1868.] The Public Health. 281 
where deaths from these diseases occur in large numbers. Pad- 
dington, Westminster, Marylebone, Pancras, Shoreditch, Hackney, 
Mile End, Whitechapel, on the north of the Thames, and Walworth, 
Lambeth, Battersea, and Camberwell, are the great seats of these 
diseases on the south side of the Thames. Of all forms of zymotic 
disease, typhus and typhoid are the most easily arrested, and the 
most worth arresting, and for the same cause. They chiefly attack 
and carry off the adult. The adult can more easily be taught the 
value of and danger to his own life, than the child who is at the mercy 
of others; whilst the sad fact that it is the fathers and mothers of 
families who are carried off by these diseases, ought to quicken the 
apprehension of all rate-payers as to the great economy in saving 
this valuable life to the community. 
Of the remaining 55,000, some are not, but some are clearly 
under the control of sanitary agencies. Thus, for instance, there 
were 8,817 deaths from consumption. This is essentially a disease 
of underfeeding, overcrowding, and deficient muscular activity. It 
is found present in the cottages of the agricultural poor, where the 
wages are insufficient to support the rapid growth of girls and 
boys approaching adult years; it is found in the workshops of 
tailors and milliners, who are herded together in close rooms 
all day, and who sleep in overcrowded bedrooms at night; it is 
found especially amongst those who sit all day at their occupations, 
and have little or no leisure for bodily exercise. Returns for the 
Metropolis, of which no account is taken in the Registrar-General’s 
summary, clearly show that where the population is dense and 
where the occupations are sedentary, there the deaths from con- 
sumption are at a maximum; and that where the population is less 
dense, and open-air occupations are the rule, the mortality from 
this disease is at a minimum. This shows the importance of 
securing a sufficient amount of healthy space for those who work 
at sedentary occupations, as well as the necessity of providing in 
all densely populated districts open spaces for their exercise and 
recreation. 
Whilst on this subject, we would refer to an Act passed during 
the last Session of Parliament, entitled “ An Act for regulating the 
Hours of Labour for Children, Young Persons, and Women em- 
ployed in Workshops.” This Act is supplementary of the Factory 
Extension Act, by which all establishments employing more than 
fifty persons in a manufacturing process are subject to the inspec- 
tions and other requirements of the Factory Act. It is intended 
especially to apply to all shops where children, young persons, and 
women are employed. The following are the principal requirements 
of this Act :— 
1. No child under the age of eight years shall be employed in 
any handicraft. 
