HH62/2/LANARK/41

Transcription

[Page] 40

disease appeared to be chiefly filthy surroundings, and
direct infection due to overcrowding, want of means of
isolation and of proper disinfection. The milk and water
supplies were carefully investigated, but with an entirely
negative result. The Sanitary Inspector has been, and still
is, devoting his attention to the removal, so far as can be
done at present, of the conditions which, in our opinion,
contributed to the spread of the disease.
From the summary of the Sanitary Inspector's report I
extract the following figures, which show that, since his
appointment, Mr Glen has energetically devoted himself to
his work:-
Total Inspections, --- 3048
Nuisances dealt with, --- 630
Visits of Inquiry under Infectious Disease Notification Act --- 1,020

The directions in which sanitary reform in the Upper
Ward may be reasonably expected are - improvements in
the dwellings of the mining classes; in farm buildings,
which will to a large extent result from the Dairies and
Cowsheds Regulations; in ashpit and privy accommoda-
tion, and in drainage.

PART II.
For the greater part of the information on which my
calculations are based, I am indebted to the courtesy of
the various Registrars throughout the Upper Ward. No
arrangement has yet been made for the remuneration of
these gentlemen, as the conditions in a sparsely populated
district, such as are now under consideration, differ widely
from those in the Middle and Lower Wards of the County,
and it was considered unlikely that the same amount of
detail in the returns would be required.
As, however, the forms issued by the Board of Super-
vision towards the end of the year for the purposes of
this annual report are the same for the whole county,

[Page] 41

and are of an exhaustive character, the question of pay-
ment of Registrars for the necessary returns will have to
come under the consideration of the committee.

Population and Acreage. - The Report on the Census
taken in 1891 has not yet been published, but the
following figures, obtained from the Registrar's Returns,
may be taken as fairly accurate.
According to these, the total population of the Upper
Ward is 42,940. Deducting the population of the Burghs
of Biggar (1,356) and Lanark (4,579) there remains a
total landward population of 37,005, and it is on this
figure that the calculations for the Upper Ward are
based in this report.
The area of the district, exclusive of burghs, is 326,980
acres, giving an average of 8·8 acres to each person, or,
as it is usually stated, ·11 persons per acre. The highest
proportion of persons to the acre, as is seen in Table VI.,
is ·52 in the Parish of Carluke.
It is, of course, sufficiently obvious that the population
is not thus evenly distributed, and that in the more
populous villages the density must be very much greater
than these figures indicate. It is recognised by students
of vital statistics, and was clearly brought out by the
late Dr. Farr, that there is a definite relation between
density of population and mortality. That being so,
the death-rate of the Upper Ward ought to be among
the lowest in the kingdom.

Births and Deaths. - During the year 1891 there were
registered in the Upper Ward, excluding the Burghs of
Biggar and Lanark, 1,231 births and 702 deaths, or an
excess in births as compared with deaths of 529.
The birth-rate for the whole landward district is
33·26 per 1,000 of the population, while in the various
parishes (Table VI.) it ranged from 44·5 in Carnwath to 9·5
in Culter.