Fifth District-Fifth and Sixth Wards, 530 Pine street. Sixth District-Seventh and Eighth Wards, 302 South Tenth street. Seventh District-Ninth and Tenth Wards, Eighth District-Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Wards, DR. P. N. K. SCHWENK, 827 North Seventh street. Ninth District-Fourteenth and Fifteenth Wards, 1633 Fairmount avenue. Tenth District-Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Twentieth Wards, DR. S. N. TROTH, 1200 North Seventh street. Eleventh District-Twenty-ninth Ward, DR. L. C. PETER, 2136 Oxford street. Twelfth District-Nineteenth Ward, DR. J. A. KRUG, 2437 North Fifth street. Thirteenth District-Eighteenth and Thirty-first Wards, DR. DAVID HENRY, 1921 East Dauphin street. Fourteenth District-Thirty-third and Thirty-seventh Wards, DR. ROBERT RODGERS, 2903 North Fifth street. Fifteenth District-Twenty-fifth Ward, DR. S. LEWIS SUMMERS, Sixteenth District-Thirty-second Ward, DR. LAURA S. CHAPIN, 1630 Diamond street. Seventeenth District-Twenty-eighth Ward, 1921 Susquehanna avenue. Eighteenth District-Twenty-second Ward, 6008 Main street. Nineteenth District-Twenty-first Ward, Twentieth District-Twenty-third and Thirty-fifth Wards, Twenty-first District-Twenty-fourth Ward, 3939 Powelton avenue. Twenty-second District-Twenty-seventh Ward, Northeast cor. Forty-second and Chestnut streets. Twenty-third District-Twenty-fourth Ward, 4821 Lancaster avenue. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE CITY AND PORT OF PHILADELPHIA For the year 1896 Philadelphia, March 11, 1897. FRANK M. RITER, ESQ., Director, Dept. of Public Safety. SIR: The Board of Health respectfully submits through you to his Honor, the Mayor, the following report of the work of the Bureau of Health, for the year 1896: An The condition of the public health during the year 1896 was favorable. There was no epidemic visitation of disease during the year, and no unusual and excessive variation in the deaths from any one cause, except sunstroke. excessively hot and prolonged spell of weather in August caused an unusual number of deaths from heat-exhaustion and heat-stroke, the whole number amounting to 223, which is the largest number ever recorded. Deaths from this cause were excessive in other large cities throughout the New England, Middle and Western States. The maximum number of deaths from this cause was in the week ending August 15, when 173 persons died from the direct or indirect effects of heat. As a rule consumption heads the list of deaths in point of numbers, but in this year pneumonia has this prominence, the deaths from this The disease being 2,696. This disease prevailed more particularly in the first quarter of the year, 1,163 deaths being the sum total for this period, which is 43.13 per cent. of the number for the entire year. There is also to be observed a slight increase in the number of deaths from consumption, though it is expected that the deaths will increase in proportion to the increase of population. excess of deaths from this cause over 1895 was 75. There was also noted an increase in the deaths from measles, the total number being 191, which is 107 in excess of the deaths from this cause for the preceding year. The deaths from cholera infantum, notwithstanding the prolonged heated spell of weather, were not excessive. The decrease in the number of deaths from diphtheria has been marked, the total number from this cause being 862, which is a decrease of 158 over the number reported in 1895. In 1892, there were 1,435 deaths from this cause; in 1893, 916 deaths; in 1894, 1,040, and in 1895, 1,020 deaths. Although this disease has prevailed very generally throughout the City, the deaths have not been excessive as compared with previous years. This disease prevailed more particularly in the first and last quarters of the year. In the months of July and August there were 180 deaths from this disease, or, an average of 9 deaths per week. The greatest number of deaths was 31, in the week ending October 17, and the least number was 3, occurring in the week ending August 29. Influenza prevailed only to a moderate extent, the deaths for the year being 79, and most of these occurred in the early part of the year. The deaths from scarlet fever were 61, which indicates a very slight prevalence of this disease. The number is the smallest recorded in 30 years. Typhoid fever caused 402 deaths, which is a decrease of 67 over the preceding year and the smallest number, excepting the year 1894, that has been recorded in this City since 1879, when the population was only 901,380. This is at the rate of 33.81 per 100,000 of population, which indicates an improvement of the health in this respect over most of the preceding years. Typhoid fever is a disease which it is possible to exclude from a City, being classed among the so-called preventable diseases; and, therefore, so long as it exists, even at the rate of 33 per 100,000, the public should be concerned in promptly introducing those measures which are known to have the effect of excluding this disease from the mortuary records. In the report of last year reference is made to the prevailing causes of typhoid fever in this City, and therefore it is unnecessary to go over this subject again. Deaths from Typhoid Fever with the ratio per 100,000 of population for the 17 years, 1880-1896, inclusive: |