguishing ages, in order that it may be seen at what period of life the rate of mortality is most unfavourable in London, together with the difference per cent. in the mortality for males only. In the three last columns of the following table, those figures having the sign plus (+) before them indicate the excess of mortality in London over that of England and Wales, and those having the symbol minus (-) the decrease : TABLE V. This table exhibits some very interesting facts. It will be perceived that, for all ages, the mortality of the metropolis is upwards of * Calculated from the deaths in the seven years 1838 to 1845, from the Annual Reports of the Registrar-General. 15 per cent. (15·32) greater than that of England and Wales, males being about 21 per cent. (20.57). It also appears that the period of life most fatal in London is the first five years of existence. In the first year, the excess of mortality in the metropolis is 15 per cent. for both sexes; in the second, it rises to the enormous amount of 57; for males only, 59, or about three-fifths more than for England and Wales; during the second and third years, the conjoint mortality is not much less, being 49 per cent., or an increase of nearly a half more; in the third and fourth years, it is still higher, being 53; and between four and five years, it diminishes to 47 per cent. In comparing the different rates of mortality shown in the above table, the question naturally presents itself to the mind, to what cause must be ascribed the great number of deaths during the first period of life, i. e. from 1 to 5 years of age? A variety of circumstances appear to contribute to this effect, viz., the general impurity of the atmosphere, the quantity and quality of food and clothing, dentition, and the various diseases incidental to infancy. Among these dentition holds a very prominent place; for though the proportion of deaths arising from this cause falls far short of those occurring from diarrhoea, hooping-cough, measles, and scarlatina; yet we cannot but be struck with the mortality as being greater than ought to exist from a natural process, the others being epidemics, and, consequently, less amenable to control. During the succeeding quinquennial period, viz., from 5 to 10, the mortality in London, though greater than England and Wales, is considerably less than the four preceding years, being 30 per cent. for both sexes, and 34 for males only-the increase being nearly one-third more for the metropolis. In the following five years, from 10 to 15, a remarkable change takes place, the respective ratios being reversed, London exhibiting 10 per cent. less than England and Wales. During the succeeding ten years the same feature presents itself, but a wider difference is observed between the conjoint mortality and that of males only, the former being 16 per cent. and the latter only 6. It may be supposed by some that the great alteration in the rate of mortality of children in the metropolis between 10 and 15 years of age, arises from the circumstance that at this period of life many leave London for schools in the provinces, and, consequently, their deaths would not appear in the London returns of the Registrar-General. It must be borne in mind, however, that the census was taken prior to the period at which school-vacations usually occur, hence the returns would include such children only as were at that period, and are generally, residents of London. After the age of 25 the mortality in the metropolis again increases until the period from 55 to 65, when it is 45 per cent. more than for England and Wales; subsequently to this it declines till the interval between 85 and 95, when it is 9 per cent. greater; from 95 to the remainder of life it shows the same features as from 10 to 25, only the case is reversed, the mortality for males and females being 6, and for males minus 13 per cent. Between 25 and 45, the period of childbearing, the deaths among both sexes, conjointly, is less than among males only, and this is accounted for in the following manner by the Registrar-General. "The chance of living from 25 to 45 is rather in favour of English women. The violent deaths of men on the rivers and the sea-coasts, in mines, in the streets, in travelling, in their dangerous occupations, the mental agitations and anxieties, terminating, unhappily, sometimes in suicide the accumulation of workmen in ill-ventilated shops, or the hard exhausting work of the agricultural labourer, independently of war and service in unhealthy climates, counterbalance the dangers and sorrows of child-bearing." It might be, perhaps, as well here to state, that in comparing the mortality of London with England and Wales generally, the deaths in the latter include the heavy fatality experienced by all its cities and towns, together with the metropolis. Consequently these results do not show the comparative value of life for London and the country. * * * * * In the present essay I have endeavoured to show the difference in mortality between the metropolis and England and Wales. In another I propose to point out the diseases principally concerned in producing this effect, and likewise the tendency of civilization to promote their increase. On the Statistics of Places of Worship in England and Wales, founded on a Table compiled by the Rev. T. Blisse. By REV. E. WYATT-EDGEll. [Read before the Statistical Society of London, 15th December, 1851.] THE object of this article is to show, first, the number of churches or chapels belonging to each denomination of Christians in England and Wales at the present time; and, secondly, how, in each denomination, they have increased during the last quarter of a century. The authorities from which it is compiled are the various Yearbooks, Manuals, Almanacs, and Magazines, of the different denominations of Protestants, the Roman Catholic Directory, and the evidence given by E. Baines, Esq., before the Church-rate Committee of the House of Commons in 1851. I. It is computed that there are, in England and Wales, 28,290 churches and chapels, distributed amongst the various sects as follows: |