1868] The Publie Health. 283 
The following table shows the relative proportion of deaths 
from this class during the corresponding periods of 1866, 1867, 
and 1868 :— 
Deaths from principal Zymotics during corresponding Periods of 1866, 
1867, and 1868. 
From January 1st to March 7th. 
1866. 1867. 1868. 
Small pore ese sereeten sek eee lec PLD 12 6 
Measles rom See) Nicer Se mae ai AM 12 1 
CAAA eos itssia) ieome tach Neaoensh tS 19 22 
Whooping Cough aor Mss ome ee ce 42 26 
LOUD Pen Bee eats cre oc 33 17 18 
Dharehesays Vik eek esy Cus ek 33 6 21 
Typhus, Typhia, and Typhinia 154 60 50 
Dyphtheria O° 6by Bd) ee 5 8 1 
otalee at sneer oot 176 145 
Such results as the above are satisfactory and encouraging to 
those who are endeavouring to elevate the healthiness of the towns 
but unfortunately this improvement in the sanitary status produce, 
another effect, vz., that of creating in the minds of town councillors 
a desire to rest and be satisfied, deducing, as such gentlemen are 
apt to do, the inference that a low death-rate affords a ready 
subterfuge against charges of inert policy. In Leeds there are 
hundreds of cesspools immediately under, or adjoining dwelling- 
houses, which the Town Council, in their Improvement Act of 
1866, obtained powers to abolish; yet that body now hesitate to 
enforce the law, forsooth, because such a course would probably 
incur the risk of loss of seat in the coveted council chamber. 
After perusing the above, our readers will not be surprised to hear 
that the powers delegated to the local authority by the Sanitary 
Act of 1866 are but feebly executed, and that the members of the 
Corporation require awakening to the necessity of adopting vigor- 
ous prophylactic measures in order to combat—if not stamp out— 
preventible diseases, like typhus, typhia, small-pox, scarlatina, &e. 
For want of a public abattoir in Leeds, there are upwards 
of a hundred private slaughter-houses, in the hands of private 
individuals, distributed in various parts of the town, where in 
many instances they are not only a source of prodigious nuisance, 
but afford also, in consequence of difficulty of supervision, facile 
opportunities for .unprincipled butchers to slaughter and dress 
diseased animals. The large profits to be derived from such a 
trade are, as can easily be imagined, an immense temptation to 
engage in the traffic; and should the colour or consistence of the 
meat be such as to prevent the vendor from disposing of it in the 
shape of ordinary joints, it undergoes what is termed in the tech- 
VOL. V. 3 
